Puppy Training – How To Control Nipping and Biting

One thing you can count on when bringing home a new puppy is that it will nip and bite at your fingers during the first few days or weeks. This is perfectly normal and there is no reason to get alarmed that you may have purchased an aggressive dog. However, like any behavior you wish to change about your dog, you need to take a few steps so that it realizes that nipping is not something you as the “pack leader” want it to continue doing.

So how do you change this natural biting behavior that a little puppy has? Well the first thing to do is determine its age. This is important because puppies under the age of about 15 weeks need to be handled a little differently when it comes to mouthing and nipping than puppies over the age of 15 weeks.

If your puppy is brand new and younger than the 15 week period, the following tips can help you control its nipping behavior:

1. Start to show your puppy that you appreciate licking instead of nipping. When it changes its behavior and licks at your fingers or hands, be sure to praise it very lovingly. You can also encourage your puppy to lick more often by rubbing a little butter or coconut oil on your fingers. Let it know by soothing caresses that what it is doing is a good thing with each lick.

2. If your puppy is still biting or nipping at your fingers and it has just been fed and really doesn’t need anything in its mouth, set it aside with a nice bone for a little while. This is where a crate would come in handy. Place the dog in the crate for a short period of time so that it can divert its mouthing attention to its favorite bone. And it is very important not to yell or scold your puppy along the way. You must create a positive learning environment.

3. Whenever the puppy bites down hard on your fingers or hand, use a disciplinary tone of voice and give a command such as “No No” while looking sharply into its eyes. Hold this firm demeanor for a few moments and then immediately change your body language and go back to whatever it was you were doing before and with a soothing approach. Doing this procedure a few times is enough for your puppy to learn the command and to stop biting down hard when it is commanded.