How to stop puppy from biting?

Question

I know it is natural for puppies to nip at each other. But our puppy is beginning to nip at our kids and myself. I don't want him to think it's okay to bite, and I certainly don't want it to escalate into real biting.

Please help

Sorry, I guess I should have mentioned breed and age. He is a three month old black lab.

Answer 1

First of all, how old is your puppy? Naturally, most dogs will learn their "bite inhibition"- who and what he can chew on, and who and what is off limits- without much trouble at all. But of course, this is a legitimate concern, especially with children in the home. It's hard to analyze your situation without knowing more specifics, but in general, here's what I would suggest. Your puppy is probably just teething, and biting things feels good to them. This is the "search and discover" (so to say) time in their life, and since dogs don't have hands like we do, they use their mouths and teeth. The key thing to remember is that you need to correct him firmly every single time he puts his teeth on you or your children. Even if it doesn't hurt and he's just nibbling a little bit, you need to correct him. You can use a firm "No!" or you can use your hand to bop him on the nose. (I'm not advocating hitting your dog, this is just a little tap) Most puppies will take the hint before 4-5 months of age. It's important to provide them with enough things to chew on, and dogs seem to like variety. Get him a bunch of teething toys, and hide some of them. If he's biting on you guys, give him a new (hidden) toy, and he'll be interested. It's okay to redirect his biting, meaning that when he gnaws on you, just give him a toy. A helpful method to use with teething puppies is to wet a stuffed toy with a small amount of water, and then freeze it. Most dogs will love chewing on the toy if it's cold, and it soothes their aching gums in the mean time.

Please email me if I did not answer your questions, or if my answers do not apply to your particular situation. You can also email me with any other questions you have.

Answer 2

Hm, judging from other questions you've "anwered" kibbi, you're a great fan of the copy/paste feature.

Anyways

I'm going through the same thing with my pup, who is 8 months old now. The Bitter Apple spray that was mentioned before works relatively well. I say relatively because you can't expect it to be some kind of miracle. It did prevent my dog from chewing on the artificial xmas tree this past holiday (it was her first holiday so we knew she'd be curious) Sometimes what I do when she's acting "bitey" is that I'll give her a quick tap on the nose and a stern "NO". I don't mean to hurt her with the tap, it's more meant as a attention grabber. Hope that helps.

Answer 3

This is an easy one. My puppy, who is now 3 years old, did the same thing. There is some really yucky tasting spray that you can buy at pet stores or even Wal-mart/Meijers. Spray it on the body part that keep getting bitten. You can also use it to stop a puppy from chewing on cords, pant legs, loose strands of carpet, garbage....

Our dog is a lab, they chew really bad for the first 18 months. The spray fixed a lot of it. I liked the biter apple one the best.

Answer 4

buy him lots of toys to chew on... just like humans, puppies teeth... so it hurts when their baby teeth are coming out, that's why they chew uncontrollably. try and keep stuff you don't want damaged away from him. when he starts biting you or your kids, just put him aside in like a "time out" and he'll eventually learn that it's not right. most importantly, buy him the toys to keep him entertained. if the biting continues to be a problem, talk to your vet because it might be that the teeth hurt way too much so he might need a medicine for the pain

Answer 5

You do need to correct this behavior. I used to firmly hold the puppy's muzzle and correct the biting with a firm "NO!" Make sure the puppy has lots of acceptable things to chew on (besides you) If that doesn't get across, you can use a correction chain and lightweight lead. Just leave it on the puppy and correct the behavior with a sharp snap of the collar. They usually learn pretty fast.

Answer 6

whenever my puppy tries to bite me i tell her no. her new name is coco no biting. when she bites other things she not supposed to i tell her no and give her a toy to show her it okay to bite on that toy. she has gotten a better about not biting and when shes playing with me and biting, she barely puts her teeth on me.

Answer 7

Bite it back. I know this is hard for a woman to understand, but that's how life works.

Answer 8

little long winded huh kibbi...here's what you do if you wanna fix it fast. when he bites or nips at you, grab his mouth tuck his lip under his teeth and make him bite his own lips...after the second time he'll relize how much it hurts and stop biting. peice of cake. good luck.

Answer 9

Put a penny in a Pepsi can and tape it up.Then shake it and say "NO,NO!" If that doesn't work get a strong water gun and squirt him in the face and say "NO.NO!"These things work and they will not hurt your puppy .It is worth it!!!Good Luck!!!!

Answer 10

When puppies play with each other, they use their mouths. Therefore, puppies usually want to bite or "mouth" hands during play or when being petted. With puppies, this is rarely aggressive behavior in which the intent is to do harm. Because puppies are highly motivated to exhibit this type of behavior, attempts to suppress it or stop it are unlikely to be successful unless you give your puppy an alternative behavior. The goals of working with this normal puppy behavior are to redirect your puppy's desire to put something in her mouth onto acceptable chew toys and to teach her to be gentle when a hand is in her mouth.

Encourage Acceptable Behavior
Redirect your puppy's chewing onto acceptable objects by offering her a small rawhide chew bone or other type of chew toy whenever you pet her. This technique can be especially effective when children want to pet her. As you or the child reach out to scratch her behind the ears (not over the head) with one hand, offer the chew bone with the other. This will not only help your puppy learn that people and petting are wonderful, but will also keep her mouth busy while she's being petted. Alternate which hand does the petting and which one has the chew bone. At first, you may need to pet or scratch your puppy for short periods of time, since the longer she's petted, the more likely she is to get excited and start to nip.

Discourage Unacceptable Behavior
You must also teach your puppy to be gentle with hands, and that nipping results in unpleasant consequences for her. Teach your puppy that nipping "turns off" any attention and social interaction with you. After a nip, look your puppy right in the eye, and yell "OUCH" as though you've been mortally wounded, then ignore her. Leave the room if you must, but ignore her until she's calm, then try the chew bone and petting method again. It's even better if you can coax your puppy into a sitting position using food. It may take many repetitions for her to understand what's expected.
Nipping and mouthing hands can also be discouraged by loosely holding your puppy's lower jaw between your thumb and forefinger after she's taken your hand in her mouth. Don't hurt her by squeezing too hard, just gently hang on so that wherever her mouth goes, your hand hangs on. This will quickly become tiresome and she'll eventually pull away. After several seconds, release her jaw, but continue to offer her your hand. If she licks or ignores it, praise, pet and offer a tidbit. If she closes her mouth on your hand again, repeat the procedure.
A third alternative is to wear cotton gloves coated with a substance with an unpleasant taste such as "Bitter Apple." In this way, your puppy will learn that "hands in mouth taste bad." For this method to work, every time she nips your hand she must experience this bad taste. The possible disadvantage to this method is that your puppy may learn "hands with gloves taste bad and those without gloves don't.
Remember that any of these three methods will probably not be effective unless you work hard to teach your puppy the right behavior by offering her an acceptable chew toy.
Jumping Up
When your puppy jumps up on you, she wants attention. Whether you push her away, knee her in the chest or step on her hind legs, she's being rewarded for jumping up (even though it's negative attention, she's still getting what she wants).

Dealing with Normal Puppy Behavior: Nipping and Rough Play
Dog Behavior and Training >> Dealing with Normal Puppy Behavior: Nipping and Rough Play

Page 2
When Your Puppy Jumps Up:
Fold your arms in front of you, turn away from her and say "off."
Continue to turn away from her until all four of her feet are on the ground, then quietly praise her and give her a treat. If she knows the "sit" command, give the command when all four of her feet are on the ground, then quietly praise her and give her a treat her while she's in the sitting position.
When you begin to praise her, if she begins to jump up again, simply turn away and repeat step two, above. Remember to keep your praise low-key.
When your puppy realizes that she gets no attention from you while she's jumping up, but does get attention when she stops jumping up and sits, she'll stop jumping up. Remember, once you've taught her to come and sit quietly for attention, you must reward her behavior. Be careful not to ignore her when she comes and sits politely, waiting for your attention.
What Not To Do
Attempts to tap, slap or hit your puppy in the face for nipping or jumping up are almost guaranteed to backfire. Several things may happen, depending on your puppy's temperament and the severity of the correction:

She could become "hand-shy" and cringe or cower whenever a hand comes toward her face.
She could become afraid of you and refuse to come to you or approach you at all.
She could respond in a defensive manner and attempt to bite you to defend herself.
She could interpret a mild slap as an invitation to play, causing her to become more excited and even more likely to nip.
Never play "tug-of-war" or wrestling games with your puppy if you're having a nipping problem. These types of games encourage out-of-control behavior, grabbing, lunging and competion with you. These aren't behaviors you want her to learn.

A Note About Children And Puppies
It's very difficult for children under eight or nine years old to practice the kind of behavior modification outlined here. A child's first reaction to being nipped or mouthed by a puppy is to push the puppy away with their hands and arms. This will be interpreted by the puppy as play and will probably cause the puppy to nip and mouth even more. Dogs should never be left alone with children under ten and parents should monitor closely all interactions between their children and dogs.