Last Updated: 29/03/2025
How to Stop Your Puppy from Biting
Learn why puppies bite and nip and and why and how to address puppy biting early.
Author: Dr Nicole du Plessis BVSc (Hons)
Reading Time: 22 minutes - medium read
Last Updated: 29/03/2025
Learn why puppies bite and nip and and why and how to address puppy biting early.
Author: Dr Nicole du Plessis BVSc (Hons)
Reading Time: 22 minutes - medium read
New puppy owners often experience the frustration of playful nipping. While these little bites may seem harmless, they can quickly escalate, leading to unwanted behavior. With the right approach, however, you can gently discourage nipping and cultivate a well-behaved companion.
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Understanding why puppies bite is crucial part of pet ownership to ensure the well-being of the puppy, owners, friends and family. Puppies bite for several reasons and knowing these reasons can help you address the issue appropriately.
Remember that most puppies grow out of their biting phase as they mature, but it's essential to address the behaviour early to prevent it from becoming a habit. Patience, consistency, and positive reinforcement are key to helping your puppy learn appropriate behaviour and become a safe and well-adjusted adult dog. If you're having trouble managing your puppy's biting behaviour, consider seeking help from a professional dog trainer or behaviourist. They can provide guidance and techniques to address the issue effectively.
Addressing puppy biting early is crucial, as it can have a significant impact on the human-animal bond. Yes, puppy play can be cute and adorable, for a little while. Most puppies have their adult teeth by 6 months of age. These teeth can do serious damage if your puppy does not understand that teeth should not be on human skin, ever! This is where 'bite inhibition' becomes so important.
Bite inhibition refers to a dog's understanding the pressure of their mouth during interactions. If a puppy or dog hasn't acquired bite inhibition, they may not understand the sensitivity of human skin, resulting in excessively hard biting, even during play. Some experts and trainers believe that dogs trained to use their mouths gently when interacting with people are less likely to inflict severe bites, especially when they are fearful or in pain.
Puppies typically develop bite inhibition through play with other puppies. When observing a group of puppies at play, you'll see lots of chasing, pouncing, and wrestling. Puppies often nip and bite each other, occasionally biting too hard. When this happens, the injured pup lets out a yelp and usually ceases play. The aggressor, startled by the yelp, also pauses momentarily. Soon after, they both resume playing as normal. Through these interactions, puppies learn to moderate the intensity of their bites to avoid causing harm, allowing play to continue uninterrupted. The lesson puppies learn from each other can also be extended to interactions with people.
When you play with your puppy, allow them to mouth on your hands. Continue play until they bite particularly hard. At this point, emit a high-pitched yelp, simulating pain, and let your hand go limp. This should startle your puppy and cause them to stop play, if only temporarily. (If yelping seems ineffective, you can use a firm voice to say "No more!") Praise your puppy for stopping or for licking you, and then resume your activities. If your puppy bites hard again, repeat the process during a short play session. If yelping alone proves ineffective, you can transition to a time-out approach.
When your puppy delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Then, as your puppy startles and looks at you or around, withdraw your hand. Either ignore your puppy for 10 to 20 seconds or, if they continue to mouth you, move away for the same duration. After the brief time-out, return to your puppy and encourage them to play with you again. The key is to convey that gentle play is encouraged, but painful play results in a pause. Continue this process for moderately hard bites, and gradually work your way to extremely gentle play. Your puppy should learn to control the force of their mouthing, with the goal to have no teeth on skin at all.
First and foremost, when your puppy attempts to chew on your fingers or toes, offer a substitute like a toy or puppy-safe chew. This can really help satisfy their teething instincts. Encourage alternative forms of play, such as fetch and tug-of-war, instead of engaging in wrestling or rough play using your hands. If your puppy can play tug safely, keep tug toys within reach. When your puppy starts mouthing, swiftly redirect their attention to the tug toy, with the hope that they'll learn to seek out a toy when they feel like mouthing.
Puppies need a lot of mental stimulation too, so providing plenty of puzzle toys can really help tire them out.
Incorporate a modified time-out procedure. Instead of using time-outs for hard or moderate force biting, apply them whenever you feel your puppy's teeth on your skin. When your puppy's teeth touch you, emit a high-pitched yelp and promptly walk away from them. Ignore your puppy for 30 to 60 seconds. If they persist in following you or biting, leave the room for the same duration (ensuring that the area is puppy-proofed). Return after the brief time-out and continue your activities calmly.
If time-outs aren't feasible or effective, consider using a taste deterrent. Apply it to areas on your body or clothing that your puppy tends to mouth. If they bite, cease moving and wait for them to react to the unpleasant taste. Lavish praise when they let go. Apply the deterrent for at least two weeks and your puppy should learn to inhibit their mouthy behaviour after experiencing the bitter taste.
In the case of your puppy biting at your feet and ankles, have their favourite tug toy handy. Stop moving your feet as soon as they pounce, take out the toy, and entice them with it. Once your puppy grabs the toy, you can resume moving. Provide a variety of captivating and new toys for your puppy to play with, diverting their attention away from gnawing on you or your clothing.
If the puppy tries to herd by nipping, stand-still to discourage the behaviour. If you don't have the toy nearby, freeze and wait for your puppy to cease mouthing. When they stop, offer praise and a toy as a reward. Continue these steps until your puppy gets accustomed to your movements without targeting your feet or ankles.
Ensure your puppy has ample opportunities to interact with other puppies and friendly, vaccinated adult dogs. Playing with dog companions is vital for your puppy's development, and if they expend a lot of energy playing with other dogs, they'll be less inclined to play roughly with you. Enrolling your puppy in a reputable puppy class can be a great way to facilitate supervised playtime with other puppies and pick up essential skills.
Solidifying basic obedience can be a big help for many aspects of dog ownership. Train your puppy with basic commands that instruct them to let go or stay away from something. To learn how to do this, see our article How to teach your dog to "leave it."
If the "leave it" command is a little too complicated for your puppy, you can distract your puppy with a "sit" and "stay" command. To learn how to teach your puppy these commands, see our article How to teach your dog to "sit" and How to teach your dog to "stay.
Puppies commonly mouth on people's hands when they're being petted or interacted with, except when they're sleepy or distracted. To manage this, try distracting your puppy by feeding them puppy treats from your other hand. This helps them get accustomed to being touched without mouthing.
Another fantastic and possibly underutilised method is clicker training, which involves using a clicker to reinforce good behaviour. To read more on this, you can read our article How to clicker train your dog.
Punishment is a term used to describe a method which will reduce the likelihood of the undesired behaviour being repeated in the future. In the context of training, these are methods which can induce fear, pain, or discomfort in an animal as a consequence of engaging in unwanted behaviour. Although yelling can make us feel better in the moment, it can hinder the training process. We do not recommend this direction as it can lead to further maladaptive behaviours.
Negative reinforcement is another method of training we do not recommend. It involves an animal becoming more inclined to perform a behaviour in the future as a means of avoiding or alleviating something unpleasant. This is why the use of bitterant sprays would be a last resort measure when it comes to puppy biting.
This can be a very challenging problem to tackle on your own and can be damaging to the human-animal bond. If you suspect that your puppy's biting is aggressive or fearful behaviour, it is strongly recommended to consult with a qualified professional that focuses on fear-free, positive reinforcement methods. Consider reaching out to a registered specialist in veterinary behavioural medicine. To find or trainer or specialist in your area, you can visit the delta institute or you can speak to your veterinarian for assistance.
Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
Author, BVSc (Hons)
Dr. Nicole du Plessis is one of Pet Circle's qualified veterinarians and passionate pet care enthusiasts. Dr. Nicole graduated from the University of Queensland in 2016 with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and worked for a number of years in small animal clinics across South East Queensland before joining the Pet Circle team. Over the years, Nicole has developed special interests in preventative medicine, infectious diseases, small animal medicine and ultrasound.
