Help! Weve had our cockapoo for a couple of weeks. Hes adorable, cute, enthusiastic – and nips at everything. Spends his life either asleep or at 90 miles an hour, mouth open, nipping at things. So far hes nipped holes in 3 pairs of trousers, not to mention various fingers, arms and, for some reason, heels of your feet. I have absolutely no idea how to stop him from doing this. I know hes only a baby (is he teething?), but our DC are afraid to come near him because of his teeth, and I cant say I blame them. Will he grow out of this? Looking for some glimmers of hope here.
for the ankle/trouser biting….use the closeness to your advantage, one of our GSD pups was a bugger for this. Walk slowly, and take a prized toy or treat to distract from your ankles The slowness helps make it less fun, the toy distracts from your trousers/ankles and if you add in a command like “stay close” or “heel” then they are learning something for the Witching Hour biting we would sit on the floor and play…any biting meant whoever was playing would fold arms/look away/”ow” or “no!” or “ahh” ….pup would usually be a bit horrified and stop, as soon as they stop and settle they get praised and the fun begins again. The highpitched noise can overexcite some pups, so we always keep it low and short. if you are consistent then it really only takes a few days for this to be sorted, but you do have to get everyone on board.
Puppies biting is both completely normal and a necessary part of their development. With all mine Ive found the best thing to do is redirect them onto something they can bite and chew at. Toys like fleece tuggies or stuffingless soft toys are great for this as you can wiggle them around on the floor to make them more enticing. Keep one on you all the time and have them strategically placed around the house so youve always got one to hand and any time the puppy starts biting then he gets redirected onto a toy. This guide to dealing with puppy biting is well worth a read. If theyre worse in the evening (which is very common as theyre getting tired) then you can try and pre-empt it with a bit of training or a brain game which sometimes helps.
We had a cocker spaniel similar to this, we did the yelp and stand still thing, which didnt work for us as she just kept nipping and jumping up. We had to put her in Time out by saying a firm no then putting her kitchen and shutting the door or leaving the room and shutting the door. Only a few times but then “no” was enough to stop her. Its important to identify why your pup is biting, what is she trying to tell you? In our case she was just excited and playful and needed to be trained, sometimes pups nip/bite because they are telling you (or children usually) to leave them be or give them space.
My cocker was a bitey shark when he was a puppy and over excited or over tired. Making a noise like ouch made him worse. Just like Char22thom what worked was a quick timeout in another room or the crate. He would then either calm down or go to sleep. I sympathise as I had holes in my jeans from when he would launch himself and hang on with his teeth. It does get better so hang on in there.
Inhibit the Biting
The first step for how to get your puppy to stop biting is to inhibit the behavior. It is totally normal for puppies to mouth each other when they play. This mouthing, however, can quickly turn into a bite. When it does, the puppy on the receiving end will yelp, and this sound startles the puppy doing the biting, thus making him release.
Humans can exploit this behavior to stop puppy nipping and teach your pup how much mouthing is acceptable. When a puppy latches onto your hand or finger too hard, let your hand go limp and imitate that yelping sound. When the puppy releases, ignore her for 10 to 20 seconds and then resume play.
It’s important to remember, though, not to pull away from the bite. This can trigger your puppy’s chase instinct and make the problem worse. If the yelp doesn’t work or you’d prefer not to make that sound, you can substitute a loud “Ow!” or use other verbal deterrents.
Don’t repeat the limp and yelp process more than three times in 15 minutes. If you come to this point, it’s time for a puppy timeout.
The goal here is to teach the puppy that gentle play continues and rough play stops. Once you’ve inhibited the hard bites, repeat this teaching process with more moderate bites. Eventually, you should be able to teach her that mouthing without biting down is OK but that anything more than that is not.
Clicker Train Your Pup for Better Impulse Control
Clicker training is a good thing to teach your pup because it enables you to mark good behaviors in a consistent way. The clicker sound itself is used as a cue that your dog did something right. By using a sound cue you’re able to capture the exact moment he makes that good decision
So when you put your hand in front of your puppy & he doesn’t bite you’re going to click & give a treat. Part of learning bite inhibition is having your dog learn exactly what the boundaries are. Since clicker training allows for more precision it works really well for teaching bite inhibition.
The BIGGEST Mistake People Make With A Puppy Biting Problem
Have you been asking the question, “How do you stop a puppy from biting?” While puppy biting is a completely natural behavior during the puppy stage, it is also important to let your pup know what is and isn’t allowed to be chewed on.
Puppies begin biting very early on in life. Just like human babies, it is common for them to chew on objects during the teething stage to reduce discomfort. Furthermore, many dogs prefer using their mouths rather than their paws for manipulating objects. Once again, this behavior begins in puppyhood as young pooches start to explore their world.
Puppy biting may be cute at the beginning, but as your pup grows, these little nips can turn into painful bites. A puppy’s teeth are very sharp, and dogs often don’t know how hard they’re biting. Thus, the puppy-raising experience will generally include that one moment when Fido playfully bites down on a finger and draws blood.
Needless to say, this is not a behavior we humans want to have continue, especially not into adulthood. Want to learn how to get a puppy to stop biting? Here are the steps to take to stop puppy nipping.