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Is your puppy a baby shark? Chewing, mouthing, and nipping on you, your family, furniture, plants, shoes, cords - anything and everything? You're in good company.
Puppy parents often ask us about nipping behaviors and how to help their puppy learn to get past the mouthiness. So we're sharing answers and management strategies to help you get ahead of biting behavior with your pup.
Your puppy is doing what comes naturally during puppyhood. Puppies often mouth and chew things because they are teething which can be very painful for them. Chewing helps relieve that pain. If they don't have appropriate items to chew, they will chew everything that is in their vicinity.
And young puppies explore the world with their mouths, so it's normal for mouthiness and nipping to become part of their routine as they interact with everything around them - including us.
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They may just be little puppy teeth, but puppy nipping hurts! Puppy teeth are sharp and can feel like needles when they meet human skin. We certainly want to help our puppies learn better behaviors long before nipping becomes a habit for them as adult dogs.
The first step to changing just about any puppy behavior is understanding the why behind it. In this case, why do puppies bite?
What you do when your puppy shows biting behavior in play or other interactions influences whether you're helping your puppy stop biting or increasing the biting.
All of these reactions can increase the energy and emotion around nipping and result in more biting. How you initiate interactions with your puppy can also trigger nippy, biting behaviors.
All these ways of interacting with your puppy can be triggers that can add up to taking your puppy over their threshold level and cause more reactive behaviors - like getting nippy and defensive.
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You'll often hear dog trainers refer to your dog's threshold and triggers and "keeping your dog under threshold" in all kinds of training situations - whether it's puppy biting or reactivity at all ages on walks or in public spaces or at your own front door. Every dog has different triggers and different threshold levels. That's yet another reason it's important to "know your dog."
Your dog's threshold level is essentially your dog's emotional comfort level at any point. It helps to visualize a bucket, an emotional bucket:
What's the bucket game?
The bucket game is a calming game that gives your puppy a sense of choice and a good way to get comfortable with gentle handling and impulse control. You'll be reinforcing no-biting interactions with your pup.
How it works:
Continue for several repetitions of touches and treating as long as your puppy is enjoying it.
When your puppy sits calmly at your feet or on your lap, reward this behavior by giving food treats quietly (don't shout GOOD DOG, just show by positive reinforcement - treats! - that this behavior is rewarding).
Or ask for an alternative behavior like a "sit," "down," or "touch" and reward with treats. You're redirecting your dog's focus to a positive behavior you want to see and rewarding it. Your puppy will get the message that this alternative behavior works for him or her!
Set up reward stations in areas around your home where your dog could use a little focus and reinforcing (the kitchen, near the front door, your desk/work area, etc.).
They're small closed containers of bite-sized treats or bits of your dog's dry food. They're set up in advance and ready for you to use as rewards for behavior you want to see from your dog or as a redirect to reinforce alternative behavior in the moment when needed.
Reward stations are a simple and effective tool for both redirection when biting happens and proactive management to prevent biting before it happens.
Remember, you get what you reward!
Note: If your puppy growls... that can be a sign and a natural reaction from your puppy that you've invaded his/her space in a way that feels like you're taking away a resource your dog values. Your puppy is asking for space! We never want to grab a toy or reach into our dog's food or anything that threatens their space or valued possession (even if it's a sock).
If your puppy has a pattern of growling when you're a good distance away and your pup has a toy or treat etc, it could be an indicator of resource guarding. If you suspect that might be the case, it's a good idea to reach out for additional support from a certified trainer, and check with your vet to make sure there's no medical issue or pain that's making your puppy uncomfortable and respond with growls to interaction.
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Management means being aware of everything around your puppy, the environment, circumstances, and your puppy's tendencies and using that awareness to do everything you can to set your puppy up for success.
You want to remove temptations, avoid giving your puppy too much freedom, and in general, make it hard for your puppy to get into trouble. You're making it easy for your puppy to be successful with behaviors you want to see.
You'll often hear us talk about management and setting up your dog for success in all kinds of training situations. It's an important part of positive reinforcement training for puppies and dogs of all ages.
Use your dog's body language to determine whether you're receiving a "yes" or "no" for petting and handling.
Yes: paws at you for more, nudges you, moves into your space, shows loose overall body language
No: does nothing, shrinks away, growls, shows stiff body language
How to test:
Consistency is critical for your dog's successful learning. Training (of any kind) doesn't work if it's only one person following the training plan and other family members are sending mixed messages. EVERYONE in your household has to be involved and consistent with what you're doing to reduce puppy nipping!
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To keep puppies' energy and emotions balanced, their need for sleep and exercise is quite different from other dogs and their activity needs.
Here's how to think about and manage your puppy's sleep/exercise schedule to keep your pup at his or her calm, happy best:
Preparing enrichment toys and chews to have handy for frequent, regular use is a wonderful management tool to engage your puppy mentally. Enrichment that involves chewing and licking is soothing emotionally and has the added bonus of delivering more good nutrition in a fun, occupying way to your growing puppy. And for teething puppies, toys that involve chewing help massage sore gums.
With all these proactive management tools and constructive reactions in the moment in your skill set, you and your puppy should be well on the way to getting past biting and on to better behaviors for everyone.
Once you've put all these management tips to work to preempt your puppy's nipping, you and your puppy can enjoy a lot more fun together with a lot less mouthiness. Check out what's next in the Puppy Channel for more on all things puppy training.
Or jump over to the Life Stage Feeding Channel to find out which foods support your puppy's best growth and wellness, with recommendations from a certified canine nutritionist.
If you have any questions on training and your puppy, just ask us in the Community discussion!
Or get customized training help in your dog's plan here.
DISCLAIMER: The content of this website and community is based on the research, expertise, and views of each respective author. Information here is not intended to replace your one-on-one relationship with your veterinarian, but as a sharing of information and knowledge to help arm dog parents to make more informed choices. We encourage you to make health care decisions based on your research and in partnership with your vet. In cases of distress, medical issues, or emergency, always consult your veterinarian.