Is Their A Way To Get My Puppy To Stop Biting?

One thing you can count on when bringing home a new puppy is the fact that he will nip and bite at your fingers during the first few days or weeks. This is perfectly normal and there is no reason to get alarmed that you may have purchased an aggressive dog. However, like any behavior you wish to change about your dog, you need to take a few steps so that he realizes that nipping is not something you as the “pack leader” want him to continue doing.

So how do you change this natural biting behavior that a little puppy has? Well the first thing to do is determine his age. This is important because puppies under the age of about 15 weeks need to be handled a little differently when it comes to mouthing and nipping than puppies over the age of 15 weeks.

If your puppy is brand new and younger than the 15 week period, the following tips can help you control his nipping behavior:

1. Start by showing to your puppy that you definitely prefer the licking over the biting. To do this, you will want to use a firm tone to teach him NO when he bites, but praise him when he licks you. Naturally the puppy would prefer the praise over the harsh tone and should start to change his or her habits accordingly.

2. If your puppy is still biting or nipping at your fingers and he is just been fed and really doesn’t need anything in its mouth, set him aside with a nice bone for a little while. This is where a crate would come in handy. Place the dog in the crate for a short period of time so that he can divert his mouthing attention to his favorite bone. And it is very important not to yell at or scold your puppy along the way. You must create a positive learning environment.

3. Whenever the puppy bites down hard on your fingers or hand, use a disciplinary tone of voice and give a command such as “No No” while looking sharply into his eyes. Hold this firm demeanor for a few moments and then immediately change your body language and go back to whatever it is you’re doing before, and with a soothing approach. Doing this procedure a few times is enough for your puppy to learn the command and to stop biting down hard when he is commanded.

Below are some more tips on bringing a new puppy into the home when you have an older dog already inside the home.

4. When you bring a new puppy into your home that has an established older dog, regardless of the dog’s age he will revert his behaviors back to that of a puppy. The reason for this is that he will see the attention that the new puppy is getting and attempt to mimic the behaviors out of jealousy. You will notice that when the dogs are playing with toys, one of them will attempt to collect all of the toys and guard them vigilantly. This is a form of establishing hierarchy and should not be interfered with.

5. If the dogs do get into a fight, it is important to remember to remain calm and to not yell which will only make the tense situation worse. The dogs will perceive this yelling as a form of threat and may escalate the fight. To actually stop the fighting, ignore the dogs, walk to the door, open it and step outside slamming the door behind you. The dogs are fighting for your attention and the moment that the door slams, they are distracted from the fight and with you gone, there is nothing left fighting over so in most of the cases the fighting will stop almost abruptly.

6. When it comes to feeding time, at first keep them separated. You do not have to place them in separate rooms, but you do want them far enough apart so that they do not compete over the food. Seeing as though the dogs are settling their hierarchy, if you allow them to feed to closely, the dominant dog will take all the food for himself warding off the submissive dog with barks and growls. Above all though, it is important that you feed the dominant dog first followed by the puppy. Later once the hierarchy has been well-established you can move their feedings closer together.

Tags: biting, natural biting behavior, New Puppy, nipping