Training your puppy not to bite

Biting is one of those things that every puppy seems to do, and
every puppy must be taught not to do. Like many behaviors, such
as jumping up on people, biting and nipping can seem cute when
the puppy is small, but much less so as he gets older, larger
and stronger.

Left to their own devices, most puppies learn to control their
biting reflex from their mothers and from their littermates.
When the puppy becomes overenthusiastic, whether when nursing or
playing, the mother dog, or the other puppies, will quickly
issue a correction.

Unfortunately, this type of natural correction often does not
occur, since many puppies are removed from their mothers when
they are still quite young. It is therefore up to puppy’s owner
to take over this important process.

Socializing the puppy with other dogs and puppies is one of the
best and most effective ways to teach the puppy the appropriate,
and non appropriate way to bite, and to curb the biting response.

Many communities and pet stores sponsor puppy playtime and puppy
kindergarten classes, and these classes can be great places for
puppies to socialize with each other, and with other humans and
animals as well. As the puppies play with each other, they will
natural bite and nip each other. When one puppy becomes too
rough or bites too hard, the other puppies will quickly respond
by correcting it.

The best time for this socialization of the puppy to occur is
when it is still young. It is vital that every dog be properly
socialized, since a poorly socialized dog, or worse, one that is
not socialized at all, can become dangerous and even neurotic.
Most experts recommend that puppies be socialized before they
have reached the age of 12 weeks, or three months.

Another reason for socializing the puppy early is that mothers
of young children may be understandably reluctant to allow their
young children to play with older or larger dogs. Since
socializing the dog with other people is just as important as
socializing it with other dogs, it is best to do it when the
puppy is still young enough to be non threatening to everyone.

It is important for the puppy to be exposed to a wide variety of
different stimuli during the socialization process. The
socialization process should include exposing the puppy to a
wide variety of other animals, including other puppies, adult
dogs, cats and other domestic animals. In addition, the puppy
should be introduced to as wide a cross section of people as
possible, including young children, older people, men, women and
people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

While socialization is very important to providing the puppy
with life lessons and preventing him from biting, it is not the
only method of preventing unwanted biting and mouthing. Giving
the puppy appropriate things to play with and bite is another
good way to control inappropriate biting. Providing a variety of
chew toys, ropes and other things the puppy can chew is
important to preventing boredom, keeping his teeth polished and
keeping him from chewing things he should not.

As with any training, it is important to be consistent when
teaching the puppy not to bite. Every member of the family, as
well as close friends who may visit, should all be told that the
puppy is to be discouraged from biting. If one person allows the
puppy to chew on them while everyone else does not, the puppy
will quickly become confused, and that can make the training
process much more difficult than it has to be.