Biting and Chewing
Chewing
Just like human babies, little puppies love to put everything and anything in their mouths. Not necessarily because it tastes good, but because they are trying to figure out their surroundings through taste, texture and smell. Instead of denying your puppy his natural instinct, it’s important to let him explore, but also give him plenty of his own toys and chews so that you can teach him what you want him to put in his mouth. Make sure to puppy proof your home and get everything valuable and yummy up off the floor and give your puppy lots of other positive chewy options.
When you catch your beloved little furball eating your brand new pair of favorite shoes, exercise extreme patience and remind yourself that your puppy has no idea that those are Jimmy Choos and not his own chew. Never yell, “No, BAD dog!” because your puppy has no idea what that means and will just think that you are scary and not one to be trusted. Instead, slap your own hand for leaving your favorite shoes on the floor in his reach and then calmly go get a puppy squeaky toy. Squeak the toy above your puppy’s head and as soon as he drops the shoe, say “Good drop it!” and immediately give him the squeaker toy. Later on, you can teach him what ‘leave it’ means and practice that with a shoe. It’s basically up to you to keep things out of your puppy’s way and constantly reinforce that he should only play with his own toys.
Whenever your puppy is chewing on something that you don’t want him to chew on, like a plant or piece of furniture, distract him away from it and then say, “Where’s your toy?” and try to lead him over to his own toy and start playing with it. That way you are using simple diversion tactics and teaching him that he should only play with his own toys. It also teaches your puppy to play independently by himself and keep himself occupied so that you don’t always have to be constantly entertaining him. If you have an avid chewer and some very expensive furniture, it’s also good to get some bitter apple spray to keep your puppy away from desirable human chewies.
Biting
It’s very natural for dogs to bite. However, our human world requires dogs to not bite, therefore it’s our responsibility to teach dogs bite inhibition. Puppies love to bite with their razor sharp teeth and they’ve been learning to bite and play with their littermates for the first 8 weeks of their lives. So your puppy is naturally going to want to play with and bite your hands. With their littermates, they have taught each other that a sharp ‘Yiiip!!” and cry tells the other puppies that they are biting too hard and that it hurts. When your puppy bites your hand too hard give a sharp, high-pitched “Ouch!!” and then get up and leave the room. That will quickly tell your puppy that too much is too much and that the play will end if they get too rough. Never ever rough house with your hands! This is a big no-no, but you can play with a stuffed animal or rope toy. Just make sure that you control the game and teach your puppy to ‘drop it’. To teach ‘drop it’, play with two toys of equal value. Hold one toy out of reach while playing tug with the other toy. When you want your puppy to drop it, stop tugging and become still with that toy, then wiggle the other toy in front of them. As soon as they drop the other toy, say, “Good drop it!” and immediately give them the other toy or quickly return the same toy to his mouth. During the game of tug, if your puppy ever bites skin, say “Ouch!” in a high-pitched voice.
Biting is natural, we just have to teach our dogs that biting human skin is not natural in our human world. Just make sure that you give your puppy plenty of good chews and toys so that he can release his natural jaw chewing energy in a positive way.
These are just a few puppy tips that can be put to good use right away. Please feel free to call me with any questions!
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