Bitting

Puppies are furry, friendly and programmed for learning. Now is the time to teach your puppy about the things that people, especially kids might do, that dogs do not naturally accept. Things like toddlers pulling his tail, people taking his toys, kids going near his food bowl or kids taking over his special sleeping area. To prevent biting accidents later in life you can condition your puppy to tolerate and even enjoy any kind of handling. Give him hugs, pull gently on ears and tail, tug gently on his fur all over, praising him when he does not react. This touch desensitization should be done monthly throughout the dog’s life.

Dogs do not naturally share, but you can teach your puppy to give up his toys, bones, food and resting place by associating the approach of people with great things. When you first get your puppy, feed him at least some of his food by hand. If he shows any sign of being unhappy with you near his food bowl, then feed all of his food by hand for the first two weeks. This teaches the puppy that hands near his food is good. As he is eating from his bowl walk by and toss something really yummy near the bowl, so that the puppy leaves the bowl to get the treat. This teaches the puppy that it is OK to move away from his bowl when a person approaches. After a few meals, move to tossing treats into his bowl while he is eating and then to putting your hand into the bowl with the treat. This teaches the puppy that people approaching means good things. Do not take the bowl and away and give it back. This teaches the puppy that you are unreliable and he needs to protect his food or eat it really fast!

Practice exchanges with your puppy, where you get him interested in something of equal value to the toy or bone that he is playing with and you give him yours and take away his. Or give him a great treat in exchange for his toy and then give the toy back. Sit with him in his resting place and give him toys and treats. Make sure that every experience the puppy has with people approaching his things or special places come with a great reward and you will have a puppy that is happy to share and is less likely to become defensive later in life.

Many owners are concerned about the play biting of their puppies. Play biting is also referred to as "social mouthing" and is a natural behavior for all dogs. In the wild, dogs must use play biting for survival. It is important to understand why Dogs play bite in order to understand your puppy a little better. Dogs not only learn survival skills such as picking up their food or other objects with their mouths, but they also learn social rules through the play of biting. They learn inhibition, social status, pushiness, fear, appeasement behavior and how to respond to appeasement behavior.

Teaching “No Bite”

Put a stop to mouthing, nipping and biting immediately. When he starts to mouth or nip, quickly put your hand around his muzzle and say “NO! No Bite” He should whine or whimper in displeasure. That is the response you want. Now open your hand for him to lick. Licking is allowed. Praise him when he licks instead of nipping or biting. If he tries to mouth, nip or bite again, repeat the correction. It may take several weeks to completely stop this activity, but he should do it less and less each day if you are consistent with the correction.

You can give your dog some soft toys or a ball he can carry. A Kong® toy (of the appropriate size for your dog) with peanut butter inside will encourage him to lick rather than bite and chew. Other rubber toys and Nylabone® products are good for the chewing he needs to be able to do when he is teething.
Withdrawing Instead of Rewarding

An effective way to control biting is to withdraw the person or thing from the puppy. Put the puppy on the floor and ignore him for a few minutes. If he comes over and tries to get you to play or bites and nips at you, say firmly “NO” and move him away from you. Distract him with a toy. Or constrain him by putting his leash on him and making him sit. After he behaves, praise him lavishly. Only then can he go to his room or his crate. Never use his room or his crate as punishment.

Play Biting

Some of the most painful bites I've ever experienced have been play bites. An excited dog leaps up to grab a tennis ball or frisbee and also clamps down on my hand or arm at the same time. The bite wasn't intentional; the dog didn't mean any harm; it was an accident; but it is still a bite.

However you may rationalize, in the eyes of the law, and the one getting bit, when dog teeth injure human flesh it is a bite. The reason is incidental.

Never allow your dog to bite you in play. If you let your dog bit you in play, what you consider gentle and painless may be painful and cuase bruising on a child or elderly person. The very fact that the bites occur in play, in greeting or as an accident causes us to excuse and ignore it. The dog soon learns that she can act haphazardly and recklessly around us. We have taught the dog that there is no need to exercise caution or to be respectful. We have taught the dog that it is okay to be out of control. We have taught the dog that biting is acceptable.

This is not what dogs do to each other. They learn from the littermates first that biting is not acceptable and means the other puppies will not play anymore. Then they learn from their packmates that biting is a serious business and only for certain situations. If you observer an establised group of dogs interact and play, they don't make mistakes with each other. Higher ranking dogs do not tolerate disrespect from the other dogs and especially not from the puppies.

Dogs are not humans; we cannot reason and have discussions with them. It does no good to try to communicate with them in "human." You must communicate in "dog" if you wnat them to understand. They learn from the consequences of their actions. Watch how the mother dog or higher ranking dog repremands a puppy or subordinant dog. It is a quick, volcanic, vocal eruption. The dog is not harmed. It is a momentary, psychological explosion. An effective repremand is vocal, immediate, instantaneious and swift enough to catch the dog by surprise.

It's easy to teach the rules to a new puppy. A few repetitions will probably to the trick. But if you do the corrections wrong, even a puppy may turn on you and bite for real. Puppies especially will protest a time or two when you correct them for biting/nipping by growling at you, or trying to turn the whole thing into play. Don't be fooled, it is a protest just like a child saying "but I don't want to". Once you allow your dog to bite you in play, it's extremely difficult to break the habit - don't let the habit start !