Does this sound familiar?
Typically every puppy goes through the 'nipping' and biting' stage - it is up to us as to help them through this stage through consistent training and re-direction
Beyond nipping at you or other people, puppy mouths can get them into a lot of trouble... Puppies live as though nothing is off limits to them and love to explore everything with their mouths - this makes everything (including you!) a potential chew toy
Ensuring that you provide a safe environment (puppy proofing your home) to prevent inappropriate chewing on household items coupled with teaching your puppy bite inhibition from an early age will help prevent unwanted (and potentially dangerous) behaviours as they start to grow up
How long does Puppy Nipping last?
Puppies tend to start teething between three and four months old and can last until they are six to seven months old.
As your puppy moves into the teething stage, you are likely to see an increase in the biting and nipping behaviours, as your puppy is trying to deal with the pain and discomfort that they are experiencing as they are losing their baby teeth, and as the adult teeth are starting to grow.
The good news is that with the correct and consistent training your puppy should grow out of this 'nipping' stage. It is also a good idea to note, that some working breeds (such as a border collie or herding breeds) have a stronger instinct to 'nip' - so you may need to help your dog manage his natural urges during their entire, however by starting them off correctly in these early stages will certainly ensure that the right foundations are put in place.
Understand the 'why'?
As well as nipping due to the pain of teething/gum hurting your puppy, you may find that your puppy also starts to demonstrate these behaviours in the following situations:
Overstimulated - In such that there is a lot of excitement, and they have got over exited
Chase Drive - They want to chase something that is moving (which can sometimes be called a high-prey drive)
Taking Treats - You might find that when your puppy is taking treats they use their teeth a little too much
Boredom - Looking for something else to do to entertain them
Tired - Your puppy is tired, and a little 'cranky' (I expect we can all relate to this one)
Attention Seeking - They want your attention - they soon learn that giving your a 'nip' actually gets them attention
Hungry - In some case, it is because your puppy is hungry as it is near their food time
How to resolve?
The good news is that we can easily break this habit at this young age before the behaviour turns into something which is more difficult to re-train and/or becomes dangerous
One of the primary tools that we always teach is redirection - In such we 're-direct' the behaviour to something else. In essence we are asking the puppy to focus from thing to another - two of the month common problems that our clients experience are:
You are giving your puppy attention, and they keep wanting to nip and bite your hands
You enter a room/walk past them etc and they chase and nip your shoes, trousers, skirt (and at times try to hang on especially if the clothing is loose)
For the above two examples, always have the 're-direction' toy etc on hand (or whatever you have which works as a good distraction for your dog) make this toy fun by moving it around and playing with your puppy - we tend to use 'tug' toys for this. The benefit is that this also ties into our puppy pre-school and puppy classes, where we teach our dogs the benefit of play and toy release commands. For puppies which are not toy motivated, you can switch to training treats (or puppy kibble) and also use this opportunity to get some puppy training in!
One of the other commons problems our client find is when they are giving their puppy a treat, the puppy can nip at their hands. In this instance, it is key to train your puppy ' the polite response' to receiving food. This is one of our key foundation exercises which start right at the beginning of puppy pre-school and puppy schools.
The Important of Puppy Play Times
Play is a really important time for you and your puppy - We focus on teaching play during all our dog training classes as this helps increase the bond with you, as well as giving rewards and focusing on positive training.
Remember that puppies love to play, grab, tug, pull at toys etc, and by focusing and re-directing you are helping to break the mouthing/nipping behaviours.
As well as using 'tuggy' type toys, we also recommend using rubber toys (such as Kong toys - which can be bought at most pet stores) stuffed with puppy-appropriate food. Remember as per the above, the benefit of using this redirection method, you are turning a mouthy dog into a dog which is playing with you through the toy
However it is key at this early stages, that we teach your dog the 'give' command and we start to set boundaries for your puppy. Puppy play is great way of re-directing the nipping behaviour, but we need to be careful to avoid playing too rough with your puppy as this might actually lead to encouraging the mouthing and nipping behaviours
Is there anything we can do?
Our first advice is to always try to redirect the behaviour, but if you are finding that this is not working or you, the other alternative is to leave the room.
By this we mean that if your puppy nips you, get up and walk out of the room for a short period. When you come back into the room, then resume the play and attention, if you puppy mouths again, repeat the above.
In this instance what you are teaching your puppy is that if the teeth are not nipping the 'game' continues - if they nip the game stops
Boredom
To prevent your dog from chewing due to boredom, always have plenty of Kong Toys (or something similar) and fill them with puppy-appropriate food.
This will keep your puppy entertained and help prevent any unwanted chewing in the house.
We do not recommend leaving your puppy unattended for too long (even with a Kong) as puppies get bored quite quickly and can start to make their own entertainment!
What not to do?
As mentioned above, avoid rough playing with your puppy as this can actually encourage the behaviour rather than working on preventing it
Do not 'yell/shout', Clamp their months shut, or 'hit' your puppy for when they are mouthing on you - this negative attention is still attention from your dogs perspective (albeit not very nice attention) and will not actually deter them from the behaviour - you are much better re-directing that attention into something a lot more positive. You will find that by using this positive training technique the results will be faster and your gain a much better bond with your dog.
We would also recommend not using soft squeaker or fabric toys as these can teach your puppy that it is acceptable to chew things, and recommend the Kong type toys as mentioned above.
If you need any further advice or would like to book a training session, or understand what training could be suitable for you and your dog - please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Good Luck and Happy Training
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