Help ! My Puppy Bites !

This is a program for normal puppy play biting and

mouthing.
If you have a new puppy in your household, then chances
you are the victim of puppy play-biting. This is something
that most people would accept as being a natural part of
puppy behaviour. And it is natural however you must
teach your puppy that it is not acceptable!
Why isnt play biting acceptable?
As a puppy he has very sharp teeth but a very weak aw.
This means his puppy bite maybe a little uncomfortable
but normally can!t do any real damage. As an adult do
however, he will have larger teeth and a relatively
powerful aw. "ther dogs may tolerate his play-bites
because doggy skin is generally tougher than our skin, so
dogs aren!t inured as easily. #owever is an adult dog
bites humans skin he can do a lot of damage even if he is
only playing.
Adult dogs tend to be larger than the average puppy,
usually being on level with a child!s face. $o if a child is
playing with your dog and he bites, chances are it will be
on the face. %ven if he bites an arm or leg he will
probably cause physical and emotional trauma to the
child. In this case the dog may end up euthanised and the
child scarred. &ot a nice scenario.
This is why it is important that your puppy learns not to
bite whilst he is still a puppy. 'uppies that play-bite with
each other may be cute to watch, but it is a dangerous
game when they do this with humans.
Why does my puppy play-bite?
(our puppy and his littermates grow )uickly after they
are born. They soon move around and come into contact
with each other. As they grown older they begin to mouth
and play-bite each other. They spend a lot of time play-
biting and grabbing each other with their mouths - this is
all practice in survival skills. They have to learn how to
use their mouths appropriately as this is their only real
means of grabbing anything.
The puppies learn not to bite their litter mates too hard.
If you watch them playing you will see that if one puppy
bites another puppy too hard, the pup on the receiving
end will let out a yelp and stop playing with that pup. This
teaches the pup that if he wants to keep playing he must
be softer with his mouth this is called *bite inhibition+
,hen your puppy comes home with you he may well want
to play-bite and mouth you. This is a natural e-tension of
his play with his litter mates. #owever your puppy must
learn that you will not accept this behaviour and he must
modify his behaviour to suit you.
%veryone has a different perception of what is
acceptable. $ome people are happy for their dog to
mouth them when they are playing with them, as long as
he doesn!t bear down with his teeth. #owever, I would
suggest that most people should not accept their dog
mouthing them at all, as he may become confused about
who he is, and isn!t, allowed to mouth.
What can I do to stop my puppy from biting?
There are a few different methods you can use to teach
your puppy to inhibit his bite.
-*"uch! That hurt!+
-,ithdraw attention
-/edirect your puppy to appropriate play
-Avoid the games that get him over e-cited and biting
0ets look at these in more detail
*"uch! That hurt!+
This is the same method used by your puppy!s litter
mates and usually works well for une-pected mouthing or
biting. %very time your puppy touches you with his teeth,
s)ueak *"12#!+ in a high pitched loud voice 3like the
puppies4 (ou must react the moment you feel his teeth
and ensure you s)ueak loud enough for him to withdraw
his teeth. (ou should also withdraw your hand and ignore
your pup for about 56 seconds.
In most cases your puppy will look a little startled and
will often lick your hand in an attempt to appease you. If
he does this you may resume playing, remembering to
repeat the performance if he bites again.
#owever if he persists in biting you will need to put the
*withdraw attention+ method into practice as well.
Withdraw attention
*,ithdraw attention+ simply involves withdrawing your
attention form you puppy if he mouths or bites. This can
be an effective method when combined with *"uch!+
$o if your puppy is biting, turn your back and ignore him
for 56 seconds to allow him to settle. If he is persistent
you may have to leave the room or go elsewhere for this
period so that your puppy gets no attention from you at
all.
At the end of the time out session simply resume the
activity you were engaged in. 7 -56 seconds is normally
enough to give your puppy time to settle down- if you
leave it longer than this to return he will probably forget
he was even playing with you and the lesson will be
wasted!
/emember to keep this time short and return to your
puppy when he is )uiet and calm, not noisy and boisterous.
This may have to be repeated on numerous occasions for
your puppy to understand and is best used with the
*"uch! That hurt!+ method.
!ther ideas
-/edirect your puppy to something appropriate.
Transferring your pups attention to a chew toy is another
method to teach him not to treat you as a chew toy ! If
for e-ample he is biting your hands, offer a chew toy
instead.
-If your pup is very e-citable, start by only playing )uiet
games that don!t get him into a fren8y and don!t
encourage him to bite. 9on!t let other people play games
that get him over e-cited.
Why shouldnt I use physical punishment to stop my
puppy biting?
$ome people will tell you to smack your puppy!s nose if he
bites you, or to grab his mu88le and hold it shut while you
*growl+ at him.
These methods may deter your puppy from biting in the
short term, but may cause problems in the long term, as
your puppy will never be sure if a hand coming toward him
is going to pat or smack! If he decides that it is going to
punish him, he may display aggressive behaviour toward
that human to defend himself from what he may see as a
threat.
(oung children in particular can become the unintended
victims of this punishment. They tend to wave their
hands around more than adults and your dog may decide
they are threatening and react accordingly.
#umans punish with their hands, however dogs punish
with their teeth. :ar better for your dog to learn humans
are friends, not foe.
"o remember
-(ou ;1$T react %<%/( time you feel your puppy!s teeth
-If the touch is une-pected use *"uch! That hurt!+
-If continuing use the *,ithdraw Attention+
#!$ "H!$%& '%"!
-always supervise your dog when he is with children or
visitors.
-'rotect your dog from bad e-periences with people who
feel they need to *discipline+ him
-&ot allow people to encourage rough play from your dog
-&ever tell anyone that your dog won!t bite
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1sed consistently these methods should help improve
your pups bite inhibition. /einforce your re)uirements at
every opportunity so your pup remembers the rules.
/emember everyone in your house should commit to this
program as your puppy will be confused if some people in
the house allow him to bite and some don!t
If your dog continues to mouth and bite, growls whilst he
is biting, bruises or draws blood, increases his biting,
please ring the /$'2A for further information.