How to Stop Dogs from Biting
Keep a puppy with its mother and siblings for ten weeks.Let your dog’s original family shoulder some of the teaching load before your family takes over the job., Spay or neuter your dog if you don’t intend to breed., Socialize your dog from an early...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Keep a puppy with its mother and siblings for ten weeks.Let your dog’s original family shoulder some of the teaching load before your family takes over the job.
For dogs, as with other animals including humans, an important function of play is instruction.
Puppies use yelps of pain and refusal to keep playing to instruct each other about the differences between playful mouthing and painful biting.
Mothers likewise play an important instructive role in the formative weeks of a puppy’s life, one that is hard to replicate or replace. -
Step 2: Spay or neuter your dog if you don’t intend to breed.
This simple procedure can not only prevent you from finding yourself with an undesired litter of puppies, it can also reduce the roaming and fighting tendencies that can cause some dogs to bite., Nervous and/or frightened dogs are more likely to act unpredictably and against normal behavior, including biting.
Expose your young dog to other animals and people in a wide range of environments so that normal social situations are less likely to cause fear., It might not seem as direct as trying to teach your puppy “don’t bite,” but teaching common commands like “sit,” “stay,” “come,” and “leave it” are often quite effective in bite prevention.
You may think you are just teaching your puppy to obey, but you are also teaching him patience.
Dogs with poor impulse control are more likely to bite when their wants are not immediately met.
Teaching your dog to “leave it”
-- to avoid taking a treat in front of his nose until told “take it,” for instance
-- can be particularly helpful in preventing biting., Let your dog know this in the same way as a litter of puppies.
The earlier you start this process, the better.
Play with your puppy and allow her to mouth your hand.
As soon as you feel a tooth point touch your skin, however, give out a demonstrative “yelp” and let your hand go limp, indicating that this action hurt you and you will no longer play if it continues.
As soon as the dog stops mouthing or licks your limp hand, praise her and start the process again.
If making your hand uninteresting for play is proving insufficient, employ time-outs.
Leave the room for 10-20 seconds after yelping to make it clear that biting is not a part of play time.
Extend the time-out and reduce your threshold for what constitutes a bite as your dog learns. , Utilize the same techniques as in the previous step, but also:
Substitute a chew toy or bone when your dog begins to mouth your skin.
Have the toy at the ready and quickly present it to the dog.
He will learn that these are acceptable targets for his mouthing instincts.
Distract the dog with a treat in one hand while petting him with the other.
This is particularly useful for dogs who tend to mouth or bite when petted.
They lack of focus on the petting hand will become normal over time, even if there is not a treat to distract them.
Enjoy non-contact play, such as fetch.
Show your dog that there are many ways to play that do not involve her mouth on your skin. -
Step 3: Socialize your dog from an early age.
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Step 4: Teach impulse control.
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Step 5: Teach your dog to be gentle with human skin.Dogs don’t innately know how sensitive human skin is to sharp canine teeth.
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Step 6: Teach your dog that teeth don’t belong on human skin.As your dog learns to be more gentle with play biting
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Step 7: raise the standard further so that any mouthing of your skin is met with disapproval.
Detailed Guide
For dogs, as with other animals including humans, an important function of play is instruction.
Puppies use yelps of pain and refusal to keep playing to instruct each other about the differences between playful mouthing and painful biting.
Mothers likewise play an important instructive role in the formative weeks of a puppy’s life, one that is hard to replicate or replace.
This simple procedure can not only prevent you from finding yourself with an undesired litter of puppies, it can also reduce the roaming and fighting tendencies that can cause some dogs to bite., Nervous and/or frightened dogs are more likely to act unpredictably and against normal behavior, including biting.
Expose your young dog to other animals and people in a wide range of environments so that normal social situations are less likely to cause fear., It might not seem as direct as trying to teach your puppy “don’t bite,” but teaching common commands like “sit,” “stay,” “come,” and “leave it” are often quite effective in bite prevention.
You may think you are just teaching your puppy to obey, but you are also teaching him patience.
Dogs with poor impulse control are more likely to bite when their wants are not immediately met.
Teaching your dog to “leave it”
-- to avoid taking a treat in front of his nose until told “take it,” for instance
-- can be particularly helpful in preventing biting., Let your dog know this in the same way as a litter of puppies.
The earlier you start this process, the better.
Play with your puppy and allow her to mouth your hand.
As soon as you feel a tooth point touch your skin, however, give out a demonstrative “yelp” and let your hand go limp, indicating that this action hurt you and you will no longer play if it continues.
As soon as the dog stops mouthing or licks your limp hand, praise her and start the process again.
If making your hand uninteresting for play is proving insufficient, employ time-outs.
Leave the room for 10-20 seconds after yelping to make it clear that biting is not a part of play time.
Extend the time-out and reduce your threshold for what constitutes a bite as your dog learns. , Utilize the same techniques as in the previous step, but also:
Substitute a chew toy or bone when your dog begins to mouth your skin.
Have the toy at the ready and quickly present it to the dog.
He will learn that these are acceptable targets for his mouthing instincts.
Distract the dog with a treat in one hand while petting him with the other.
This is particularly useful for dogs who tend to mouth or bite when petted.
They lack of focus on the petting hand will become normal over time, even if there is not a treat to distract them.
Enjoy non-contact play, such as fetch.
Show your dog that there are many ways to play that do not involve her mouth on your skin.
About the Author
Lauren Turner
Enthusiastic about teaching pet care techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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