Playing – To Stop Your Puppy From Nipping

A puppy is the equivalent of human baby/toddler, they do things
that we know they shouldn’t, but they don’t realise it for
themselves. The responsibility of training your puppy to not nip
or bite falls upon You, their owner and the pack leader.

Playing with Siblings

During playtime, puppies chew their other siblings, they need to
play because your puppy is socialising themselves with others.
Amongst themselves they will show each other what is acceptable
within the pack and without you knowing your puppy is learning
the rights and wrongs. People are not ‘other puppies’, we are
the pack leaders and do not tolerate antisocial pack behavior,
so it is up to us to demonstrate how we play, without the
nipping.

Play Games

Playing with our puppy is essential, at their age it is what our
puppy wants to do. These sessions should be treated as an
opportunity to teach you puppy, in a fun and enthusiastic way.
The games you play can also affect whether your puppy bites you
during play. Tug of war games can encourage your puppy to bite
anything and everything. Instead, play retrieving games with
your puppy. With retrieval toys you’ll soon find which item, for
other training days, is best suited to ‘bribe’ your little
friend.

Children Playing

If children live with your puppy, teach them how to play
responsibly. No wrestling or tug of war, of course, but they
should also learn not to play run away games. If a child runs,
the puppy is going to want to chase. Your puppy is going to want
to catch them and will try to catch by grabbing with those sharp
puppy teeth! Kids need to learn to interact with the puppy by
throwing toys for her to fetch or by petting.

Biting = Stop Playing

If your puppy tries to bite or chew on you during play, stop the
game. You can tell her, “NO! No bite!” and immediately move your
hands and arms out of reach, stand up and turn away. Ignore your
puppy, they will want to know what has changed, so they will
‘enquire’ and come around to face you. When the biting stops and
your puppy has settled then calmly praise. You will have to
repeat this lesson several times, but she’ll gradually learn
that biting you means the fun and games stop.

It Takes Time

During your efforts to teach your puppy not to bite people, keep
in mind too, that this is a very natural behavior for your
puppy. You will need to take your time and be patient. You’ll
also need to be consistent (as does everyone else in the family).

Keep in mind that in dog training, aggression begets aggression.
When you tell her puppy not to bite, be firm and consistent but
don’t be rough. If you are aggressive toward your puppy, your
puppy will react with fear or will be aggressive in return.