Mouthing and biting

Prevent:

• Puppies interact with other dogs by mouthing and biting and learn to inhibit their bite pressure to not hurt their friends.  They have to learn that people are more sensitive than dogs and require a more inhibited bite – most learn this with practice, by about 20 weeks.

• You are not a chew toy, avoid roughhousing play that involves biting your body, tugging with your clothes or other items that are not toys.  

• Toys that can be rolled, tossed, or are a little longer can be used to keep puppy teeth away from your skin when playing.  Toss treats to the ground to keep fingers away from teeth if needed.

• Provide lots of appropriate outlets for mouthing and chewing, redirect your puppy to these items to chew.

• Avoid getting your puppy so amped up they turn into a land shark.  Play gently, in short bursts with lots of breaks – remember puppies are babies and need lots of rest and sleep in between activities.

What to Do:

• Engage your puppy in play or activities when they are calm and settled.

• Play with a toy between puppy and human.

• Adults playing with gentle wrestles with a pouncing puppy that will stop when you stop can be ok, just keep sessions under 30 seconds to 1 minute.

• Try to keep your play gentle enough so your puppy is able to play with a soft mouth.

• Under 20 weeks: If your puppy bites softly enough not to leave marks or hurt, keep playing!

• After 20 weeks: If your puppy makes contact with skin or clothes, you can stop the interaction and redirect to a toy when they are calm again.

• If your puppy bites with enough pressure to leave marks, stop the interaction.  If they persist, calmly walk away until they settle.  Puppies will learn to disengage when biting you makes you stop being fun.

• Puppies that bite clothes or pants when you are walking – stop moving and let them move on.  Redirect to a different activity or toy if they will return to the behavior.  Avoid flowing or loose clothes until they are making good choices on their own.

• If they don’t disengage after a first attempt to redirect (or you can tell that they won’t redirect), you can leave the area or put them on confinement in a pen or crate.  Keep it matter of fact, there should be something to chew or work on in their confinement space.

• If your puppy is biting in contexts outside of play or typical social interactions, consider if they feel trapped or unsure, and try to give them more choice.  This is where a behavior professional can step in to help you address any concerns you have (address early if you suspect fear, they are unlikely to grow out of it).

• Puppies are not biting to dominate or become alpha – they explore the world with their mouths just like babies, and biting/mouthing is part of normal puppy behavior.

• Behaviorally normal dogs do not respond to mouthing or too hard bites from puppies during play with aggression – they walk away and won’t keep playing.  Adult dogs that display aggression in this context should not be allowed to play until the puppy has learned to be more polite.

• Grabbing, growling/yelling at, getting in the face, holding the mouth shut, pinching the lips against the teeth, alpha rolling/pinning a puppy are all aggressive responses.  This will not make your puppy feel safe. This will not help them learn what to do. This can cause them to develop fearful and aggressive behaviors.

• Kids can’t be expected to give good feedback on mouthing to puppies – they require active supervision, and adults should interrupt and call the puppy away when either party is not making good choices.  Kids should always play with a toy between their body and the puppy. They can toss treats to the floor if they would like to avoid a mouthy puppy biting.  Teach kids to stop and hold still, then call for help if a puppy starts to mouth or bite.