biting and chewing

Biting & Chewing

Biting

Puppies explore the world with their mouth! You’ll find your new puppy bites hands, feet, and just about anything he can get his mouth on! It is critical puppies be allowed to bite other puppies and dogs in order to learn how much bite pressure is acceptable in doggie play. The feedback we should give is that it isn't ok to bite people at all!

If your puppy bites you – simply yell “ouch” and turn away from the dog. You can then go back to petting or playing, but yell ouch whenever his teeth touch skin. This will teach him that play and attention stop if he bites.

For some puppies – this method isn’t enough, and they may just bite you more, or bite at your legs. If this happens, yell ouch, get up and leave the room and prevent the puppy from getting you for around 20-30 seconds, then return. Repeat as required. Your puppy will learn that biting people makes them go away, and that’s certainly not what he wants.

To help puppies learn their bite and to take treats nicely – we recommend that half of all puppies meals be hand fed to them. Yell ouch and pull your hand away whenever he takes the food hard. With enough practice your pup should be taking all treats with a very soft and gentle mouth.

Chewing

Chewing is very relaxing for a dog. It’s critical we show our dogs what are appropriate items to chew. Simply dumping a bunch of dog toys on the floor does not communicate to your dog which items are for him. Many people also ignore their dog when they are chewing their toys, but run and chase the puppy if he picks up a shoe or prized item. The dog then learns that picking up shoes and forbidden items starts a great game or at least gets attention, while chewing his own toys is very boring!

The best way to direct dogs to appropriate items is to make them fun – the best way is to use food. While you use half your food for hand feeding – try to put the rest of the puppies food in a stuffed food delivery toy, such as a WestPaw Toppl, a Kong or other similar brands. As shown in my video –put some treats in the bottom of the toy, followed by his kibble or raw. Put water in the toy and leave it in a bowl and put it in the freezer. This will provide your dog with lots of fun chewing time with the toy, and that will become his preferred item to chew – instead of your new shoes.