Breaking your pup’s biting habit | Tips and advice

Puppies like to play and can playfully snap or bite in their enthusiasm. Their sharp baby teeth may hurt quite a bit. Teach your pup to be careful. Here’s how to break your pup’s biting habit.

Why does my pup bite?

Pups like to play and are still discovering the world around them. They like to use their mouths to do that, since it is the only way a pup can really grab and feel something. When a pup is playing with its brothers and sisters, they’ll show it when something hurts. They will either cry out or stop playing and walk away. The mother will also not tolerate such behaviour and reprimand the pup. It is important that you do the same, and break its biting or biting down habit by yelling ‘Ouch’ and ending play.

Another reason for biting may be that your pup is changing teeth. Pups feel a strong need to chew during this period. Make sure to make chewing toys available to them or give it a Yarrah organic chicken neck.

How can I break my pup’s biting habit?

In order to prevent your pup from ruining your possessions or biting down on you or others, it is important to break the biting habit and teach it how to interrupt a bite.

Breaking a biting habit

When your dog bites into your possessions, use a low-pitched voice to clearly say ‘No!’. Remove the object the dog has been chewing on and replace it with a toy or chewing bone. If your dog accepts it and bites into it, reward it with your voice and give it a pet.

Teaching how to interrupt a bite

When you are playing with your pup and it bites you, withdraw your hand and stop playing. Let it know that it hurt you. For example, by yelling ‘Ouch!’. Ignore the pup for a couple of minutes and try to resume play. If it bites down too hard again, repeat the steps above. It may take a while before your pup understands what it is you want, but it will sink in sooner or later and your pup will bite more carefully to prevent you from interrupting play from that moment onwards.

Bite prevention

Biting/chewing is natural behaviour. You can’t prevent it completely. But you can prevent your dog from biting things it isn’t supposed to bite by making your home dog-friendly and making sure there are plenty of suitable toys around the house.