Teaching better mouth habits
Make skin-biting end the fun
Biting and chewing are normal puppy behaviours. Your job is to help your puppy learn what is appropriate to bite and chew. Puppies can also learn bite inhibition and dog-to-dog communication through appropriate, supervised play with healthy, compatible puppies and dogs. With people, the rule should remain clear and consistent: teeth on skin make attention stop.
When teeth touch skin too hard, calmly say “ouch,” turn away, and pause the interaction. If your puppy keeps trying or follows to bite at clothing or legs, step away behind a gate or out of reach for 20 to 30 seconds. Resume when everyone is calm. The lesson is simple: gentle play continues; hard mouthing makes attention disappear.
Keep it calm
Yelling, physical corrections, or rough restraint can increase excitement or worry. Brief, predictable pauses are clearer and safer.
Practice every day
Use meals to reward a gentle mouth
Hand-feed part of a meal when it is safe to do so. Offer a few pieces at a time. If teeth clamp down, quietly close or withdraw your hand for a moment; when your puppy softens, continue. This turns everyday food into many small opportunities to practice self-control.
Give better choices
Chewing is a need, not a bad habit
Chewing can be calming and enriching. Regularly reward your puppy for choosing appropriate chews. If appropriate toys are ignored while stolen shoes start an exciting chase, the puppy may learn that household objects are the more rewarding choice. Make legal chewing interesting before a problem begins.
Food puzzles
Use part of a meal in a durable, stuffable food toy. Layer a few treats with the puppy's regular food and freeze it when appropriate to make the activity last longer.
Safe chews
Choose the right size and firmness for your individual dog. Rotate several safe options and supervise until you know how your dog uses each product. Ask Jollytails if you need help comparing options.
Prevent rehearsals
Do not turn stolen objects into a chase game
- Keep shoes, children's toys, and tempting household items out of reach.
- Trade for a treat or appropriate toy instead of pursuing your puppy.
- Use gates, pens, and supervision to create an easy-to-manage puppy area.
- Provide sleep and quiet time; overtired puppies often become mouthier.
Watch and learn
More help with biting and chewing
Watch this companion video after reading the guide to reinforce calm, reward-based approaches to puppy mouthing, biting, and appropriate chewing.
Open the video on YouTube