Tips to Stop Puppy Biting and Chewing
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A puppy that likes to take stolen and sudden bites ever so often at its people’s hands, ankles or clothes is showing puppy biting. But this is no cute puppy stuff, since if left unchecked, the puppy will develop it as a bad manner together with a good host of other bad traits. On the other hand, you as dog owner have quicks ways within reach to stop this. In order to do so, let us start by understanding why puppies tend to bite.
Biting is a behavior quite normal among dogs, and most especially puppies. Teething is a big compulsion for doing so, and to a lesser extent, curiosity about objects, and interest in communicating or playing. But there are obvious limits to biting, and if beyond what is normal, needs to be managed for the sake of people around.
To help stop puppy biting, you cannot simply tell the pet to “Stop that!” and expect the dog to get the drift. Yelling at a dog is more like frightening it into submission. Rather, the dog needs to be trained how to do things that are desirable, acceptable and show good manners.
So, the first thing you can do is to not encourage your puppy or dog to suck or “teeth” its fangs on your hand or fingers. If your puppy moves its mouth close to your hand with the intention of biting, say “ah” in a firm and strong voice. Then divert your pet’s attention away from your hand, and instead towards a chew toy. This will teach your dog to know what the acceptable chew toys in the house are.
Don’t encourage chase, or rough play with your dog. But if your dog nips at your legs or feet during another activity, stop moving and make it hear the stern, firm sound.
Once your puppy gets home from the rescue or the breeder, resolving puppy biting can begin already. Waiting for the puppy to be older will mean more work from you, and also make it harder for you to turn around things. The ideal scenario to aim for is to teach the learning-ready puppy that biting is not good. And the teething period of its life is also no reason why it needs to lay its teeth on its master, or family members for that matter.
As we have mentioned earlier, biting is actually a normal tendency among puppies and dogs. So the solution is to channel the puppy’s chewing instinct into more suitable objects. While soft, squishy toys may help, dogs save much of the chewing energies for chewing hard things. Chewing actually calms and relaxes the dog, so it needs to be encouraged among the right toys. A nylabone is a good example of such a bite-friendly toy. Hard bones, aside from comforting the puppy, also help with their teething, and helps clean the teeth of older puppies.
Before we end, remember that the most effective help in training puppies not to bite is consistency in training. Don’t let up an inch when your dog starts chewing or mouthing you. Soon you will reap benefits in the form of a loyal and gentlemanly puppy.
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