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Nipping and biting are easily the most common of the complaints I hear from those living with puppies. The nipping is bad enough, but with razor sharp teeth, it is even more painful. While the worst of it tends to occur when puppies are losing their baby teeth, for some adolescent dogs the nipping and mouthiness continue.
In some cases, the nipping will significantly subside once the teething stage is done and the adult teeth are in place. However, you can’t always count on the mouthy behavior to end on its own, especially if you live with a breed that tends to be mouthy.
Whether you have a puppy or an adolescent dog who is nipping and mouthing you, your objective is the same: to teach your dog the APPROPRIATE things to nip, chew and bite. You will be much more successful in stopping the nipping of human skin (or clothing) if you redirect the activity to an appropriate outlet. Too many people focus on stopping the behavior altogether which is largely unsuccessful. Redirecting their natural behaviors toward suitable outlets is always the better choice.
In most cases, puppies or dogs are wanting to play or wanting some form of attention. They are doing what comes naturally, and if it works, then there is no reason to do anything differently. Even if you are yelling “Ouch!”, saying “No bite!”, pushing your dog away, or doing anything else that involves talking to, looking at or touching your dog, guess what? You are giving him attention which is what he wants! Often the things we think are negative really are not. Scolding, yelling, pushing away, and other things are often seen as play invitations. We get fired up (because we’re upset) and we get our dogs more fired up because they are getting a reaction from us.
Stay calm – at least, as calm as you can when you are under siege from a four-legged creature packing razor blades in his mouth. Prevent him from biting you in the first place, or redirect as quickly as you can. Ensure your dog has plenty of appropriate options to bite. Make his toys more inviting. Rotate out toys every few days. Drag long toys around so when you are moving, he has a moving object to target other than you. Tie a toy to the end of a string and the other end of the string to a stick or pole that you can use to drag and toss the toy around while keeping your hands as far from the toy as possible.
While you are redirecting your dog toward biting at his toys, also make sure you are teaching him more appropriate ways to get your attention and invite you to play. Then be careful that your play style is not inviting more biting behavior. Keep your hands out of his face. Anything coming near his mouth should be fair game to grab – so make sure you have toys in your hand when playing.
Finding an appropriate playmate who enjoys the nipping – like another puppy with a similar play style – is also an excellent option.
There are lots of other things we can do to teach our dogs not to nip and bite at us, but providing acceptable alternatives is the first step.
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My dog is 18mos great prynesse! He pulls clothing and if you say no and he doesn’t like it he grabs on to your forearm, enough to make bruises!! It hurts but doesn’t brake the skin! How do I correct this??
Hi Liz, the first thing I would look at is WHY is he pulling your clothing? What is his motivation? Is it to get your attention? Get you to play? Tell you something else? The key is to teach him an alternative way to communicate. Nippy/bitey behavior, jumping, barking, etc., are all normal ways for dogs to communicate but they are problematic for humans! What starts out as normal puppy behavior does not always just naturally go away as dogs get older. For some it becomes habit and continues well past puppyhood. See if you can figure out what message your dog is trying to convey and then help him understand how to more efficiently convey that message to you. If you need help, you could try our Juvenile Delinquent Dogs book or find a local positive reinforcement based trainer who understands how to help you teach your dog to communicate more effectively. Just correcting or stopping the behavior is not likely to resolve the issue. Good luck!
these tips are all very good but how do to go about trainging the dog to not nip people when they are trying to pet her…? she tends to use her mouth to try to get peoples attention
If she really wants attention but is nipping while being petted, then you simply remove your attention and walk away. She will learn with repetition that she does not get the attention she wants if she is nipping. As stated in my article, you can also redirect her to a toy. If she wants to nip at something, make sure she has an appropriate alternative. I would also consider that perhaps she really does NOT want that kind of attention. Often, nipping while being petted is not about getting attention but rather avoiding it.
The reason why I ask is because while walking her she will nip at people who try to pet her even if she approaches them … And or she will nip at people when she is trying to get there attention in my house … Ill try using the toy and ignoring her I’m just afraid ignoring the problem will not solve it as she has nipped over 5 people including myself