#TIME OUT FOR PUPPY BITING HOW TO#
#TIME OUT FOR PUPPY BITING SKIN#

After the short time-out, return to your puppy and encourage him to play with you again. Either ignore him for 10 to 20 seconds or, if he starts mouthing on you again, get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds. Then, when he startles and turns to look at you or looks around, remove your hand. When your puppy delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Time-outs are often very effective for curbing mouthing in puppies. If you find that yelping alone doesn’t work, you can switch to a time-out procedure. Repeat these steps no more than three times within a 15-minute period. If your puppy bites you hard again, yelp again. (If yelping seems to have no effect, you can say “Too bad!” or “You blew it!” in a stern voice instead.) Praise your puppy for stopping or for licking you. This should startle your puppy and cause him to stop mouthing you, at least momentarily. When he does, immediately give a high-pitched yelp, as if you’re hurt, and let your hand go limp. Continue play until he bites especially hard. When you play with your puppy, let him mouth on your hands.

#TIME OUT FOR PUPPY BITING HOW TO#

If puppies can learn how to be gentle from each other, they can also learn the same lesson from people. Through this kind of interaction, puppies learn to control the intensity of their bites so that no one gets hurt and the play can continue without interruption. However, pretty soon, both playmates are back in the game. The offender is often taken aback by the yelp and also stops playing for a moment. The victim of the painful bite yelps and usually stops playing. Every now and then, a pup will bite his playmate too hard. If you watch a group of puppies playing, you’ll see plenty of chasing, pouncing and wrestling. Puppies usually learn bite inhibition during play with other puppies.

#TIME OUT FOR PUPPY BITING SKIN#

Some behaviorists and trainers believe that a dog who has learned to use his mouth gently when interacting with people will be less likely to bite hard and break skin if he ever bites someone in a situation apart from play-like when he’s afraid or in pain. A puppy or dog who hasn’t learned bite inhibition with people doesn’t recognize the sensitivity of human skin, and so he bites too hard, even in play. However, the first and most important objective is to teach him that people have very sensitive skin, so he must be very gentle when using his mouth.īite Inhibition: Teach Your Puppy to Be Gentleīite inhibition refers to a dog’s ability to control the force of his mouthing. The ultimate goal is to train your puppy to stop mouthing and biting people altogether. There are various ways, some better than others, to teach this lesson. It’s important to help your puppy learn to curb his mouthy behavior.

This kind of behavior may seem cute when your puppy is seven weeks old, but it’s not nearly so endearing when he’s three or four months old-and getting bigger by the day! What to Do About Puppy Mouthing When puppies play with people, they often bite, chew and mouth on people’s hands, limbs and clothing. All of these normal activities involve puppies using their mouths and their needle-sharp teeth. Puppies spend a great deal of time playing, chewing and investigating objects.

Time out for puppy biting