How to stop your puppy biting you

Puppies biting is a really common problem, and there are a lot of myths and misconceptions about this. Here’s why your pup is biting you and how to stop it

Why do puppies bite?

This is the number one question we get asked in puppy class! If your pup is biting you, don’t panic. Your pup is not vicious or aggressive. Pretty much every puppy is going to bite and we’re going to show you how to stop a puppy biting you. But here’s the thing – puppy biting happens for several reasons, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer like ‘yell ouch!’ or ‘put your puppy in its crate’ (both unhelpful pieces of advice, by the way). These are the things to know and the steps to follow  

Why is my puppy biting me?

This is the first thing to ask yourself. There are a number of reasons puppies will put their teeth on people and you need to work out why, before you rush in with a solution.

1.        It feels good! Puppies put everything in their mouths. It’s one of the ways they discover the world. Your hands (and feet!) taste good. They’re warm and squisjy and you are likely to make fun squealing noises if they do it hard enough. What’s not to like? Puppy targeting shoes, slippers, clothes? Think about it from a puppy’s point of view. There’s something moving past them, looking temptingly fluffy or swishy. That looks fun!

2.        Teething. Your pup will be teething pretty much from the time you get them up until around 9 months of age. That’s a long time to be cutting teeth, and just like babies, puppies get sore gums and a real urge to gnaw to soothe gums or help cut the teeth.

3.        Play! This is the main reason puppies bite. Did you watch your tiny pup with their littermates? They pretty much wake up, toddle over to another puppy and mouth it to get a game going. So of course they’ll do this to you – they don’t know how else to say ‘come on, let’s play’. And if you squeal and yelp and move around quickly, they’ll think a game has started.

4.        Is your puppy saying ‘please get off me’? One of the reasons puppies bite is they’ve had enough of touch. We handle puppies a lot. If we’re honest, we manhandle them. We run out of patience and pick them up without notice and plonk them somewhere. We rub tummies and ears without checking to see if the puppy wants that right now. We pick up sleepy pups to cuddle them or stroke them. And if you don’t pick up the subtle signs that your puppy isn’t happy with that right now, the only option left is to bite you.

My puppy bites me aggressively

More often than not a puppy who is biting really quite hard and persistently is frustrated. One of the challenges with a new pup is how to build clear communication between you quickly, so you can both understand each other. Often, while you’re working each other out, your puppy is trying to communicate their needs – they’re hungry, thirsty, need to toilet, bored, in pain from teething, under-exercised, over-exercised, or they just want you to stop handling them (this is a big one, particularly in homes with children, who just love to cuddle a puppy – whether or not the puppy want to be cuddled!) But they have no way of telling you. Actually, that’s not true, they do communicate all these things but as a new puppy owner, you may not recognise the signs. And having told you ‘quietly’, and got no response, the pup may resort to biting to bring your attention to the problem.

What command stops a puppy from biting?

A good general principle with puppies is not ‘how do I stop my puppy…’ but ‘what do I want my puppy to do instead?’. So asking your puppy to do something else instead is a smart move. For instance, if you ask your puppy to ‘sit’, they probably can’t do this with your hand in their mouth. And when they’ve sat, you can reward them for doing something you do like.

The trouble with just shutting down the activity you don’t like your puppy doing (by yelling or yelping) is that the reason your puppy is doing it still exists. That’s why just one command (cue) won’t cut it. You need to address the underlying reason. And remember that in the early days, when you need to sort out the biting, you haven’t taught your puppy a whole load of cues, so you’ve got limited ways of asking them to do something different.

Puppies can latch onto hands, feet, clothes and even legs!

The secret to stopping your puppy biting

We can take 1 & 4 together – it feels good and the puppy wants to play.

1.        Redirect the biting. Much as it might feel good to the puppy (and perhaps to you!) to use hands and feet as play toys, this is not the way you’d want your pup to play with a child, or an older person with delicate skin. So here’s the secret. From the moment you get up, you shove a great toy in one pocket (we love the toys from Tug-e-nuf ) and a load of treats in the other pocket. As soon as those puppy teeth touch your hand, you quietly take your hand away and bring out the toy instead. Animate it! Pop it around, make silly noises, really engage in a game. Your puppy will quickly learn that toys are the way to play with a person. Over time, you can take your hand away, wait for a moment of calm, and then bring out the toy as a reward for having their mouth off you. It’s not so easy to get your feet out of the way! But it’s a similar principle. As soon as puppy’s mouth touches your feet, stop moving. Bring out the toy and play. Some puppy owners invest in some good robust footwear to get them through the first weeks of puppy biting.

2.        Satisfy the chewing urge Help your puppy’s teething and also give them a satisfying and calming activity by giving them plenty of things they CAN chew. This can be as simple as empty cardboard tubes, or nice fat carrots or broccoli stalks, or good natural chews from pet shops. JR Products has a good range online

3.        Learn your puppy’s cues As much as puppy owners are keen to teach their puppy all kinds of cue, it’s really important we spend as much time learning what our puppies are trying to tell us. If you understand what they’re telling you they need, you’ll eliminate the frustration biting. If you learn your puppies body language you will see when they’re saying ‘I’ve had enough of being touched’ or ‘please don’t pick me up’

Want to learn how to ask your puppy or small dog if it’s okay to pick them up? Or to show them how to ask to be picked up? Get in touch and we’ll send you a quick video, absolutely free.

How do I discipline a puppy that’s biting?

Simple answer is, you don’t. Pups are babies and they’re learning about the world. Follow the steps above and you won’t need to do anything as harsh as ‘disciplining’. If your pup is having a bout of the zoomies all you need to do is redirect them onto other things or remove yourself for 10 mins while they blast off the energy and calm down. You’ll be building a rock solid partnership based on trust and understanding.

What age should a puppy stop biting

If you follow the steps above, the biting will decrease gradually and eventually stop altogether. Some pups learn this in a couple of weeks, some take a little longer.

Just from this one topic, it’s easy to see how much there is to learn as a new puppy owner. HotDog Training is here to support you every step of the way. We offer 1-2-1 puppy sessions, called Flying Start sessions, in your home from day one (or even before your puppy arrives if you want to be super prepared). Not in our area? Don’t worry – we often do these sessions via Teams, Zoom or Facetime. Just drop us a line and we can talk puppy.

Diverting the urge to bite onto a toy can be effective