How to Easily Eliminate Puppy Biting Behaviors

by Verlyn Spreeman

Stop puppy biting behaviors right away

Bringing home a cute puppy is always a very exciting event. Introducing the new puppy to your home should be a happy time for both yourself and your puppy. One of the initial major challenges, however, to the excitement of the new puppy, is to eliminate improper puppy behaviors.

Preventing biting and gnawing

Biting and gnawing is a normal activity for most youthful puppies and dogs. Puppies naturally nip and chew on each other when playing with littermates, and they continue this behavior to their human companions. While other puppies possess thick skin, however, we as humans do not, so it is vital to train your puppy what is appropriate, and what is not, when it comes to using those razor-sharp teeth.

The primary part of training the puppy is to discourage the biting reflex. Biting might be adorable and innocent with a 5 pound puppy, but it is neither adorable nor innocent when that dog has matured to adulthood. Therefore, puppies have to be taught to control their bite before they reach the age of four months old. Puppies habitually learn to inhibit their bite from their mothers and their siblings, but since they are removed from their mothers at such an early age, most never learn this vital lesson. It is consequently up to the puppy's new family to teach this task.

One great way to discourage the biting reflex is to grant the puppy to play and associate with other puppies and socialized with more mature dogs. Puppies love to tumble, roll and frolic with one another, and when puppies play they bite each other continuously. This is the best way for puppies to learn to control themselves when they bite. If one puppy becomes too rough when playing, the rest of the pack will correct him for that inappropriate behavior. Because of this type of socialization, the puppy will learn to control his biting reflex.

Proper socialization has additional benefits as well, including teaching the dog to not be frightened of other dogs, and to work off their excess energy. Puppies that are allowed to play with other puppies discover vital socialization skills on average learn to become better members of their human family. Puppies that get less socialization can be more destructive, more over-active and demonstrate other problem behaviors.

In addition, absence of socialization in puppies often causes frightened and aggressive behaviors to evolve. Dogs often react aggressively to new situations, especially if they are not properly socialized. In order for a dog to become a member of the community as well as the household, it ought to be socialized to different people, specially children. Dogs make a distinction between their owners and different people, and between children and adults. It is vital, therefore, to acquaint the puppy to both children and adults.

The best time to socialize a puppy to young children is when it is still quite young, on average when it is four months old or younger. One rationale for this is that mothers of young children may be understandably unwilling to grant their children to approach large dogs or more mature puppies. This is markedly true with large breed dogs, or with breeds of dogs that have a reputation for aggressive behavior.

Using trust to hinder biting

Training your puppy to trust and respect you is a very powerful way to hinder biting. Gaining the trust and respect of your dog is the foundation for all dog training, and for correcting problem behaviors.

It is critical to at no time hit or smack the puppy, either while training or any other time. Physical disciplining is the surest way to destroy the trust and respect that must mould the foundation of an effective training program. Reprimanding a dog will not refrain him from biting it will merely terrify and confuse him.

Training a puppy not to bite is a vital part of any puppy training program. Biting behaviors that are not corrected will only worsen over time, and what seemed like harmless behavior in a puppy can rapidly magnify to hazardous, harmful behavior in an full-grown dog.
 

About the Author

Easily eliminate puppy biting behaviors if you have the proper information. Puppy biting can be curbed well before they mature by studying from the experts. Verlyn Spreeman has learned this lesson and so should you!