Content
- Puppy Biting and Growling: Causes
- Is it normal for a puppy to be biting?
- Puppy biting and growling: what to do
- Puppy Biting: Should I Allow?
- How to Teach Dogs Not to Bite: Common Mistakes
- How to make the puppy stop biting
- Dog bite: what to do?
The arrival of a puppy is a moment of great emotion for any family that has just adopted a pet, it seems that the environment is full of tenderness, you give a lot of affection, direct all attention so the dog feels welcomed and protected within the new human family.
Puppies need a lot of care and covering these needs is extremely important, as you should not forget that they have arrived in an environment that is totally new and foreign to them at first glance, and they have often been abruptly separated from their mother and siblings. In turn, the puppy will also try to reinforce this feeling of belonging to a "pack", and will do so mainly through physical interaction, with very tender bites, which can end up becoming a problem.
Continue reading this PeritoAnimal article and find out: puppy biting and growling: what to do?
Puppy Biting and Growling: Causes
if you are wondering how to make the dog stop biting, first need to understand why the puppy does this.
Puppies bite a lot and tend to bite everything, this behavior is completely normal and necessary for the dog's development.. It is also important to learn to control bite force, meaning to have the ability to bite without hurting in adulthood. If you inhibit this learning process, the puppy may experience behavioral problems that will negatively affect him in the future.
Dog bites are a way to get to know and explore their surroundings, as 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 important factor to take into account is that puppies have baby teeth that are replaced by permanent teeth and, until this process is not completed, they feel discomfort that can be relieved by biting.
Is it normal for a puppy to be biting?
As we said before, having a puppy biting a lot is completely normal, even until the 3rd week of life you should allow the puppy to bite whatever it wants. This does not mean that you should leave shoes or valuable objects within his reach, on the contrary, must offer specific toys to bite and specific for puppies. You should also allow the puppy to bite you as he is getting to know you and that is a positive thing for him.
Remember that, although your puppy has a habit of biting, in the beginning there is nothing to worry about, after all, biting is something very necessary for a puppy, as much as sleeping and eating. You just have to worry if your dog bites too hard or aggressively any member of the family, whether it's a human or another pet.
In other cases, despite this being a normal behavior, it is important to establish some limits so that, as the dog grows, it does not have behavioral problems, as we will explain further below.
Puppy biting and growling: what to do
The puppy will see the human family as his new pack and will therefore try to interact with them, thus reinforcing his sense of belonging to the group. How does he interact? Mainly with dog bites on the hand, foot, etc. He will do this as if it were a prank, rarely causing any sort of significant damage.
Puppy Biting: Should I Allow?
Yes, as long as the bite doesn't hurt. You must allow this behavior because, for the puppy, this is not just a game, it is a valuable tool that allows for learning, determines the affective bond with the human family and also helps the puppy to remain in good health.
But what happens if the puppy starts biting too hard and playing wildly? This is the behavior that can't allow, mainly for the following reasons:
- If rough play doesn't correct itself in time, the puppy's arousal will increase and the bites will become stronger and do more damage.
- These games can have a hierarchical meaning for the dog, which means that if the dog has this attitude towards its own owner during the game, it will also try to do it in other contexts and with other people, such as with a child.
As your dog grows, it can start to bite more and more, especially in times of play, this is due to the approach of youth when the baby teeth begin to fall out and develop the dental arch.
How to Teach Dogs Not to Bite: Common Mistakes
No form of violence is adequate to correct an undesirable behavior in the dog. Many of the recommendations that are generally made for the correction of an excessively strong bite can be considered subtle (but harmful) forms of violence, such as:
- Leave him alone and locked in a room;
- Punish him using a closed newspaper;
- Tapping gently in the face;
- "Mark" the dog.
Applying these correction methods can be very harmful in the medium and long term, even reinforcing aggressive behaviors and resulting in an unbalanced dog.
How to make the puppy stop biting
Generally, the first learnings about bite inhibition are given by the mother of the puppy, growling and not playing with it when the bite is too strong, but then this learning must continue and be taught by the human family.
Dog bite: what to do?
Proper socialization from a puppy is essential to avoid unwanted behaviors from the start. By relating to other dogs, the dog will learn more about canine language and will also learn that he is rejected when he has this kind of attitude. However, in addition to socialization and your relationship with other dogs, it is also very important that you start to establish the rules of this social game:
- When you see your puppy start to play abruptly say "No" clearly and firmly, stop the play and go elsewhere. Do not play with him again until he calms down, this way the puppy understands that if the rules he imposes are not followed, the game will no longer happen.
- Puppies need to bite because their teeth are hurting, so you should allow them to bite toys and teethers of all kinds. Whenever he bites the toys, you should congratulate him and even encourage him to bite to understand that this is what he should bite.
- The puppy must grow up with love and limits, and these limits must be agreed upon among all family members, only then, learning will be effective.
If your puppy does not show improvement in its behavior despite implementing these rules, we recommend that you consult a canine ethology expert for correct this behavior as soon as possible.
If you want to know how to make the dog stop biting when he is an adult, also read this article by PeritoAnimal.
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