Puppy Biting – Ouch!
Your puppy is now home with you, and you need some Puppy Training Tips for New Puppies, and, you have discovered that your puppy’s teeth are quite sharp! Actually, to me, they are more like little razors! Ouch!
These sharp baby teeth will remain until about four to five months of age when they will start falling out to be replaced by their adult teeth.
Steps to follow to help your new puppy understand that biting is not a regular and daily past-time!
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Your new puppy will most likely start play biting quite quickly after your first meeting. The earlier the training starts, the better. There is no better time than day one to start putting guidelines in place for your wanted behaviour.
After all, you plan to spend many years with your puppy and for your puppy to become a valued member of your household!
Your puppy needs to know and understand that biting hurts you. When your puppy bites, immediately give a sharp “squeal”, “ahh-ahh”, “no!”, or “ouch!”- or even a yelp like your puppy’s littler mates would. This same reaction occurs when growing puppies are playing with each other.
When a puppy playfully bites one or more of its littermates too hard, the puppy or puppies move away from this offending puppy. They would even stop playing! It’s almost as though the offending puppy is placed in the naughty corner by the littermates.
Your immediate reaction teaches your puppy that the play has been too rough, and you simply cannot continue playing in this manner. Once your puppy gets the idea that rough play is a no-no the chances are, hopefully, that play next time will be on a gentler scale, bearing in mind though, that as we learn new things when we are very young, continued practice leads to better results. Young learning puppies are the same!
As this could be a recurring event, you will need to repeat this procedure repeatedly until the puppy gets the idea that this is not behaviour that you will accept. We all need to learn these positive Puppy Training Tips for New Puppies as sometimes it can seem so daunting living with this new bundle of fur.
When this puppy biting does occur remove your hand slowly away from your puppy. Simply try not to yank your hand away too quickly, as you most certainly do not want to alarm your puppy or excite your puppy into further biting!
It’s a good idea, if possible, to have nearby a toy or even a toy in your pocket that can be played with or even chewed upon without its destruction. Simply divert your puppy’s attention to playing with the toy instead. Or, if you are up to it, play with your puppy with the toy, or even several toys, and have fun together
Similarly, if your puppy ignores the toy and wants to play-bite again, and after repeating your “ahh ahh”, “no!”, “ouch!”, “squeal” simply put your puppy in his/her crate, or a prepared pen, or put your puppy outside, or leave your puppy on his/her own for a few minutes. Your puppy needs to know that when biting occurs, all playing with you stops immediately.
With consistency from you, your puppy’s manner will improve, and the bites will soften. Consistency from you is the key, as you need to continue to yelp or give a sharp “no” etc when this behaviour surfaces yet again or “ouch!” whenever your puppy’s teeth connect with you. Your puppy needs to know that all bites hurt and are unacceptable to us humans.
Puppies need to have plenty of chew toys as these help to exercise their mouths and also help with your puppy’s chewing instincts. It’s a good idea to rotate toys to prevent boredom.
Your puppy needs plenty of exercise and playtime with you every day. Going for walks and teaching your puppy the sit, down, heel, and stay exercises including manners at mealtimes helps to exercise your puppy’s mind as well.
Remind everyone who encounters your puppy about the no-biting requirement and if your consistent efforts do not seem to be having any effect on your puppy do seek help from your vet or a professional trainer.
I hope you have learnt from my Puppy Training Tips for New Puppies. Enjoy your puppy. They need your company and they need your love, and they need you to be consistent and demonstrate fair guidelines in their daily growth.
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Until next time,
With love, Success and Inspiration,
Robin Oliver
www.robinoliveronline.com/blog
