Why do puppies nip?
Since puppies are born without hands, the only way they have to explore the world is with their mouths. And you may have noticed that your puppy is quite the explorer. Everything goes into those little mouths, including your fingers, and those baby teeth are like little needles. Ouch!
It's completely normal for puppies in their litters to bite each other in play. When they engage in this "bitey-face" game, they learn a little about how to inhibit the strength of their biting. If one puppy bites another too hard, that puppy probably will yelp and stop playing. If that happens enough times, the biter learns to apply less pressure.
But puppies are covered with fur and we're not. The same level of bite pressure that is appropriate during puppy play can hurt us and even break the skin. The inhibition they learn in the litter helps, but it's usually not enough to teach young puppies how to properly interact with humans.
How do you stop the nipping?
Some trainers will recommend that you hold your puppy's mouth closed, yell "No," or even push their cheeks into their teeth so that they hurt themselves. If you look at it from your puppy's point of view, this may teach them not to nip, but it also teaches them not to trust. They're not being malicious when they nip you, they are simply doing what they are instinctively programmed to do. There are much better ways to deal with it that don't involve hurting your puppy and making her fearful of your hands coming near her face.
When puppies are biting us in play, it's because they are trying to interact with us in the only way they know how. What they want out of the behavior is for us to interact back. If you're saying, "No, don't, stop, cut it out!" and moving your hands all around to stay out of their reach, to the puppy you're simply playing back and encouraging them to go after those flying hands. They don't understand your words and moving targets are for chasing. The message you want to give your puppy instead is, "When you nip me, I will immediately STOP interacting with you."
- Try a sharp yelp, a sound that unmistakably means, "Ow, that HURT!" Many puppies will stop and draw back when they hear that sound. It may only be a second before they come right back at you, but if you get even a momentary hesitation, the message is being understood. Some puppies respond to a yelp by biting harder because these pups interpret it as a "squeaky toy" game. If you do not get that momentary hesitation or your pup seems delighted by the sound, don't use the yelp.
- Stop playing immediately. Don't wave your hands around, but do remove them from your puppy's reach. When your pup is calm, you can slowly offer one hand to her mouth. At this point many puppies will lick the hand. This, or any behavior that is NOT biting, should be rewarded with continued attention. But if you get another nip, yelp (if that works for your pup) and this time move away from your puppy altogether. Let her know "that behavior doesn't get my attention, it makes me go away."
This is not something that your puppy is going to learn right away. She is biting because it is something she was programmed to do. At birth it's as unconscious a behavior to her as breathing. She has to learn first to connect to it as a voluntary behavior that she can control. That's why the initial pull-away after the yelp is often followed by another nip (if your hands are within nipping distance). It will take a lot of consistent repetition before your puppy is able to get to the stage where she lunges to nip, but inhibits herself before making contact.
Children and ankle-biting
It's hard for young children not to squeal, dance, wave their hands around and run when puppy is nipping at them. This, of course, delights the puppy and encourages her to continue her "playing." In this case, or if your puppy is persistent and continues to nip at your ankles when you walk away from her, let her drag a leash in the house (when supervised). After a nipping incident, you can tether the leash to a doorknob and walk out of her reach, or bring your children out of her reach. When she has calmed down, slowly and calmly approach and offer a hand for a lick. Licks (or non-biting behavior) get praise and continued attention. Nips make the people go away again. Make sure to supervise children so that they don't turn this into a rousing "tag" game, winding the puppy up and frustrating her! Movements away from her must be immediate and smooth, and movements towards her must be calm and purposeful.
No rough-housing with hands!
The most important thing you can do when your puppy is a little land-shark is to make sure that nobody in her world is rough-housing or wrestling with her with their hands. If this is happening, then no matter what else you do you are confusing her with a game that in essence tells her, "Go for my hands!" Most puppies love to rough-house, and you can still do it. Just substitute a toy for your hands. While she's going after the toy if clumsy puppy misses and nips your skin or clothing, you can yelp (if that works for your puppy), drop the toy and stop playing. That will also help teach her to be more careful with her mouthing.
For more help with puppy behavior, you can attend the free New Puppy Orientation at Canine Action, Inc., in Oviedo, scheduled for this Thursday, June 24th, at 6:45 pm. Call 407-325-9317 for more info. A new 6 week Puppy Class will be starting at the same location this Saturday, June 26th, at 11:30 am.
Comments
As always Leah, very nice article. As a former professional trainer, I used the same method and it never let me down. Thanks for posting this.
u erase my comments because i am right huh!
lets post my comment again
Leah u should take some time and watch a mom dog deal with her pups and tell me is it a positive approach. the answer would be no if the pups try to bite mom she does not squeal or stand still she shakes them or throws them across the room. puppies need dicipline just like kids.
your paragarph on children and ankle biting u might want to address the ankle biting. PLEASE DO NOT TIE YOUR PUPPY TO THE DOOR U THE OWNER COULD INSTRUCT THE CHILD HOW TO PET IT INSTEAD OF GIVING IT A TIGHT LEASH AT THE END OF THE DOOR. i have not seen any of this work on a dog or puppy.
u call yourself proffecinal get real. r u even certified to be a dog trainer and if not i would go to a place that doesnt tell u this garabage
once again take some time out of your day and go watch a mom and her pups she will tell u alot.
Patty, are you nuts? I really think Leah's approach is safe, positive, and worthy of following. It's impossible to expain 'everything' and every situation in a short message on 'nipping'. But the gist is there. And it is good.
www.truecarnivores.com
I don't think that trying to act like a mother dog 'shake a puppy and throw them across the room' is good advice. In fact, I think it is extremely dangerous advice. Should we be grabbing our puppies in our teeth and shaking them? Ugh. We're not mother dogs. And, more importantly, because we don't want to teach our dogs that they can/should use biting to get their point across (normal dog behavior - but unwanted in our human world), why would we want to be teaching our puppies that getting physical is going to be the way we communicate? That's not a lesson that I want my dogs to learn. We expect our dogs to abandon some of their normal conflict resolution behaviors when dealing with us. Why then would we continue to teach them that getting physical is an option? Not very smart. And time- outs have been working great for the thousands of people/dogs that have come through my classes in the last decade. Time outs have been used successfully by educated trainers for a long time.
Dogs DO NOT understand timeouts! i do put my dog away if he decides not to track that day. thus means he does nothing in his crate all day and i bet tomarrow he will track.
i said nothing about throwing or shaking the dog across the room but just to make them bite themselves or hold there tounge down.
Mature, "teacher" dogs use negative punishment and tiny "time outs" all the time.
I have two female greyhounds who have handled young pups (and rude doggy visitors who act like pups!) beautifully. They ignore, look away, or walk away very slowly when they are getting nipped and jumped on.
My oldest usually shows young dogs that she's not interested in play at all, and they soon leave her alone, other than polite sniffing greetings.
The other one engages younger dogs in play, and I've watched her spend weeks carefully tailoring all the details of their play style to hers, with no more punishment than stopping the play if she disliked what they were doing.
There is no need for physical attempts at punishment. Just, as Leah points out, making the old behavior unsuccessful, and teaching alternate behaviors. I have success with asking for a nose touch, kisses, sit, etc.
Mature, "teacher" dogs use negative punishment and tiny "time outs" all the time.
I have two female greyhounds who have handled young pups (and rude doggy visitors who act like pups!) beautifully. They ignore, look away, or walk away very slowly when they are getting nipped and jumped on.
My oldest usually shows young dogs that she's not interested in play at all, and they soon leave her alone, other than polite sniffing greetings.
The other one engages younger dogs in play, and I've watched her spend weeks carefully tailoring all the details of their play style to hers, with no more punishment than stopping the play if she disliked what they were doing.
There is no need for physical attempts at punishment. Just, as Leah points out, making the old behavior unsuccessful, and teaching alternate behaviors. I have success with asking for a nose touch, kisses, sit, etc.
Mature, "teacher" dogs use negative punishment and tiny "time outs" all the time.
I have two female greyhounds who have handled young pups (and rude doggy visitors who act like pups!) beautifully. They ignore, look away, or walk away very slowly when they are getting nipped and jumped on.
My oldest usually shows young dogs that she's not interested in play at all, and they soon leave her alone, other than polite sniffing greetings.
The other one engages younger dogs in play, and I've watched her spend weeks carefully tailoring all the details of their play style to hers, with no more punishment than stopping the play if she disliked what they were doing.
There is no need for physical attempts at punishment. Just, as Leah points out, making the old behavior unsuccessful, and teaching alternate behaviors. I have success with asking for a nose touch, kisses, sit, etc.
Fantastic article once again Leah! I will save this link to share with clients as it is a common issue, with almost every puppy. Time outs, for very short periods of time work wonders. Just a reminder to others that, because of what is called an "extinction burst", the behavior may get stronger before decreasing and then stopping. Consistency with time outs has worked for every pup I have helped to train. They have attention removed, so reinforcement is removed and extinction happens. This has been researched over and over for those who do not agree. Good trainers do use much more positive reinforcement for alternate behaviors. Again, thank you for your calrity, way with words and sharing information on best training practices. They work!
Patty:
a couple things to keep in mind:
dogs are smart enough to know we are not dogs and not their mother!
Because we are not dogs we will never be able to guide and discipline the way a mother dog does. We do not have the timing or the physical ability to do that
Mother dogs may appear to be quite rough when, in fact, they are most gentle and good mother dogs do not even leave a tooth mark on their pups
PAtty, It is extremely dangerous to use the techniques you are mentioning here. Those means will not help relationship building, but cause the pup to be afraid of the one most important person he needs to feel secure around.
Again, Leah, thank you for a terrific article. Those who read it will hopefully try it. It works!
@ bonnie
the method i use have worked and does not harm the trusting relationships. how does making them bite themseleves and holding there tounge down harm a relationship
This is an excellent article. Scientifically,
short (< 2-3 min) work wonders with puppies,
as pups (and some adult dogs) don't physically
possess the capacity for serial memory. Therefore,
it's important to go right back to what you were
doing previously in order for the pup to understand
that the break in fun came because teeth hit skin.
Unfortunately, ignoring the dog for the rest of the
day only teaches him that his owner is unpredictable
and inconsistent. I find that by using carefully-
timed time-outs, not only do they understand,
but they get it faster and retain what they've
learned longer. Remember, dogs have a much
smaller forebrain than we do, in order to make
room for that amazing vomeral-nasal organ...
we are doing them a disservice when we try to force
to much, too soon.
In response to the poster who offered their experience of mother dogs disciplining pups: I HAVE watched many litters of pups with their moms, and have NEVER seen the behavior you are describing. Generally, the mothers will play with their bodies low, and if the pup nips too hard, will yelp a little then gently roll the pup off of them, then walk away for a few seconds before continuing to play. In the breeding world that I inhabit, a mom who tossed her pup away would be separated immediately from the pups. That is definitely an aberrant behavior pattern for a mother dog. Nor does a good mom hold her pups down until they stop struggling. I'm not talking about cute little toy dogs - I'm talking about Nordic breeds: Siberians and Mals, from working - not show - lines. Poor mothering skills adversely affect a puppy's development; moms who show the behaviors you cite are immediately removed from the breeding lines, and the pups moved to a surrogate.
(That is definitely an aberrant behavior pattern for a mother dog. Nor does a good mom hold her pups down until they stop struggling. I'm not talking about cute little toy dogs - I'm talking about Nordic breeds: Siberians and Mals, from working - not show - lines. Poor mothering skills adversely affect a puppy's development; moms who show the behaviors you cite are immediately removed from the breeding lines, and the pups moved to a surrogate.)
i have never heard of anyone doing this to there working lines.
JO WHAT PLANET R U FROM (MARS OR JUPITER)
i have also seen moms doing down stays with there pups when they move she corrects them back into a down. mom will usually do this when she is tired of her pups and they r bugging her.
I'm from Earth - the part where we follow science
fact, *not* science fiction. Moms raising pups alone
is an example of human choice, not what they would
do naturally. Please take the time to do a little
ethological research - what you find may surprise
you...
RE: Patty's comment. I have worked with and been with many mother dogs. I bred three litters of pups out of a dog I had years ago. I have never, ever seen a mother dog "throw" a puppy or shake a puppy. If any of the dams I have worked with had done that, the pup would be separated from her immediately! The mother dog simply makes a sound, stands nonchalantly and walks away! The only time I ever saw a mother dog put a mouth on her pups was in play (and very gently) or when grooming, licking. A paw holds down a pup only for grooming or in play, again gently as the pup can always squirm away if it wants to and then the mom ignores it. Same with the other pups in the litter. If bitten too hard by another pup, they squeal and run away, ignoring the "offending" pup.
Wonderful article Leah! Patty, you have no clue what you are doing, sorry. Mother puppies DO not throw their puppies across the room. Goodness.
Ok my point about throwing the puppies across the room a little dramtic but they do disicple the pups for biting THEY MOTHERS DO NOT SQUEAL OR TURN AWAY THERE SIBLING DO IF THEY GET TO RUFF.
Debby i was trying to prove the article wrong because i use negative punishment and it being timed correctely and constitant about when and how i correct. I do using negative and postive methods on my dogs, including e collars and pinches which do no harm dogs. I am able to get a well behaved dog or puppy and being able to compete with my dogs when they are 6 months of age. I would like to see everyone do that and accomplish that with a 6 month old dog and get a good enoough score to move on.
I bet you cant!
I wanted to say that I enjoyed this article. I shared it on my fb page. Thanks!
Patty, First off when training dogs there are not time limits. If I went to a trainer and they stated that "I train dogs within this amount of time" I would walk away. First that is not putting my dog first. What if my dog takes longer to learn? You would be assuming all dogs are the same. And being a life time dog owner, I can say thats not true. Second there are many trainers who use dominance over the dogs they are trying to train. I do not feel that this is a way to build a trusting relationship with my four legged family. Leah made a lot of good points and they do work. In the end you get a happy smiling dog that trust you. I do not understand why you are on here being so negative?
@ Hope are refering to that i can train my dog at 6 months and being able to compete. IN THAT AMOUNT OF TIME I CAN GET A VERY HAPPY PUPPY WILLING TO WORK FOR ME USING NEGATIVE AND POSTIVE METHODS. THE JUDGE COMMENTED ON HOW HAPPY MY DOG LOOKED!
I still bet you can't get that happy of a dog they way you train!
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