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One of the first unwanted behaviors your new puppy might exhibit is biting and nipping. Although this behavior might feel playful and harmless at first, biting can become frustrating when your puppy doesn’t know when to stop—and when they latch onto things like your hands, feet, leash, and clothes.
So how do you stop puppy biting? In this guide, Sara Richter, CDBC, with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, and Shelby Semel, CPDT-KA, senior trainer and founder of Shelby Semel Dog Training, will cover several training techniques to teach your puppy to stop biting. That includes redirection, bite inhibition, and impulse control in different scenarios. If you practice these throughout the week, you’ll see your puppy gradually become more gentle.
We also provide tips on when to bring in a professional trainer.
How To Stop a Puppy From Biting When Playing
Puppies bite because they are expressing excitement, playfulness, or uncertainty—not aggression. That’s why it’s important not to punish your puppy if a bite accidentally happens.
“Play should be organic and fun, a safe environment for exploration without the pressures of a heavily fortified structure,” Richter says.
To help stop your puppy from biting during play, pay attention to how your pup plays.
“If they enjoy more interactive play such as tug or chasing, start with a long toy,” Richter continues. “A flirt pole allows you to keep your fingers far from your pet’s teeth. Over time as they perfect the ability to grab the toy reliably, you can begin to use shorter toys.”
Below we cover some tips for how to get a puppy to stop biting when they’re playing.
1. If your puppy has trouble with biting when playing, try:
- Dropping the toy and walking away
- Keeping toys and treats away from the body (e.g., tossing a toy away from you, such as playing fetch)
- Dedicated training sessions or puppy training classes
- Puppy socialization sessions where they can play with other dogs
iStock/timnewman
2. Make sure your puppy likes the game
Redirecting your dog to bite a chew toy or treat can be a good way to keep your limbs bite-free, but you also want to make sure your dog is into the game too. Pushing a game your dog doesn’t want to play can make them frustrated, says Richter. “Using redirection will only be effective if you’re guiding the dog to an activity they want to engage in.”
“Let’s say you wave around a tug toy and your pet excitedly runs after it. When they catch the toy in their mouth, you stop moving it from side to side, and instead start to pull it into your body. As soon as you begin to pull, your pet immediately releases the toy and begins jumping and mouthing at your arms. The dog may be showing you that they prefer to chase something in motion rather than compete for possession,” narrates Richter.
How To Get a Puppy To Stop Biting Hands & Feet
To stop your puppy from biting your hands and feet, you can try the “Be a Tree” method. Be a Tree is a training exercise where you immediately hold yourself still the moment a puppy starts nipping. When working with your dog, avoid jerking your limbs, as that may make them more tempting to play with. Instead, try letting them go limp.
According to Richter, this will prevent you from adding to your dog’s excitement. When your dog is calm, you can move again or reinitiate play. If your dog tries to bite you again, Richter recommends:
- Dropping some treats or food on the ground to engage your puppy’s mouth with something else.
- While your puppy is eating the fallen food, calmly move away from them and go behind a barrier such as a baby gate or door.
- Come back with an appropriate object that the dog can chew on such as a chew, stuffed food puzzle toy, etc.
- When you return to play, try playing through protected contact at first. For example, if your puppy is in the living room behind a gate, you can stay in the kitchen on the other side of that gate. If your puppy jumps at you, you can easily step back and be protected by the barrier between you. Interact through or over the gate until you feel safe and confident that your puppy can handle more interaction.
- To end a game with your puppy, give them something else that they can engage with independently such as a chew, stuffed food puzzle toy, etc. to transition away from the interaction.
How to stop a puppy from biting your clothes
The process for keeping a puppy from biting your clothes is similar. Watch your puppy’s body language for signs of overstimulation. If your puppy starts to nip, retreat behind a barrier to indicate the game is over. Redirect your puppy to a chew toy or a snack, and return when you pup’s body language calms.
You’ll also want to be careful about your clothing choices. Avoid any clothes that have dangling fabric, and stick to materials that can withstand teeth and claws. In other words, if you’re trying to train your puppy to stop biting, this is not the best time to wear your favorite outfit.
How To Get a Puppy To Stop Biting When Excited
If you’ve noticed that your puppy tends to bite when they are over-excited, it’s likely due to arousal biting.
“Arousal biting typically develops as teething puppies turn into adolescents, however, it can show up later in life,” says Richter. This type of biting can be intense, causing scratches, bruising, or other injuries, but it is not the same as aggression. Arousal biting ultimately stems from a lack of impulse control.
Don’t worry—there are several training techniques you can use to stop arousal biting. To start, improving your dog’s foundational training basics with cues like leave it, sit, stay, and down will be helpful. After all, if your dog is in stay, they’re going to have trouble mouthing you at the same time.
Disengaging with your dog when they are biting also helps signal that this behavior means “game over.” When re-engaging your dog, it’s beneficial to wait until they’re displaying calmer body language.
Redirection to another toy may help them develop better impulse control as well. You can try enrichment activities that will keep your pup’s mouth busy. These activities can include your dog engaging with puzzle toys or snuffle mats, for example. Mental stimulation also has the benefit of tiring a pup out so they’ll be less inclined to give you a chomp.
If your dog struggles to relax, Richter also recommends trying Dr. Karen Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation. This series of tasks slowly desensitizes your dog to your movements and noise, teaching them to relax as your body language gets more intense. “Keep in mind that relaxation, while a beneficial skill, is often not enough on its own to modify complex behaviors,” says Richter.
iStock/MMarieB
Need more ideas? Richter recommends Canine Enrichment for the Real World: Making It a Part of Your Dog’s Daily Life by Allie Bender, CDBC, and Emily Strong, CDBC.
How To Get a Puppy To Stop Biting a Leash
If they haven’t been conditioned to walking on or wearing a leash, a puppy may bite and grab the leash while walking.
According to Semel, puppies typically bite the leash when they are overstimulated or frustrated. “The leash is right there and is an easy target to grab and shake,” she says.
She recommends incorporating the leash into indoor activities before using the leash outside so your puppy can become used to the feeling of the leash. “When you transition to using the leash outside, bring some treats to keep your puppy’s mind busy and their mouth occupied and to lessen the biting,” she says.
Repeat this step every time you take them outside on the leash, and they will eventually learn that not biting leads to a tasty reward.
For puppies, Semel suggests using a light nylon 6-foot leash. “Nothing too obtrusive,” she says. “The goal at first is to have them on a leash for safety and guidance. You can switch to your leather or fancier looking leash and collar later in life.”
Once your puppy is older, Semel suggests loose leash walk training or heel training to make them even more comfortable with a leash.
How To Stop Puppy Biting With Management
Some puppies are prone to situational biting, while others like to get their chompers out for just about everything. If your puppy is biting all the time, you’ll want to work off a general set of principles.
That means making sure your puppy’s needs are being met to keep frustration low, constantly reinforcing calm behavior with rewards, and using judicious time outs. Always avoid yelling or punishing a puppy for biting—they won’t understand, and they may become fearful or skittish.
1. Make sure your puppy’s needs are met
If you find that redirecting your puppy, or stopping play, is not working, consider whether your dog is trying to communicate a need. Some puppies do not know how to slow down and need to be in a boring environment before they realize how tired they are. Your puppy may need a bathroom break or a nap.
Taking a rest or changing up the environment with a quick walk can also help a dog reset.
2. Reinforce relaxation and calm
Keep relaxation training ongoing, even when your puppy isn’t in an excitable state. This can increase the time it takes for your puppy to switch between play mode and rest mode. It’s good to encourage calm behaviors, and this is a helpful video on how to reinforce calm through verbal and situational cues.
“The first step to any training or behavior modification plan is to clearly define goals,” says Richter. “What does calmness look like? Is it grabbing the toy slowly and gently as opposed to too quickly and forcefully? Is it keeping all four paws on the floor when we pick up the toy? Breaking down what we are trying to accomplish into steps that are clearly defined allows us to more easily identify and prompt desirable behavior from the dog.”
Another way to teach your puppy to stop biting is to reward them when they do something right. If they’re playing calmly, don’t walk away. This exchange helps them understand not biting means good stuff happens!
3. Utilize time out wisely
“We should first ask ourselves why we are using a time out. Do we need space away from the dog, or are we trying to punish behavior we didn’t like?” says Richter. Time out should be used to prevent and manage a puppy so that they can’t practice biting.
To help stop puppy biting, gently place them behind a barrier, such as a dog play pen. Richter advises making sure this space has food and water, plus appropriate objects, such as chews and toys. Play with your puppy inside the pen and when they bite, immediately step out. This teaches a puppy that the consequences of biting is you leaving, and not them being confined.
4. Avoid yelling or punishing
High-pitched noises can frighten your puppy, making the situation worse, or making your dog think you are playing rather than stopping play.
Avoid physical punishment too. These methods teach the dog to hide behaviors. Hidden behaviors make reading your dog’s emotions more difficult, and may lead to surprise or sudden bites. The best course is to calmly disengage so you and your pet get a break without accidentally contributing further to biting behaviors.
Olga Novikova via iStock
Other Reasons Puppies Bite
In order to stop a puppy from biting, it’s important to understand why they are biting. If it’s not excitement or overarousal, it might be the following.
- They are teething: If your puppy is starting to get more mouthy around the three to four month mark, they’re likely teething. Puppies develop 28 baby teeth around six weeks old. Teething begins at three-and-a-half to four months until six to seven months of age, when their permanent teeth (42 of them) come in. Frozen dog toys can help soothe teething woes.
- They are afraid: Every dog reacts differently when they’re afraid, but some dogs bite when they’re frightened. If you suspect your dog may be biting or mouthing out of aggression—or if overstimulation often leads to aggressive play or territorial, defensive, or fear-related behavior—do not attempt to tackle their mouthing without the guidance of a professional.
Benefits of Training Bite Inhibition
Why is it so important to train your puppy to stop biting? Early bite inhibition training can curb the likelihood of biting during adulthood and reduce stress for you and your dog. “Training and behavior modification should focus on positive reinforcement, rewarding behaviors we like, and preventing the practice of those we don’t until appropriate habits are formed,” says Richter.
Keep in mind, puppies use their mouths to experience the world around them, so it’s natural for them to chew, especially during the teething phase.
When to call a professional trainer
If you’re still having trouble teaching your puppy to stop biting, then it may be time to bring in professional help. Be sure to look for a certified behaviorist or trainer that practices positive-reinforcement techniques. Research shows that aversive, dominance-training methods, like the alpha-roll, can make mouthing behavior worse or potentially aggressive.
Richter suggests bringing in a professional accredited and certified dog trainer, behavior consultant, or veterinary behaviorist, if the following behaviors get worse:
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Nipping or mouthing to a point of pain
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Not able to redirect their mouth to a toy or treat
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Persistent return to inappropriate activities
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Struggle to return to a calm state
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Display body language signals of stress
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Escalation of growing or baring teeth
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Destruction or damage in home
“For tips on what to look for and what to avoid when taking professional advice, check out the ‘Position Statement on Humane Dog Training’ written by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB),” advises Richter.
Teaching your puppy to stop biting will not happen overnight. As with all dog training, particularly when we are trying to change a habit or innate behavior, consistency over time is the key.