How to Get Your Puppy to Stop Biting

Has your puppy been biting everyone or everything lately? Puppies learn how to play softly and bite gingerly by playing with other puppies or people. If they don't get the right responses to their rough play, they never learn the difference between right and wrong. The following guide will help you train your puppy so that they begin to learn the right habits and stay away from the wrong ones.

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Method 1: Teaching Bite Inhibition

Play with your puppy using your hands until your puppy bites you harder than acceptable. When he does, give out a high-pitched yelp, imitating the yelp of a dog. Stop playing for a little bit.
- Young puppies often do not know how hard they are biting, and so they bite playfully without understanding how sensitive humans or dogs can be. Puppies usually learn that they're biting hard by playing with other puppies. Puppies will nip and bite each other playfully until one puppy is nipped too hard and gives out a high-pitched yelp. The victim will stop playing, and the puppy who bit the victim is taken aback and also stops playing momentarily. Pretty soon, both puppies are at it again, playing and wrestling around with one another. If one puppy happens to bite another too hard, the same thing happens and both puppies tend to withdraw for a bit. This feedback loop teaches the offending puppy that his bites can actually hurt other puppies (and people), evidence that the puppy uses to modify his behavior.

If your puppy licks you or tries to comfort you, praise him and/or give him a treat. If you are clicking training the puppy, click as soon as he withdraws his mouth from your hand or lets up the pressure.
- When your puppy bites you, let your hands or limbs go limp. Jerking your hands back in pain, while certainly a natural response, may actually encourage your puppy to play harder and continue biting. A limp hand, on the other hand, is very little fun to play with.
- Go back to playing with your hands. If he starts to bite harder again, let out your yelp or stern rebuke and withdraw from playing again.
- Repeat these steps no more than 3 times in any 15-minute period. Overdoing things won't send a clear message and won't learn to stop biting and will just continue.

Try using time-outs if your puppy doesn't respond to yelping or rebuking. Time-outs may be necessary if yelping doesn't work alone. When your puppy bites you harder than expected, yelp loudly and remove your hand to signal that playing has stopped. Ignore the puppy for 20 seconds. If the puppy keeps on biting you, get up and leave for 20 seconds.
- After the 20 seconds are up, go back and start playing your puppy again. You want to communicate that gentle play is encouraged and rough play is discouraged. Play with your puppy until the same sequence happens again and repeat the ignore/withdraw steps.

Continue giving your puppy feedback, this time yelping and/or withdrawing after only moderately hard bites. In other words, tighten up your rules a bit more. When your puppy bites you moderately, yelp or ignore him for a short period of time. Come back to play after softer play has resumed. Continue discouraging your puppy's next-hardest bites, and so on, until he can play with your hands gently and control the pressure of his bite.

Method 2: Teaching Good Habits

Encourage your puppy to play with other friendly puppies and dogs. Playing with other vaccinated dogs is a normal part of your dog's puppyhood. And just like your own childhood, this is a time for exploration and learning lessons. Regular play with other dogs, who don't need to "act" to teach bite inhibition, will encourage him to play nicely around other dogs and you.
- Consider enrolling your puppy in a puppy training class, where your dog can learn essential skills while having fun.

Substitute your puppy's favorite bone or chew toy for your skin whenever he bites you. Take out a toy or bone and let him bite on it. This will teach him that his teeth belong on a toy or bone instead of on your skin.

Engage in other forms of play. Playing rough with your hands is plenty fun, but it might be giving your puppy the wrong idea. Encourage other forms of play that don't involve your puppy nipping at your fingers, hands, ankles, and toes.
- Learn how to play fetch with your dog. Stick to the same rules every time you play.
- Learn how to play tug-of-war with your dog. Stick to the same rules to encourage your puppy to stop mouthing if he gets close to your hands.
- Provide plenty of interesting and new toys so that you keep your dog engaged. A bored dog is a lot more likely to seek attention from you by biting. Cycle out your toys so that your dog is less likely to get bored.

Use a taste deterrent to keep your dog from biting. Before you start playing with your dog, spray a taste deterrent on areas of your body and clothes that you dog likes to play rough with. When your dog starts biting you, stop all movement and wait for him to react to the taste deterrent. Praise him and continue playing with him when he lets go.
- Spray the taste deterrent on your body and clothes for at least two weeks. After two weeks, your puppy will likely have developed a strong distaste for your hands and ankles.

Make sure your puppy is getting plenty of exercise. A well-exercised puppy will not be as rough when playing with you. This will help avoid forming bad habits in the first place.

Be patient. Teaching a puppy not to bite is a tough process, involving a definite learning curve. Though it will take some time, rest assured that most puppies eventually learn to temper their biting and grow out of serious rough play. It may take a few months of feedback, but it's worth it.
- Don't treat like with like. It's sometimes tempting to want to physically punish your puppy by slapping, hitting, or waving your fingers in his face. The problem is that these responses can do one of two things: they can encourage your puppy to continue playing rough, or they can encourage your puppy to act out with real aggression. Avoid other methods of physical punishment that might scare or intimidate your puppy.
- Don't discourage normal forms of play. You might not enjoy being bitten every time you go out to play with your puppy, but you do want to forge a real bond between you and your puppy, and playing is partly how you do this. Don't give up on play time just because your puppy doesn't yet know how to play gentle. Teaching him the difference between right and wrong, not abandoning play altogether, will be best for both of you.