Should I be worried if my puppy bites me and draws blood? Tips and Tricks

Here’s how to curb your pup’s painful nipping.

  • Categorize the bites — 4 = blood! 3 = indented skin (you’re surprised there isn’t any blood). 2 = firm pressure. 1 = gentle teeth on skin without any pressure.
  • Your reaction will never change, regardless of which step you’re on.
  • Have a couple of toys within reach (you may need to leave a toy in each room of the house to make this easier for you) so you can substitute a toy for your skin.
  • The first week of the program, you’re going to react only to the 4s. When your pup give you a 4, say “OW!” and stand up and leave. That’s it — just stand up and leave. No lectures, no grabbing the muzzle, no squealing. Just leave.
  • During that first week, you’ll also get lots of 3s, 2s, and 1s. Simply offer your pup a toy when you get those bites.
  • After Week 1, you should notice a decrease in the number of 4s. This is good news! Now, you’re going to react the same way to the 3s and the 4s “OW!” and leave. If you find that you’re squealing when you say “Ow!,” you can skip that part and just leave.
  • After about a week, the 3s should be reduced (just like the 4s did the week before) and in Week 3, you’re going to do the “Ow!” for the 2s (and the occasional 3s and 4s).
  • Lather, rinse, repeat until your pup has as gentle a mouth as you need.
  • Things that don’t work to teach your pup to stop biting.

  • Putting your hand over his muzzle, staring him in the face, and saying “NO!” This doesn’t work and will teach your pup to dislike your handling him around his face.
  • Shoving your thumb (or fist) into his mouth as he’s biting. I sometimes wonder where on earth people get these ideas, but I hear this one enough to mention it here. Don’t do this!
  • Turning him over until he “submits.” Again, way outdated advice. If you’d like to teach your pup to fear you, then do this as that’s the only thing this old-fashioned advice is good for.
  • Next Step: Assessing Your Dog’s Vaccinations

    If there’s a silver lining in your situation, it’s that you have control over knowing your dog’s vaccination status compared to if a dog bit you on the street.

    Therefore, think back or check the records of your dog’s latest vaccinations. Tetanus is the vaccine you’ll want to zero in on, as it has a five to ten-day incubation period in dogs and can transmit to humans through a bite.

    You’ll also want to check that they have their rabies vaccine. If they’re not up-to-date on rabies, which needs renewing every one to three years, you should make a beeline to your doctor to get a rabies vaccination yourself.

    Although tetanus and rabies are the primary initial vaccinations to concern yourself with if your dog bites you and draws blood, dogs without other vaccinations have a higher chance of introducing an array of potentially life-threatening bacteria into the wound.

    Should I be worried if my puppy bites me and draws blood?

    “My dog bit me and drew blood” is never a term someone wants to search for. But hopefully, your wound is minor. So, should you decide that you don’t need medical attention, below are the steps I recommend for treating your dog bite wound at home.

  • Let warm water run over the wound for 5 – 10 minutes, gently washing it with a mild soap.
  • If blood is still flowing, use a clean towel or cloth and apply gentle pressure to stop it.
  • Cover the wound with antibiotic cream.
  • Depending on the size of the wound, use a bandaid or sterile bandage to keep the wound covered.
  • Since moisture speeds up a wound’s recovery time, you should aim to keep minor wounds covered for one to five days, depending on their healing progress.

    You’ll know your dog bite wound is on the mend when you start seeing new skin form over the collagen tissue formed by red blood cells. At this time, you’ll notice your wound beginning to crinkle as the edges move in and a scab begins to form.

    Should I be worried if my puppy bites me and draws blood?

    Demon Puppy Draws Blood During Tantrum! | It’s Me or The Dog

    This article will be our first article where we combine medical and training topics on what to dow when a dog bites you, and what if he draws blood. However, a lot of times, I see posts that go like this, “Hey, my dog bit me, what should I do? Does he have Rabies? Should I put him down?” and the tremendous amount of wrong and unscientific-based answers are terrifying.

    And as I will be neutral in this post, I have to say that Rabies in humans or other viruses that arises from Dog bites are common (in some countries), and they can cause severe damages to humans that might end to death.

    So, our schema today is that we will have two parts of this article. The first part about the medical advice that you should follow when a dog bites you. The second one is the training you should provide to your dog (assuming that your dog is the dog who bit you)