I always tell people that have puppies that YOU WILL experience puppy biting. The only question is HOW MUCH biting you’ll have to endure. If you approach this training the right way you can typically find that this annoyance can go away fairly quickly.
Debunking a Biting Myth
Let me first start out by debunking one of the most popular methods that I see being taught today by other dog trainers. The method is simple. The puppy starts biting you and you are to immediately say ‘Ow!’ in a loud and hurt voice and stop your play with the puppy.
If you want to get rid of puppy biting DO NOT do this method. It almost never works.
The psychology being taught behind this method is that when the puppy realizes that he’s hurt you that:
- He’ll feel bad and realize he has to be more gently next time and
- He’ll understand that when he bites you that his play time is over.
This concept could not be more wrong.
I love puppies. I think they are cute and great. What I don’t think they possess a lot of, though, is a moral compass. If your puppy realizes that he hurt you it’s likely that he doesn’t care. Not only that, it’s more likely that he realizes that he now has bigger power over you. He doesn’t like what you’re doing? No problem, he’s got a built in method for getting rid of you. All he has to do is bite you. He wants the toy instead of allowing you to have it? No worry, just give a bite and that owner is too weak to defend herself.
For those that think, “Well, the puppy will realize that he doesn’t get to have any fun if he bites you. Then he’ll stop.” Let me ask you, have you ever got up and walked away from a puppy that was biting your hands? What do you have at that point? You no longer have a puppy that is biting your hands, you have a puppy that is biting the back of your pant leg, jumping up to bite your clothes, and doing whatever else possible to nip you.
The bottom line is that this method is wholly ineffective for nearly every puppy out there. What you need is a stabilized approach that uses proper correction and proper motivation.
Stop Puppy Biting
In order to teach a dog that nipping is wrong, you need a correction that is three things:
- Well timed.
As your puppy is biting you the correction occurs. - Meaningful.
Turning your back on a puppy isn’t meaningful. Try a spray bottle when puppy is nipping. Use a leash correction. Experiment with what works best for your pup. - Followed by praise.
You need to communicate to your puppy that attention and affection occur when nipping and biting aren’t happening. After the correction gets your pup to stop then you need to immediately praise.
In following this program you’ll find that most people can shave months off their puppy nipping problems.
Image Credit: Kyknoord
41 Responses to “Puppy Biting: Stop Your Puppy From Biting”
This could not be farther from the truth! Puppies when playing with siblings will nip and play and when one is hurt he will yelp causing the other pup to stop and the play is over. THAT is the reasoning behind making a loud noise when bitten. And it DOES work. It has nothing to do with the dog understanding that ‘ow’ means he hurt you. Ofcourse he doesnt know that!
I’m sorry to break it to you, but puppies couldn’t care less if they hurt you. Plenty of puppies are TRYING to hurt you. They want to win and hurting you is a great way to win. I can’t think of a better way to NOT train your dog than to teach your dog that you are weak and he can beat you any time he wants by biting you.
Of course a puppy couldn’t care less if it’s hurting you - it doesn’t know it’s hurt you until you say ‘ow’ and then withdraw yourself from play, and it DOES work. He doesn’t learn you are weak because you said ‘OW’ he learnt his mouth is being too hard and so if he wants to play next time he mustn’t repeat the same thing
Sounds fine in theory, I suppose. In practice, though, doesn’t work.
My puppy, after all types of correction, thinks it is a game and bites more. I tried yelping, ignoring holding the snout closed and saying no….she just comes faster and harder. whats next?
Spray bottle or Pet Convincer.
My own experience tells me puppies stop biting, momentarily, for various reasons, but, continue to bite until they have behavior boundaries firmly established. In my opinion, boundaries are the basis of a long and healthy relationship between humans and dogs. Correction and praise are just that, expressions of behavior boundaries. I don’t know who said it, about people, but I tend to think it applies to dogs as well, “You teach them how to treat you.”
Dana, that is very well put. If you yell ‘ouch’ you may find the dog stops nipping momentarily but it does nothing for a long term solution.
I have a 8 week old japanese Akita and a 9 month old daughter and need advice on how to show that the dog is the lowest in the pack,
There is nothing that your 9 month old daughter can do to establish any sort of ‘pack order’. It all comes down to the dog’s respect for you. If the dog has complete respect for you then you can leverage that respect into respect for your ‘stuff’ i.e. children, shoes, furniture, guests, etc. That respect comes through solid obedience training, setting limits, and sticking to rules regarding the fact that it is NEVER appropriate to jump on, nip at, or otherwise do anything inappropriate to your daughter.
have you got any tips on how to train him with out him getting bored he is very ignorant lol
I’m not sure what you mean about a puppy being ignorant?
I have a pup that nips and hangs on my clothes so that I can’t walk. As soon as she looses grip she grabs again, and normally with a healthy amount of my flesh. I have tried rolling her on her back and holding her there and saying no, but she isn’t bothered. Now I have tried this: I stop walking and pay her no attention then she just walks away and plays with the other dogs. I can’t say if it is working cos I have been doing this for a week now. Surely she should realise she should not be nipping at all by now??
I have had two dog that i have taught no bite and it works. Just recently got a boerboel puppy. He is 8 weeks old and loves to nip and bite when playing. When he starts biting, i tell him no bite in a clam voice and pull my hand away from him, when he starts back biting again, i repeat myself. If he continues, i put my finger on his nose and tell him no bite. When he stops, i tell him good boy and give him praise. I have had no issues doing this with my other dogs and to this day, they both obey this command. Do you think this will work on my boerboel? So far he seems to be doing good with it but can be stubborn at times.
Hi Ty,
I have a 9 week old female boerboel & she has a serious biting problem. I got her on my birthday as a gift & from what I’ve been told she comes from a place where her mother was neglecting her. I’ll admit that she’s a little spoilt but we’ve stopped spoiling her now. When she got her she was shy & rather distant but now she’s all over the place & constantly biting us. I usually take her to my boyfriend’s place to spend a couple of days & she does so well when she’s there (doesn’t bite as much & as hard as she does when she’s home) is it maybe because she’s exposed to 2 older dogs there unlike here at home she’s all alone. We’ve even considered getting a 2nd dog now. PS: We’ve tried the spray bottle technique & it didn’t work, she enjoyed it instead.
Have you tried leash corrections?
Yes I recently tried leash correction but it seemed to make her extra aggressive because she really doesn’t like being on a leash. So recently my mother decided to kick her out the house (because she was chewing and ruining everything) and created a place for her in the garage & already we seeing changes in her behaviour, when she’s in the house she’s calmer and doesn’t bite to hurt us but rather in a playful manner. Are we on the right track here?
I don’t think you’re on the right track for a few reasons:
1- Dogs need to learn to be on a leash. It’s something you’ve got to teach. You can’t stop teaching leash manners because a dog doesn’t like a leash.
2- Banishing the dog puts you in a position where you can’t teach anything. If the dog is in the garage there is no teaching going on. I think you need to power through this training in the house. It may be tough, but the pup needs to learn that biting is off limits.
3- Biting to hurt or biting to play has very little difference. Both of them are biting. You need to address both types of biting.
That makes a lot of sense, plans will be made to get her proper training. Thank you.
Only took 2 weeks, but now my puppy understands no bite command and is doing great with it.
i have a cross breed dog of 3 months , he is a very fast learner regarding evrything but he dosent learn about shitting outside , he does it only at home , what might be the prob , we take him down for atleast more den an hour bt he dosent do anythin but as soon as he comes home he shits or pees. and he also has a biting problem he keeps biting watever his mood is happy or sad bittin is his favourite hobby it seems, need some help regarding my problem , pls let me knw …. waiting for ur reply … thank you
Ty, I NEED YOUR HELP!
I live with my 8 year old beagle (male) who I have had since he was a puppy. He is very obedient and VERY smart. He understands a lot more than I trained him to. He grew up with a mini dachshund who has been there since Copper’s first day home. He is only 7 months older. In my household Copper was the dominant one, and he made sure the other dog knew. He wasn’t mean, but my dachshund knew to bow down if Copper was near.
3 months ago I moved out of my moms house into a place of my own. Copper has adjusted VERY well. 2 days ago I got a 2 month old puppy who’s a chihuahua/dachshund mix named Todd (also male). Copper’s first impression with Todd was in a neutral area where he showed approval. But once Copper realized this was his new roommate, tension arose. Copper growls, sniffs him with his fur standing up, and walks with just pure tension. Everyone keeps telling me he will get used to the puppy but I’m not sure he will be able to without my help. This morning Todd got on his hind legs to play, where Copper attacked Todd and cut his upper eye lid. I NEED to know if this will be permanent and if I am putting Todd in an unsafe home, OR if there’s something I can do to teach Copper he is unacceptable. I am lost as to what to do because the Take Home packet they gave me told me not to punish my previous dog if he attacks the new one.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get back to me! Thanks Ty!
Extra Info:
Copper is fixed with all shots
Todd gets fixed in 4 days and does not have his shots yet
You need to establish control in the household with both dogs. I would recommend keeping them both on leashes so that you can correct the puppy when his play gets too boisterous and so that you can correct the older dog for his outbursts.
I would also make sure that you are establishing a structured home with dogs who are not on furniture, wait at doors, sit calmly waiting for meals, do down stays or place command frequently throughout the day, etc.
And how do I go about “correcting” them? Do I isolate them in a separate room? Am I pulling them aside?
My beagle does do all of the above except I do allow him on the furniture. But he usually only goes up there to lay in my lap or fall asleep comfortably. If possible I would prefer not to change this, but if needed I will.
Thanks for the help!
P.S. I am currently using your crate training tips but I do have one question; is it a bad idea to give him a fenced off area with the crate INSIDE? or should I just have his crate?
Also, when my beagle was a puppy I was told not to use his dog food as a treat because he’s not supposed to have to “work” for it, is this true?
By correction I mean a quick pop on the leash. Not to cause pain, simply to grab the dog’s attention.
As far as a crate within a fenced area…it’s not bad to do that…unless it’s bad. What I mean is that if you give a fenced off area with a crate inside and the dog doesn’t go to the bathroom or chew anything up in that fenced area then you’re fine. If you give that fenced area and the dog goes potty or chews stuff then it’s too much freedom.
As far as treats, I use treats for very little in training. A little for house and crate training and that’s it. There’s no problem in using his food as treats. And dogs should be working for their food, not a bad thing at all. We have to work for our food, after all.
Is the correction method flawless? As in, is it 100% going to work? Cause like I said, if not I would hate to have the puppy in a dangerous environment. But at the same time, I would REALLY hate to give up the puppy.
Another question (last one I promise!) because I cannot walk them at the same time (due to lack of shots at the moment) the older dog is getting extremely jealous because of the frequent potty breaks the puppy gets without him. In my mind the whole hassle of taking them both out for such a short period of time just isn’t worth it. Should I be walking the beagle every time with the puppy to equalize my attention? Or will he just have to deal with it until the puppy can go on full walks with us?
I don’t understand? What dangerous environment?
Not everything needs to be equal with dogs. Heck, for that matter, not everything is equal with our children, co-workers, employees, siblings, etc.
You’re right about walking away. Once I do my dog nips my legs and clothes. He’s a 16 week old lab and bites hard and I’m afraid he’s gunna get worse as he gets older. We have the spray bottle. We’ve given him time out and we’ve yelled NO. When he sees we get upset or hurt by his behavior he becomes upset and aggressive with us for not accepting it. If I spray him and starts snapping his jaws at me aggressively biting. I don’t know how to handle that anymore. He’s gunna get bigger and scarier.
It’s hard to come by knowledgeable people for this subject, however, you sound like you know what you’re
talking about! Thanks
I have a 19 month old chihaha she has a problem she is a service dog but she bites strangers if the come close I don’t know what to do she even attacks people riding by on there bikes goes. everytime you move at night she goes off ive been reading stuff online so far nothing has helped so if there is someone that can help it would be great… I live on a small island in Alaska for bamboos stake please help
You don’t have a service dog. You have a dog with some serious aggression issues that you hope can one day be a service dog. But a service dog needs to be able to go safely into public and that is not what you have.
You must start with obedience. How much obedience training have you done?
I live in a small town in Alaska no trainers f
here so ive read a lot of books that all say different things now online searching for hopeful information shes a really good dog its just the stranger biting any suggestions
she sits lays stays she needs some help on the leash outside only is when she pulls in stores and stuff she stays right next to me but living here isn’t helping with any dog trainer I went to petco and that was a joke she already new everything they were teaching and the trainer had never trained anything before so she was reading from a book I already bought
I have a six week and 3 day old malchi and he does this biting thing from my arms, fingers, nose, ears, and especially my toes. Now I called Petco and the young lady said it is normal that he is teething and he will eventually stopped doing this as he gets a little older. I want to know is your method good for my pup or is he to young to start this now??
Malchi Mommie
It is normal, yes.
Will he grow out of it? Sometimes.
Waiting for a dog to grow out of something, though, is a bad idea. More often than not they don’t grow out of it. And if they do you’ve missed some valuable time to help the dog understand proper manners and self-control.
I am also desperate and have found that nothing seems to be effective. My 6 month old schnauzer/terrier mix nips, bites and jumps up on our whole family, particularly my 5 and 8 year old boys. We have had him 4 months, his biting is getting worse!
The “ouch” thing is a joke, if anything he thinks it’s a dare to bite more. “No bite” commands, spray bottles, timeouts and the like have zero impact - they don’t deter one bit. I have practiced with myself and the kids using a handful of training treats where you let the puppy smell your hand and give the command “off” and he gets a treat when he completely leaves the hand alone and sits down.
This is the only thing that seems to work a tiny bit, but it does no good when he is tearing down the hall chasing someone and biting ankles, clothes and thighs. The kids literally cannot have him sit with them without his mouth nipping their arms, legs, even face! These all seem to be “play” bites, but I am at my wits end!
Is the only answer to rehome our puppy?
Keep him on a leash. Until a puppy knows manners he should be on a leash full time. For his intensity and age I’d recommend a training collar as well.
When he goes to jump, correct him with the leash. Simple as that. Good luck
So i have a 4 month old lab sheppard rotti mix and have tried almost everything to stop my puppy from doing un playful biting tried the yelping, the dominance ( putting her on her side and making the “bite” feeling on the neck) everything i have seemed to have tried has made her even more aggressive and come back at me. we are trying right now that if she bites too hard she gets put in a cage (different from her kennel) and right now we are on day 2 and no changes i think i might try the water bottle idea but will that make her think water spraying is bad?
I was wondering if you could help…I have a 17 week old German Shepherd. Very smart. Learns tricks and corrections almost instantly. He has been very good about following commands. The last week or so, its like I’ve taught him nothing! Mostly he no longer comes when called, so I’m having a hard time giving him as much off leash time in the yard. He was good about boundaries, but now runs to the neighbors yard prancing, like, “you can’t catch me.” He squeezes before me at the door. I correct this, but he is still doing it. He was so obedient. He doesn’t seem to be exhibiting puberty behavior…no marking, etc. Been “challenging” me a lot lately. Is it a puppy phase? BTW…you are correct…ouch meathod does not work. Corrections have worked for me, he is biting less all the time.
Also, during off leash time, I’m with him…ha! Don’t just let him loose alone in an open yard!
The problem is that most people have a young dog and they soak up information and training. Most young pups are smart and will learn ‘tricks’ and things quickly. But most pups are needy so the thought of running off never enters their head.
Once a dog hits about 4-5 months old they go through an ‘independence phase’ and they want to test boundaries both real and metaphorical. At that stage most people realize that they didn’t actually train their dog to come but rather simply had a dog who came because they were so needy.
I don’t give off leash time until a dog has earned it. Sounds like your guy hasn’t earned it. I would leave a long line on him in the yard and teach a solid recall.