Training a Puppy to Stop Biting

Bringing home a puppy is something that you will think of as an adventure but what you really need to realize is that it takes a lot of responsibility to take care of a puppy and to provide it with proper training. When you think you should be enjoying your puppy on day one, youre wrong ” training should already start the moment you take him home. Playing with your puppy, just remember that everything that you do with your puppy will instill behavior that will go on until your puppy becomes an adult.

The puppy training should be consistent throughout its life so that the behaviors that are allowed with the owner are also allowed with people that enter the home. If the behavior would be an embarrassment or could cause harm or annoyance to the person entering the home the owner must not allow it with himself, otherwise the dog will be confused as to what behavior is appropriate to do with people.

Biting

One common issue that has to be stopped through training is biting. Puppies are likely to bite as they are exploring their world, and unfortunately, people sometimes get the brunt of that attention.

When this happens, make sure that you do not hit or slap your dog when training it to stop biting as the puppy might think that the owner is actually playing with it, playing rough like dogs will make them do it with each other.

One way to train the puppy to stop biting is to refuse to play aggressive games with it such as tug of war, chase or wrestling. Although these activities are fun for dog and owner, they encourage aggressive behavior which is not acceptable for the dog to exhibit with all humans that come into the home.

One of the greatest ways of training a puppy not to bite is by letting out a sharp Ouch whenever the puppy tries to nibble or bite and then removing eye contact and turning away from the pup. This is the same technique that dogs use with each other ” letting the other dog know and be aware that what it did hurt and will not continue to play that way.

This is one method that uses negative reinforcement in training the puppy so that he would know that when he bites, it will not be given the attention that its asking for. When the puppy calms down and does not bite, this is the time that the owner should praise him and give him the attention so that the appropriate behavior is reinforced.

If the puppy bites down on the hand, the owner should place one finger inside the mouth under the puppy’s tongue and hold onto the bottom of the jaw with the thumb for about ten seconds. The pressure should only be firm enough that the puppy cannot get away for that amount of time. The puppy will not be able to bite down and it will provide the negative reinforcement that the behavior is not acceptable to use.

Related posts:

1. Stop Your Dogs Biting Problem

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Filed under: Dogs

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