No More Biting By Geoffrey English At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Puppy biting is a common problem for pet owners. How do you stop it? Know the rules for playtime and learn to use timeout. Here are some helpful hints and tips to stop puppy biting.

Follow The Rules

Keep fingers, hands, pants, shoes or anything that is attached to you "off limits". Never allow your puppy chew on them. Keeping these areas "off limits" will make it easier for your puppy to learn bite control.

Don't use your hands when you play with your puppy. This causes your puppy to view your hands as play objects. Always use chew toys when interacting with your puppy.

You will confuse your puppy if you buy chew toys that look similar to a child's toy or your shoes. His toys should be easily recognizable. Praise him for playing with his toys. Keep children's toys out of reach. Try spraying a nasty tasting chew deterrent like "Bitter Apple Spray" onto those items that are off limits.

Keep lots of toys available for puppy's playtimes. Rotate toys so that your puppy will not get bored and go looking for something else. Latex squeaky toys are a bad choice for your puppy. His sharp teeth will tear latex to shreds in minutes. Small pieces are a choking hazard.

Always buy strong, durable toys for your puppy. Ropes, Kongs, and hard rubber toys are good choices. Kongs are also great for occupying a puppy when you can't play with him. Put some soft treats in the hole. As your puppy plays with it, he is gets a yummy reward.

Training Bite Control

Puppies get very excited during playtimes. When you are playing with your puppy, don't wrestle or rough house. This tells him that it's ok to bite you. He'll be confused later when you correct him for biting. Teach your puppy to fetch, instead.

Your puppy will inevitably bite your during playtime. When this happens, give a dramatic "Ouch!" and perhaps a "Eeh- Ehhhh!". Try to get his focus back on this toy. If he goes for it, give him lots of praise. If he comes back to our hand, pick him up and calmly place him in "time out". This can be his kennel or play pen as long as it's in a quieter spot. Give him a treat and 2 or 3 minutes to relax.

Tugging games encourage your puppy to nip and bite. Don't play tug of war. If your puppy will not release his toy, you have a couple of options. Offer him another toy or a treat. He must open his mouth to get the other toy. There's no tug of war and puppy is reward for releasing his toy.

You could also try letting your arm become limp. Keeping a tight grip on the toy, relax the rest of your arm and don't tug on the toy. You might actually move toward your puppy. Puppies are easily bored. He'll soon be looking for something more entertaining.

Remember that puppies get really excited and forget their manners. This is going to happen to you. If your puppy gets overly excited, put him in "time out". If you are consistent with your "no bite" policy, your puppy will quickly learn that play time ends when he bites. By being calm and giving him a treat when you place him in "time out" you reinforce the lesson that the kennel or playpen is a good thing. Not punishment.

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