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The arrival of a puppy is a moment of great emotion and tenderness, however, the human family soon discovers that educating and raising a dog is not as simple as it may seem.
Puppies need a lot of care and covering their needs is very important, as we must not forget that they reach an environment that is strange to them when they were abruptly separated from their mother and brothers. But which behaviors should we allow and which not? In this article by PeritoAnimal you can find out if it's normal for a dog to bite a lot.
The bite in puppies
Puppies bite a lot, and what's more, they tend to bite everything, but it's something completely normal and furthermore necessary for its proper development. It is also important for them to develop the so-called "sweet mouth", meaning that they have the ability to bite without hurting in their adult stage. If we inhibit this behavior at all, our dog may suffer a lack of exploratory behavior in the future, which will affect him negatively.
Dog bites are a way of meet and explore the environment that surrounds them, since they also exercise the sense of touch through the mouth. Furthermore, due to the great energy that puppies have, this need to explore their surroundings is even greater and the bite is the main way to satisfy their curiosity.
Another fact that we should not forget to take into account, is that puppies have baby teeth that must be replaced by permanent teeth and until this process is not completed, feel discomfort, which can be relieved by biting.
My dog bites everything, is it really normal?
It is important to emphasize that up to 3 weeks of life we must allow our dog to bite whatever he wants. This does not mean that you should leave shoes or valuable objects within your reach, on the contrary, you should have own toys to bite (and specific for puppies), and even we should allow him to nibble on us, he's getting to know us and he's exploring, that's something positive for him.
Don't forget that when you leave the house and the dog is unattended, it is essential to leave it in a dog park. This way you will prevent it from biting all the objects it finds around the house.
Remember that although your puppy spends all day biting, in the beginning there's no need to worry, biting is something very necessary for a puppy, as much as sleeping, that's why the dogs' sleep is characterized by occupying a large part of the day. You just have to worry if your dog bites too hard or if it bites aggressively any member of the family, whether it's a human or another pet.
In other cases, although this is normal behavior, it's important to set some limits so that as the puppy grows, he doesn't misinterpret our intention to let him explore his surroundings with his teeth.
How to manage a dog bite
Next we show you some basic guidelines so that this typical puppy behavior is managed in a healthy way and does not trigger problems in its future behavior:
- Starting from the basis that the puppy needs to nibble, the best thing is to offer him toys specially designed for this purpose and make it clear that this is what he can bite, congratulating him whenever he uses them.
- From three weeks of age onwards, every time the dog bites us we give a little squeak and walk away, ignoring the dog for a minute. Since he will want to play with us, he will gradually understand what the acceptable bite level is. Each time we walk away we must include a command, "let go" or "let go" that will help us in the dog's basic obedience later on.
- Avoid overexciting the dog, this can lead to a stronger and more uncontrolled bite. You can play biting with him but always in a quiet and peaceful way.
- When the dog understands the limits and does not bite what we prohibit, it is important to positively reinforce this right. We can use food, friendly words and even affection.
- Prevent children from playing with the dog to bite, they must always interact with a toy that avoids any accidents.
Although it is normal and necessary for your puppy to spend a great deal of time biting, this simple advice will help your puppy's development to happen in the best possible way.
