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Prevent Puppy Nipping and Biting
Who doesn’t love a puppy? They are utterly adorable and give us a healthy dose of oxytocin. What’s not to love?
Puppies explore the world with their mouths. And, if they’re not checking out every nook and cranny of your home, a pup is likely using those little shark teeth on pant legs, shoes and legs.
So what do you do? It’s so important to help your puppy learn what “to do” vs. always trying to stop the nipping and biting. Management to the rescue.
Management means manipulating the puppy’s environment, so that the pup can’t practice unwanted behavior.
Here are a few management tips:
Puppy Proof Your House: Clear your floors and tables of anything that could be tempting or dangerous to your puppy. Use pet gates to prevent a puppy from getting into “off limit” areas. Have a plethora of “legal” chew items that you puppy can enjoy. Refrain from thinking an old shoe or sock will do the trick. A puppy doesn’t know the difference between a new shoe and an old shoe. Pick up ALL shoes and put them out of reach.
Wear tight legged pants. Think about your feet, ankles and calves from the puppy’s perspective. Your feet are always moving and to a puppy, that’s an opportunity to chase. By wearing tight legged pants vs. pants with flowing legs, there’s less movement around your ankles which will help diminish chasing.
Anticipate and be ready to redirect. All puppies will chase feet. Accept breed characteristics of your pup and be ready to train her “to do” what you want. That means being ready to offer something else BEFORE she latches on to your feet, ankles or pants. Thank Heavens for long tug toys! Redirect a puppy with a tug toy to prevent leg biting.
Exercise and mental stimulation. If we could only bottle that puppy energy!. If your puppy has enough exercise and mental stimulation, you’ll experience less puppy nipping and biting. Think about all sniffing opportunities. Be sure to provide some safe, off-leash exercise for your puppy.
If you must walk on a leash, think about doing sniff walks where you let a pup explore with her nose.
Know your puppy’s arousal level. With too much play your puppy’s arousal level can hit the roof. Become observant of how long it takes for your puppy to ramp up in excitement. Learn when to interrupt a play session before the pup tips over to fractious behavior. You can take a short training break and work on impulse control exercises (sit and down) or give the puppy a chew item, such as stuffed Kong, to help disperse that energy.
The bewitching hour. With every puppy there seem to be a few predictable times a day when a puppy will move over her arousal threshold. When that happens, sharp teeth are in overdrive! Be ready to prevent the fractious behavior by doing a short training session, providing a stuffed Kong or other chew item or by using any number of food puzzle toys.
Train your puppy. Puppies are little sponges. Each and every moment with your puppy is a chance to reinforce what you like or redirect her to something of YOUR choosing. My favorite behaviors to teach a new puppy are focus and attention, sit, down, leave it, and trade.
Paying attention to you is the gateway to other behaviors. Once learned, begin reinforcing behaviors you like.
“Sit” and “down” are impulse control exercises. “Leave it” helps a puppy learn to move away from some delectable object and look back at you. “Trade” teaches a puppy to willingly give up a prized possession.
Set aside three to five minutes each day to formally work on the above exercises.
Keep your formal training sessions short. Puppies have short attention spans, so quit while you’re ahead. Keep them wanting more!
Remember, however, that learning happens 24/7, so be ready to catch your puppy doing what you like, reinforce her with a yummy piece of food, and you’ll be surprised how quickly she learns!
