Puppy biting is a natural behavior. Puppies need to exercise their jaws, strengthen their teeth and chew on things for healthy brain development. It is good to keep in mind that Bite Me is one of the most popular litter games between puppies. Since you are initially another littermate to your puppy, he will think he can bite you in the same way he used to bite them. Your puppy will eventually learn that he cannot bite flesh with the same enthusiasm. It is a behavioral stage he goes through. Puppy biting is best handled with patience.

The Wrong Techniques

• Do not grab a puppy’s muzzle and squeeze down until he yelps
• Do not grab a puppy’s muzzle and slap a puppy on the head
• Do not squirt lemon juice, ammonia, bitter apple or any other noxious liquid in a puppy’s eyes, nose or mouth
• Do not gag a puppy, stick your fingers in his mouth or otherwise abuse a puppy’s mouth or face
• Do not wrap a puppy’s lip over his teeth and pinch until he yelps
• Never, under any circumstances, use electricity on a puppy

All of the above could make your puppy worse about puppy biting. They are without question the worst possible techniques for dealing with the natural puppy behavior of teething. A puppy will either turn these techniques into a game, snarling and jumping back at you, which means aggression is being either developed or facilitated, or a puppy will become overly submissive with you, perhaps even urinating when he sees you because you have based your relationship on fear and pain. Future submissive urination and latent destructive chewing can actually be developed using the above rough techniques for puppy biting.

The Wrong Games

• Do not wrestle, chase or play tug of war with your puppy

These three games are littermate games and at this stage in your puppy’s development you will want to do everything in your power to signal your puppy that you are a leader, not a littermate. Tug of war is a popular litter game and your pup will want to play it with you, particularly with anything soft. Tug games are used in the litter to establish rank order, but unfortunately tug games when played with humans actually teach more mouth behavior. Puppies know how to play tug well enough already so that you can play it together later, but right now you want to establish dominance; tug games turn you into a littermate, develop aggression and teach mouth behavior.

The Right Techniques for Puppy Biting – In Order of Effectiveness

1. Ignore it

Most puppies will best be served by ignoring the biting. This is how mother dog handles it. Simply do not let it interfere and keep going with your lesson or care giving. If the power in his jaws or sharpness of his teeth make this impossible, then go to the next step.

2. Break Contact

Turn away from your puppy or get up and leave the area. Either isolate yourself somewhere, or gently and patiently put your puppy in his crate or confinement area for a short 15 minute “time out.” His desire to carry on the Bite Me game may cause him to vocally protest this turn of events, but ignore his cries to be released. If he thinks you can’t hear him he will stop crying. He may just fall asleep. If he does, then his biting you was a signal that he was tired and ready for a nap. Wait until he is quiet to let him out again.

3. Replacement

If a puppy bites you and you stuff a treat or toy in his mouth, you are reinforcing the biting. If you are going to use the replacement method, ask the puppy to perform a task or two – sit or down – before giving him the toy or treat. Therefore the sit or down will have earned the reward and not the biting.

4. Instructional

There is an occasional puppy who is smart and cooperative enough to be told, “Don’t bite” and eventually learn what that means.

You can be comforted by the biological fact that your puppy will begin replacing those needle-sharp puppy teeth with adult teeth at five months of age. The process will be completed at the age of six months. Unfortunately the sharpest teeth, the canines, are the last to go. Hang in there. Puppies bite. It’s what they do.