How to Stop Your Puppy Biting
First things first, puppy biting is a normal behaviour for all puppies as they begin to explore the world around them, we can guide them to show them what the boundaries are with this. And will be times you can prevent it from happening more than it needs to.
Understanding why your puppy is biting is the first step to working on reducing and preventing it. Redirection to a toy can help, but not in all scenarios of puppy biting. If your puppy is overtired, for example, redirection onto a toy will likely make them more tired when what they need is more sleep.
Three Reasons for Puppy Biting & Things You Can Do:
Overtiredness - sleep is super important for puppies. So much so that they should be getting 18-20 hours of the stuff over a 24 hr period. I have a whole blog post dedicated to sleep over here, so give it a read.
If your puppy is overtired it might look like they have pent up energy. So the zoomies begin, the biting starts and escalates from there. Most of the time it happens in the evening.
The best thing to do in this situation is to help them to rest more - give them something nice to lick, sniff or chew in their bed and leave them be. Their bed should be somewhere quiet and with little foot traffic, ideally behind a pen or in a crate if they are happy to be in those spaces.
Teething - teething is something that will be really painful for your puppy, and you will likely find they chew / bite more during these stages. They tend to have two stages of teething - baby teeth appear at around eight weeks, and they begin to fall at about 12 weeks. From 12-16 weeks their adult teeth will appear.
Excitedness - this can happen in the morning, when you first see your puppy, and / or throughout the day when they are playing with you or a toy and become overstimulated. This is the time to use redirection!
One of the biggest tips I can give you for redirection is using a toy or chew that your puppy finds interesting. How do you do that? Rotate your puppies toys. Some stay out and others go in a cupboard for a week, then they get swapped around. The novelty factor remains high and your pup will show more interest in the newer toys when you redirect. Whenever they choose to finish a chew, pop it in the cupboard and get it back out later / next day to keep it interesting.
There may be other reasons for your puppy biting but the three above are the most common. Figuring out why and using the relevant tactic above will change the game when it comes to your puppy biting.
If you feel you need more dedicated, personalised support with all things your puppy. Think crate training, toilet training, night time, separation, sleep, routines - all the things, why not check out my Welcome Home New Puppy 1:1 sessions available to book in person or online, find out more here.
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