3 Puppy Biting Training Methods That Actually Work
Getting a puppy, showering it with love, and experiencing its love for you in return is a wholesome moment. But there is this one nightmare that can drive any dog owner mad. It is the puppy's biting phase. Those tiny teeth sinking into your skin, shredding your favorite pants, and chewing up furniture must be the last thing you want to experience from your puppy.
Out of frustration, you might even ask, ‘How do I get my puppy to stop biting?’ But before I tell you, you should understand that this puppy biting behavior is normal. Just like a human baby puts everything in its mouth to learn about its environment, puppies do the same.
Below, I’ve shared why they bite in general, some puppy biting training techniques you can try, and listed what you should avoid to stop puppy biting.
Why Do Puppy Bites?
When adult teeth start erupting for a puppy (which is around 12 to 16 weeks of the puppy), it experiences gum discomfort. As a result, it starts chewing and biting anything or anyone around it to relieve that discomfort.
Like I said before, a puppy starts biting to explore the textures, tastes, temperatures, and overall feel of an object. It will try to find whether that object is edible or chewable and learn to differentiate between toys, food, and other items. Puppies also bite their littermates to develop bite inhibition.
Besides that, your puppy can also bite when it feels stressed, anxious, hungry, overstimulated, overtired, bored, or even simply to seek attention. All of these are its normal behaviors and you can stop all these with proper puppy training and obedience.
3 Effective Puppy Biting Training Methods to Follow
You can stop your puppy from biting anyone or anything with the right puppy biting training. Many dog owners often ask how to stop puppy biting fast. I understand the struggle and the urge to stop it as soon as possible. However, there is no exact timeline on how to train a puppy to stop jumping and biting. Most puppies between 3 and 6 months of age grow out of this phase naturally, but you can train them consistently to quit this phase fast.
Here are 3 techniques that actually work when training your puppy to stop biting.
1. Redirecting Your Puppy with Toys
As a seasoned dog trainer, I have seen countless puppies stop biting and transform into gentle companions with this approach. Of course, your puppy might feel happy about exploring, playing, and even relieving themselves from their gum discomfort. But for us, those playful nibbles are painful habits. So, I would suggest you redirect your puppy with toys rather than scolding or punishing them.
Dogs are known for learning things from association. Every time your puppy bites your hand and you pull away and offer toys, it will start associating chewing toys and forget about biting us. You can stop a puppy from biting hands with consistent puppy biting training.
Your puppies are unpredictable. So, have a chew toy or soft plush within your reach and offer these when they start biting. You can also experiment with different toys and see what your puppy enjoys the most. Some prefer soft plushies, while others prefer rubber chew toys or rope tugs. If your puppy is teething, you can give them frozen teething rings or rubber toys for extra relief.
Also, know that just handing them a toy is not enough. Instead, you can tug, shake or add a little movement to the toy and make it more engaging for your puppy. This act of playfulness and redirection makes your puppy more likely to prefer toys than biting skin.
2. Yelp and Withdraw
Redirecting them with toys is a great idea to stop puppy biting. But, for some puppies, this method might not work all the time. Or even you can’t carry toys with you all the time. So, what should you do?
You can mimic a puppy’s yelp. Puppies, in general, learn to control their bites from their littermates. When a puppy bites another puppy too hard, it yelps and stops playing with that puppy. As a result, it starts regulating their biting intensity.
You can follow the same to stop your puppy from biting you. Make a sharp, high-pitched ouch or yelp sound, like a puppy’s natural reaction. Then, immediately stop giving any attention for a moment to your puppy. If your puppy stops biting you, reward them and resume playing.
Also, you can remove yourself from the puppy’s presence for a few seconds and start playing with them after the time-out. You can repeat this until your puppy stays calm and stops biting you.
3. Use ‘Leave It’ Command
If you want to know how to stop puppies from biting while playing, you can try the ‘leave It’ command to prevent them from mouthing or biting. You can start this puppy behavior training in a low-distraction environment. Just hold a treat in your hand and let your puppy sniff it. If it obeys you when you command ‘Leave It’, give it a treat. Once your puppy mastered it, start increasing the difficulty level gradually and train them well. Such positive reinforcements will stop your puppy biting behavior.
What Shouldn’t You Do When Your Puppy Bites?
It is quite natural for us to act aggressively when a puppy bites us. But it is not a recommended way to stop the puppy from biting you. There are effective ways on how to get your puppy to stop biting. And being aggressive is not one of them.
Never smack or squeeze your puppy’s mouth when they bite you. Such physical punishments might create fear and anxiety, or even worse, they become too aggressive and cause physical harm.
Also, I have seen people spraying water on dogs to stop them from biting. But again, that is not the right approach. This doesn’t teach your puppy what to do instead and may bite you when you don’t have water spray. Then, you should also stop ignoring them completely and push them away. Instead, be gentle and consistent throughout the puppy biting training and seek professional help when needed.
Wrapping Up
As a first step, you should know that puppy biting is normal, and proper training can stop them from biting. When you understand why your puppy bites, it will help you to prevent frustration and build empathy throughout the training. You can start following any of these three effective methods to stop puppy biting. Most importantly, stop punishing your puppy and be gentle to them. Whenever you struggle with this, feel free to reach out to Blue Line K-9 for professional help.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I get my puppy to stop biting?
You can start with positive reinforcement techniques like redirecting them with toys, yelping and withdrawing, and the ‘Leave It’ command. Also, make sure you don’t punish your puppy, and remember that consistency is key. If your puppy starts biting more or doesn’t stop biting at all, reach out to us for professional help.
2. How to stop a 2-month-old puppy from biting?
If your puppy is 2 months old and starts biting, it is more likely to explore its environment and teething. You can start redirecting your puppy with gentle toys and yelp to teach it bite inhibition. Even short time-outs are best at this stage. Follow these approaches consistently and you will see your puppy stop biting.
3. How to stop bad behavior in puppies?
First, you should identify the root cause of your puppy’s behavior. Then use positive reinforcement to reward good actions and stop bad behavior. Most importantly, maintain a consistent training schedule, let your puppy socialize, and provide more mental and physical stimulation. Even after following all these steps and still bad behavior persists, seek professional help.
4. How to stop a German Shepherd puppy from play biting?
German Shepherds, especially the puppies, are best known for their strong herding instincts. So they are naturally mouthy and require consistent, focused training to stop them from play biting. You can try the methods I’ve mentioned above and consider enrolling them in puppy training and obedience class, as they thrive better on structured training.
5. How to stop a golden retriever from biting?
Golden retrievers are known for their playful and gentle nature. But, of course, like every other puppy, retrievers also go through a biting phase. So, start bite inhibition training and follow the methods I’ve discussed above. And here’s one thing you should keep in mind about golden retrievers. These dogs are easy to please, so positive reinforcement works great for them.
About Section
Michael is a seasoned entrepreneur, professional dog trainer, and Marine veteran with over 20 years of experience. He founded Blue Line K-9 in 2007 as a small business, and later transformed it into a trusted name in dog training.
As an author and keynote speaker, Michael shares his expertise on dog training. His insights have been featured in Pet Boarding Magazine and Gordon Bernhardt's Profiles in Success podcast.
With a passion for helping both dogs and people reach their full potential, Michael’s mission is to make training accessible, effective, and life-changing.
