Beggin' to Behave
Sandy Strychor, ABCDT
​Puppy Nipping
  1. To make your puppy think he is hurting you when he bites by letting out a loud doggie yelp! You want to replicate the same behavior as one of the other puppies in the litter and stop playing with him for a minute. Stop moving your hands and make them go limp. Go back to playing and stop each time he bites too hard. This teaches your puppy that when he bites to hard playtime ends.  Ending playtime is important because if you don’t puppy will think the yelp is just part of the game and if you continue playing they sometimes get more excited and come back with a harder bite.

  2. Redirect your puppy biting by slowly removing your hand or arm from his mouth and replace with one of his dog toys. Whatever inappropriate item your puppy is biting whether it be your hand, arm, feet, or face - slowly remove the it from your puppies mouth and replace with his favorite dog toy or chew and then leave him alone to play with his toy for a while.  Its a good idea to have several different textured toy types because your puppy likely get bored if  he only has plush toys.  Suggestions are: nylabones, KONG toys, bully sticks, deer antlers and other chew toys.

  3. Hide your hands and turn away from him.  Cross your arms and hide your hands under your armpits. Turn away from him to let him know he has lost your attention and your willingness to play with him when nipping happens.

  4. Use Bitter Apple or Cherry Spray. Spray a little bit of the spray on your hand and then let him put his mouth on your hand.  Most puppies will usually take a few bites/licks and then start licking his jowls trying to figure out where that yucky taste is.  After a few times your puppy will figure out that putting his mouth on your hand results with the yucky taste in his mouth, however, some pups actually like it so this will not work with all puppies.  

  5. Give your dog a command.  If you’ve been working on any basic obedience commands - giving your puppy a command will sometimes get him to stop biting and go into obedience mode.  Teach them “Leave it” early on and once they know what it means “Leave it” will often get them to stop.  Most often just telling your puppy to “sit” or “down” (if they know these) could easily break the nippy mood.

  6. Many puppies mouth when being petted. Distract him from nipping by giving him treats from your other hand.

Consistency is VERY important!

Remember that it will take time to stop this unwanted behavior.

Do not engage in any play with puppy with your hands. Hands are NOT toys.
NEVER smack or hit your puppy!  He will probably think that either you are playing and he’ll come back trying to bite you even harder or he will learn to fear you and your hands.  
Beggin’ to Behave Dog Training    www.beggintobehave.com   [email protected]
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