Petcademy

Why dogs nip

Young dogs explore the world with their mouths in much the same way as children explore the world with their hands.

What is bite inhibition

Bite inhibition is a dog’s ability to control the force of their jaw. A puppy or adult dog who hasn’t learned bite inhibition won’t recognize the sensitivity of human skin, and will bite hard even when playing.

How to teach bite inhibition

The best way for puppies to learn bite inhibition is from playing with other dogs or puppies. When a group of puppies play, there is a lot of biting involved. Inevitably, a pup may bite a playmate too hard, causing the playmate to yelp and sometimes stop playing. This is a teaching moment for the pup, who can see that their bite hurts their playmate and will learn to adjust. The more appropriate puppy play your dog gets, the less they will try to treat your hands and feet like play things. If your dog spends a lot of their energy playing with other puppies, they’ll feel less motivated to play roughly with you.

How else you can teach your dog to use their mouth properly

• Manage your dog’s energy. Mouthiness is often the result of pent up energy. To help them burn energy, ensure your dog has ample opportunities for physical exercise. Furthermore, incorporate work-to-eat toys or puzzle mats into your dog’s routine. These will help your dog burn mental energy and learn to use their mouth appropriately. A few work-to-eat toys we love are the Fun feeder, KONG classic toy, and the Toppl.

• Turn biting into an off switch. Biting is usually a self-reinforcing activity; the more your dog bites, the better they’ll get at biting and the more they’ll enjoy it. Often, we inadvertently reinforce puppy biting by responding with noises and attention that your dog will interpret as rewarding. For this reason, time-outs are a much more effective way to curb mouthing. This is technically a form of punishment, as you’re trying to discourage a behavior from happening again by ending the fun and taking away your attention. As with any kind of punishment, it should only need to be used a handful of times in order to work.

• Give good chew toys. Make sure your dog has plenty of great things to chew on. Bully sticks and yak chews are great for big chewers. Frozen carrots, ice cubes, and pig’s ears are also great alternatives for chew toys. Monitor chewing whenever possible, especially if your dog is chewing anything where a piece could possibly break off and get lodged in their throat or digestive tract.

• Play games where your dog can use their mouth appropriately. Rather than wrestling or rough play with human hands, play non-contact activities with your dog, such as fetch and tug-of-war. Once your dog can play tug safely, keep tug toys easily accessible. If your dog starts to mouth you, immediately redirect them to the tug toy. Ideally, they’ll start to anticipate and look for a toy when they feel like mouthing.