7 LIFE SAVERS FOR PUPPY BITING
7 Life Savers For Puppy Biting
Nothing really prepares you for when your puppy is going through the biting phase. Their baby teeth are sharp, and it can feel relentless. Understanding the reasons why it’s happening and having strategies to manage it can, save your sanity and your fingers!
#1 Why is my puppy so bitey?
Puppy biting is completely normal. They don’t have hands so to explore the world around them, so a lot of things end up in their mouths.
Puppies are born with sharp teeth that eventually fall out as they are replaced with larger, less pointed adult teeth. Mouthing with their mum and littermates when they’ve got sharp teeth teaches them bite inhibition. They learn that games tend to stop if they mouth too hard. Unfortunately, us crying out doesn’t have the same effect.
Puppy biting and mouthing is not aggression; don’t believe anyone that tells you your puppy is trying to ‘dominate’ you. They are just baby animals trying to learn life skills. They may also be teething and be in pain (see #5), or they can also be over-excited or over-tired.
Some breeds and some puppies are more bitey than others. Know that it will get better by being consistent with the training steps and time.
#2 Manage it for great training
Not letting your puppy bite and mouth you, as much as you can, is really helpful training. Try not to let them practise the biting behaviour that you don’t want. There are a number of strategies below to help you with this.
If you are pulling your hand or sleeve away (which obviously you need to) that can become a good game for your puppy. This is then reinforcing and more likely to happen again.
Keeping a lightweight house line/puppy line on them can make for easier management without having to pick them up or hold their collar. You can hold the line to prevent them from getting to something they shouldn’t, without having to go close to the bitey end!
#3 When is it happening?
It’s useful to keep a note of times of days and what was happening when the biting is happening (or at its worst). For instance, are they biting your pyjama bottoms and trainer shoelaces at 6am when you let them out of their crate for a wee?
Later in the day can mean increased mouthing. ‘Witching hour’ (late afternoon/early evening) can also be a challenging time of the day. Try to build in some calming time to get them ready to rest even when they are fighting it. It’s very similar to over-tired children!
Once you spot the trends, look at what you can do to help reduce the opportunities to practise biting. Could you wear wellies, tuck in your trousers and pop them straight on a puppy house line? You may laugh but wellies can be a very helpful short-term solution to save toes, socks and shoes!
You may find keeping training and games sessions super-short can help your puppy to not get as over-aroused. Alternating a short games session, followed by some calm time is a great way for them to learn.
Not all puppies like to be picked up or handled. This is tough when they look so cute and everyone wants a cuddle. A puppy may be biting because they don’t like what is happening to them.
#4 Are they tired / teething / excited / frustrated?
There are lots of reasons for your puppy to be biting. Knowing why it’s happening can help you deal with the root causes.
Puppies need 17-20 hours of sleep a day! But often puppies are not great at settling down for a nap when they need to. We need to help them transition from a state of excitement to calmness ready to sleep.
Limiting the high-energy games can help. It might seem counter-intuitive but trying to physically exhaust your puppy to the point of sleeping can often have the opposite effect. Some crate games, brain games, a calm scatter feed or long-lasting chew are more likely to get your puppy ready to settle down.
#5 Teething – ouchy
Teething is painful. Who remembers their wisdom teeth coming through? Biting down on things when they are teething helps to relieve the pain or discomfort. Think about all the different textures that your puppy might want to chew at different times. Depending on how their mouth is feeling, they may want hard, rubbery, soft, squidgy, or crunchy.
Size-appropriate, long-lasting chews can be a great addition to your puppy’s diet. I love the bespoke puppy selection boxed from Friends & Canines [CLICK LINK] so that you can try a variety of chews to see which your puppy loves. Just reduce their normal daily food a little to allow for the extra calories in the chew that day.
Frozen carrots, or slices of apple and watermelon, or an ice cube can also be great for sore mouths.
They might like to shred cardboard. Do supervise them to make sure they are not ingesting anything. If they swallow cardboard could cause a blockage that could mean veterinary intervention.
#6 Toys – the bigger the better!
Playing with toys is a great outlet for puppies, building their relationship with you. Larger toys and ones with long handles mean you can keep your hands away from the bitey mouth! Toys that are 2-3 times the length of your puppy really aren’t too big!
Have toys accessible at all times so that if they go to bite you or your clothes you can redirect them onto a toy.
Keep some chew toys available for your puppy while they are teething. And keep everything out of reach that you don’t want them to chew. They won’t know that your trainers or the remote control aren’t toys. Other toys will have more value if you don’t leave them laying around. Get them out to have a game with them and then the value of the toy and the game is associated with you.
#7 Children and puppies
If you have young children around your puppy, this needs extra careful management. You want to keep everyone safe. Plus, if children shriek and run away from a nipping puppy, this can seem a lot of fun for a puppy and make it more likely to happen again. Never leave dogs in cars on a warm day; temperatures can quickly rise in a car, even with the windows open.
Useful links
Tug-E-Nuff toys, look for the lovely long handles – https://tug-e-nuff.co.uk/?ref=PUPTALK
Calm-K9 Lick mats, great for calming, but do supervise to make sure they don’t become chew toys – https://a-ok9.com/collections/accessories?ref=rYbcILADiwnc
Long-lasting chews, look at the 6 sizes of Puppy Selection Box – https://friendsandcanines.co.uk?ref=puptalk
Nylabone, a wide range of classic teething chews – https://nylabone.co.uk/
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