If you’re a new puppy owner, you need a strategy to deal with your new dog’s mouthing and biting.
Mouthing is a completely natural process for dogs – like human babies (even more so) they want to put everything in their mouth and chew on it. This is one of the fundamental ways they learn about the world and is not a bad thing.
However, if you don’t know how to handle a puppy using his mouth, then you could very well end up with a problem behavior and a dog that learns to solve problems with his mouth.
Here are a few key things for you to know so you can stop problematic biting and mouthing, while also helping your dog explore the world:
Mouthing is a completely natural process for dogs – like human babies (even more so) they want to put everything in their mouth and chew on it. This is one of the fundamental ways they learn about the world and is not a bad thing.
However, if you don’t know how to handle a puppy using his mouth, then you could very well end up with a problem behavior and a dog that learns to solve problems with his mouth.
Here are a few key things for you to know so you can stop problematic biting and mouthing, while also helping your dog explore the world:
pproach 1 – Appeal to your dog’s empathy
Yelp & FREEZE – If you’ve searched the internet, then you’ve no doubt found this approach. Approximately 90 percent of dogs will be responsive to this approach when done correctly. It appeals to your dog’s social desire and his desire to fit in with the pack. If he likes you and doesn’t want to cause you harm or assert his own dominance, then he will feel bad when he has hurt you.
The major problem people have with this approach is that they simply don’t do it correctly. Most people are not calm and in control when a puppy is mouthing their hand because their needley puppy teeth are painful. How do you make this strategy work?
1) Practice when the dog is calm – don’t wait until your high energy puppy is in a frenzy. He will be biting harder and less capable of hearing any sort of yelp. If you are gently allowing your dog to explore your hands or arms, he will be responsive when you “yelp” in a high pitch.
2) You’re not selling your yelp – Doing a yelp for clients always makes them laugh awkwardly because it is very high pitched and doesn’t sound like it would come from me. However, the sound is meant to mimic the sound a puppy would make if bit too hard. They innately understand that sound, and will respond with regret that they have hurt you.
3) Yelp and freeze means FREEZE – People will yelp and then rip their hand away quickly from a young puppy because of the physical pain they experience. Doing this will cause the dog to blow off any sound it heard and his prey drive will kick in watching your hand fly away. This is a boldfaced invitation for your puppy to pursue your hand and to bite more.
4) Yelp earlier and earlier – The older your puppy gets, the sooner you need to start yelping. As they get closer to adulthood, we want them to be gentler and gentler.
5) Practice, practice, practice – you should be working on this frequently. You should be doing this every time you give your dog a treat, every time you play – you could even feed your dog by hand and use every piece of kibble as a practice session. Do it until they understand!
Approach 2 – Correcting and setting boundaries
If your dog is in the minority and they are either so dominant they want to clash with you or have no regard for your well-being, then it’s important to move on to new strategies. There are various ways to correct a dog for puppy mouthing and it’s a simple matter of finding the correction that works for your dog and halts the behavior.
1) Sticking your fingers down his throat – it’s as simple, gross and unpleasant as it sounds, but generally effective. After you do this just a couple of times, most dogs will no longer find biting your hands enjoyable. Alternatively you can also hold the back of their tongue down when they put your hand in their mouth.
2) Bite deterrents (bitter apple, hot sauce) - Sometimes putting a foreign substance that dogs find unpleasant on your hands will keep them from biting your hands in the future. If you’re going to employ this strategy, I might consider putting your dog’s water bowl up so they can’t just rinse the bitter apple out of their mouth quickly and go back to treating your hands and arms like a chew toy.
3) Hold the back of the neck – Sometimes I will grab the back of the neck as if it were the mouth of the dog’s mother and just hold it there and it wait for the dog to become calm. This one can be tricky because holding too tight will cause the dog to fight you more and holding the dog too loose will cause the dog to fight you more. Finding the sweet spot will create calmness in the dog and allow you to resume play momentarily.
As with anything you do with a dog, your confidence and calmness will be what really turns the tide – especially if your puppy is overexcited or extremely dominant. Don’t lose your cool and any technique will work much better.
As with anything you do with a dog, your confidence and calmness will be what really turns the tide – especially if your puppy is overexcited or extremely dominant. Don’t lose your cool and any technique will work much better.
Yelp & FREEZE – If you’ve searched the internet, then you’ve no doubt found this approach. Approximately 90 percent of dogs will be responsive to this approach when done correctly. It appeals to your dog’s social desire and his desire to fit in with the pack. If he likes you and doesn’t want to cause you harm or assert his own dominance, then he will feel bad when he has hurt you.
The major problem people have with this approach is that they simply don’t do it correctly. Most people are not calm and in control when a puppy is mouthing their hand because their needley puppy teeth are painful. How do you make this strategy work?
1) Practice when the dog is calm – don’t wait until your high energy puppy is in a frenzy. He will be biting harder and less capable of hearing any sort of yelp. If you are gently allowing your dog to explore your hands or arms, he will be responsive when you “yelp” in a high pitch.
2) You’re not selling your yelp – Doing a yelp for clients always makes them laugh awkwardly because it is very high pitched and doesn’t sound like it would come from me. However, the sound is meant to mimic the sound a puppy would make if bit too hard. They innately understand that sound, and will respond with regret that they have hurt you.
3) Yelp and freeze means FREEZE – People will yelp and then rip their hand away quickly from a young puppy because of the physical pain they experience. Doing this will cause the dog to blow off any sound it heard and his prey drive will kick in watching your hand fly away. This is a boldfaced invitation for your puppy to pursue your hand and to bite more.
4) Yelp earlier and earlier – The older your puppy gets, the sooner you need to start yelping. As they get closer to adulthood, we want them to be gentler and gentler.
5) Practice, practice, practice – you should be working on this frequently. You should be doing this every time you give your dog a treat, every time you play – you could even feed your dog by hand and use every piece of kibble as a practice session. Do it until they understand!
Approach 2 – Correcting and setting boundaries
If your dog is in the minority and they are either so dominant they want to clash with you or have no regard for your well-being, then it’s important to move on to new strategies. There are various ways to correct a dog for puppy mouthing and it’s a simple matter of finding the correction that works for your dog and halts the behavior.
1) Sticking your fingers down his throat – it’s as simple, gross and unpleasant as it sounds, but generally effective. After you do this just a couple of times, most dogs will no longer find biting your hands enjoyable. Alternatively you can also hold the back of their tongue down when they put your hand in their mouth.
2) Bite deterrents (bitter apple, hot sauce) - Sometimes putting a foreign substance that dogs find unpleasant on your hands will keep them from biting your hands in the future. If you’re going to employ this strategy, I might consider putting your dog’s water bowl up so they can’t just rinse the bitter apple out of their mouth quickly and go back to treating your hands and arms like a chew toy.
3) Hold the back of the neck – Sometimes I will grab the back of the neck as if it were the mouth of the dog’s mother and just hold it there and it wait for the dog to become calm. This one can be tricky because holding too tight will cause the dog to fight you more and holding the dog too loose will cause the dog to fight you more. Finding the sweet spot will create calmness in the dog and allow you to resume play momentarily.
As with anything you do with a dog, your confidence and calmness will be what really turns the tide – especially if your puppy is overexcited or extremely dominant. Don’t lose your cool and any technique will work much better.
As with anything you do with a dog, your confidence and calmness will be what really turns the tide – especially if your puppy is overexcited or extremely dominant. Don’t lose your cool and any technique will work much better.
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