How to Train a Dog not to Bite

In my quest to teach you everything I know about how to train a dog, I forgot a very important lesson about how to train a dog not to bite. Sure young puppies can be cute when they are 8 weeks old but what’s going to happen when your cute little Boxer or cuddly German Shepherd is 80 pounds and still in the habit of playing biting? Don’t get me wrong, even small dog like a Yorkshire Terrier or a Jack Russel Terrier can really hurt if they bite so you need to learn how to train a dog not to bite no matter what the breed.

Learning how to stop a dog from biting or nipping can be a challenge for owners, especially if you have a young puppy in the house. Puppies love to sink their teeth into anything they can get their mouth on. As a responsible dog owner, you must train your dog not to bite as soon as possible. Don’t let the cuteness fool you!

Why do puppies and young dogs bite?

Biting and mouthing are absolutely normal for puppies. Remember that they don’t have hands to investigate and use their mouth just like a human uses his hand. So when your dog sees something new, he will use his mouth to determine if it’s food, toy or something that he’s not interested in.

Play fighting is also normal for puppies. This is where they learn coordination and other physical skills. This is also where (if they are with their pack) they learn how to socialize among their pack. So while it may seem abnormal to you that your dog is play biting and nipping at you, it is a perfectly normal behavior. It is up to us to train a dog not to bite.

One thing I would like to point out is that puppy bites can be a result of a dog being taken from her mother too soon. The mother and the littermates have their ways and actually train each other not to bite excessively. If they do they will be reprimanded by their pack.

How to Train a Dog not to Bite

Here are a few things you can try when training a dog to stop biting. First, you should purchase some chew toys, preferably with something tasty inside. Encourage your dog to bite on it. Your dog will eventually learn that biting, nipping or chewing on you has no rewards and biting on his chew toys will get him something tasty.

If your dog still insists on biting you can do exactly what his littermates do. Make a loud noise that will startle your dog (other puppies yelp loud if they are bit too hard) and show them that you are hurt. You can do this even if she is chewing on your shoes or pant bottom.

How to Train a Dog not to Bite

A few guidelines

1. Never hit or physically punish your dog. Hitting or slapping your dog simply doesn’t work. In fact, it can create future problems for you and your dog may get a case of fear biting where a dog may bite when he or she is startled or afraid. Even if you are joking which means you are “rough housing” with your dog can cause your dog to bite.

2. Encouraging desirable behavior is very important when learning how to train a dog not to bite. Encourage and praise your dog when they are chewing and playing with their toys and discourage undesirable behavior such as when your dog bites/nips at your hands and feet.

3. Don’t play rough games with your dog, especially during the puppy-hood stage. Games such as tug of war and wrestling may get your dog too excited and she may be more inclined to nip or bite. When training a dog not to bite, avoid these games early on until your puppy is more mature.

4. Expecting a young dog not to bite is not realistic. Remember that this is normal behavior for a dog and if he was with his natural pack, he would be taught his limits from his mother and his littermates. Now it’s up to you to show your dog his limits, just like his natural pack would have.

5. Enroll your dog in socialization classes. Dogs need to play with each other and when they do, they nip and bite when they are playing. If your dog is too rough the other dogs will tell him. He will learn to inhibit his biting during these socialization classes. Believe, other dogs can train a dog not to bite more than us humans can.

6. If you feel that your dog is biting to try to assert dominance over you, you must act fast and stop her immediately to prevent this from becoming a bigger problem in the future.

Stay tuned for some more posts about this topic and remember that the steps outlined above will help you learn how to train a dog not to bite.

Cheers,

Berto