Teaching your puppy bite inhibition will save you energy, resources,
and grief later. Photo: Melissa Garcia Logan
Dogs use their mouths to explore their world. As puppies, they sample the world by licking, mouthing, and chewing to get a sense of whether an object might be food, fun, or to be avoided. People are part of a puppy’s world; puppies will lick, nip, and chew on fingers, ankles, dangling bath robes, slippers or whatever is handy as part of their natural exploration of us.
However, behavior that is cute when a dog is a puppy isn’t as cute when they reach maturity. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to handle your puppy in line with the behavior you want to see when he’s fully-grown. Puppies who are allowed to nip can turn into grown dogs that nip, and that can be a serious problem for you and your dog. What is nipping in a puppy is actually biting in an adolescent or grown dog. That spells liability with a capital L.
According to Nicole S. Silvers, a professional dog trainer in the NY/NJ/PA area, blogger on DogStarDaily.com, and owner of Silver Sky Canine Behavior Consulting, “Dogs who put teeth in contact with human skin can have a variety of motivations.” Sometimes they want to play and they think they are playing with you, often because they’ve learned rough play, inappropriate play, or even because they are highly driven to seek and respond, or overreact, to stimulation and enjoy your reaction. Sometimes they nip to control the interaction with you, either to correct you and your behavior or in an effort to instigate or continue a play session. Sometimes it’s the beginning of more serious behavioral problems, as might occur when a dog nips out of fear or frustration, or because they are not receiving enough stimulation in their environment in the form of exercise and socializing.
If your dog is no longer a puppy, you definitely need professional assistance to identify what kind of nipping or mouthing your dog is displaying. It can be difficult to tell the difference between playing and controlling, or between rough housing and the precursor to more serious issues of aggression. Using an inappropriate intervention for the type of mouthing displayed can actually worsen a less serious behavior, or strengthen an already serious behavior. Even if diagnosis may be more difficult, it is not necessarily too late to teach him how to behave and play appropriately. Silvers warns, "Adolescent mouthing is a DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME kind of problem. It is very important to get help immediately."
It is important to teach puppies bite inhibition. When teaching bite inhibition, you’re not teaching the dog not to bite, you’re teaching him that there is a line where fun becomes pain and when you cross that line, the fun stops. An appropriate way to teach your puppy the difference is through play. “Good play makes for good training,” says Nicole Silvers. Good play involves playing with a toy, like a rope, a stuffed animal, or even a ball but not with your hands because, “Hand motions become the cue,” Ms. Silvers explains. If you get nipped, loudly exclaim “OW!” then turn your back and walk away for a minute. Silvers adds, "Leave for only 30-90 seconds, otherwise the dog may think playtime is just over in the schedule, not that your leaving is caused by HIS behavior." After the "time out" is over, don't forget to return to play. Time outs are a natural consequence to inappropriate play and since play is the highlight of your puppy’s day, he will quickly catch on to anything that interferes with it.
You don’t want to avoid playing with your puppy entirely, or completely shut down opportunities for your puppy to nip you, and if your puppy is withdrawn you may need to actively engage her in play by initiating play. It may sound counterintuitive at first, but your puppy’s best bet at learning that people are soft and prone to pain comes through early interactions with you. You want to actively set up situations to teach your puppy that nipping hurts, that people aren’t toys, and that when you put your teeth on someone, the fun ends. It is simply easier to teach a puppy this lesson than it is to teach your adolescent or grown dog this lesson. A nip from a mature dog is going to be a lot more distressing and difficult to curb than a nip from a puppy. You don’t want your dog’s first experience to come when they’re old enough to do real damage.
Continue reading about adolescent nipping
Follow me on Twitter for dog-related news, tips, and updates! @MGL_NewarkDogs.png){kind=small}
Become a fan on Facebook to participate in discussions, share photos, and more!
All text in this article is copyrighted and the sole possession of Melissa Garcia Logan, unless otherwise indicated. Available for reprint and/or publishing only with written permission from author. Contact Melissa Garcia Logan with your comments, suggestions, questions, and ideas.
Comments