STOP PUPPY BITING
Puppies explore the world with their mouths. Normal puppy play includes mouthing and biting. Teething can strongly intensify these behaviors.
Unfortunately, for humans, this type of play hurts. Read on to learn how to teach your puppy not to put their teeth on human skin and stop puppy biting.
Let Them Sniff
Sniffing is how dogs experience the world. Encouraging them to sniff will help meet their needs and provide mental enrichment, reducing puppy biting.
Ditch the Food Bowl
Every piece of food is an opportunity for reinforcement or mental enrichment. Don’t waste those opportunities by feeding your puppy out of a simple, boring food bowl. The more mentally enriched your puppy is, the less likely they are to engage in puppy biting.
Food Puzzles
Utilize food puzzles to feed meals. This is a great way to encourage sniffing, engage their brain, burn energy, and provide mental enrichment.
This also helps satisfy natural seeking and foraging behaviors, leading to a more calm and content puppy that is less likely to bite you. When they’ve mastered the easy puzzles, bump up the challenge to more difficult puzzles.
Redirect Puppy Biting
Tugging is a great game to play to redirect puppy mouthing and biting and teach them what’s appropriate to put their mouth and teeth on.
When your puppy is in that bitey mood, ideally before they’ve put their teeth on you, grab a toy and move it along the ground. Think like a squirrel or other small critter. Fast, erratic movement along the ground away from them is really enticing. When they catch the “critter,” tug a bit and let them win.
Longer toys are best so your hands and arms are far away from teeth. Keep the toy low to discourage jumping up to grab it, which can lead to missing and grabbing clothes or skin. Teaching what’s appropriate to put their mouth and teeth on will decrease how often skin and clothes are chomped.
If They Can’t Redirect to a Toy
If they can’t redirect to a toy, (this often happens when they are overtired or overstimulated, particularly in the evenings) let them have some chill time in a puppy-proofed area like a crate or ex-pen with something to chew or lick, a kong or toppl frozen with some wet dog food or soaked kibble inside, or a long-lasting chew like a bully stick or beef cheek, or a food puzzle with a meal.
Keep several kongs/toppls prepped and frozen in the freezer. This will set you up for success and make getting some quiet time and fulfilling their desire to lick and chew easy.