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My Puppy Bites Me - Why do puppies bite?

20K views 26 replies 21 participants last post by  Jaybron 
#1 ·
Ok, My puppy doesn't bite. But I have been seeing alot of people post about their puppies biting. Found this and thought it was a good read for puppy owners.

My Puppy Bites Me - Why do puppies bite?

- by Mary Anne

Puppies bite. This is a fact. In the beginning stages of life, the bitch bites at the birth sac; using "bite inhibition," she will deliver each puppy into the world by tearing the sac open with her teeth. She bites the sac gently. One wrong move of her powerful jaws and she could destroy the life within the sac.

As the puppies grow, they explore their world. Their exploration is accomplished by their mouth and their nose. They have to sample "everything" including each other. If you have ever watched a litter of puppies, you will have noticed that they are constantly biting at each other or their mom. Biting is their way of communicating. When one puppy gets bit to hard, he yelps sharply and withdraws to lick his wound. The biter backs off understanding that play-time got a bit rough. Once the discomfort and fear goes away, the bitten puppy is right back in the middle of play.

Puppies should stay with mom for at least 12 weeks. But, many people fail to understand the dynamics of the true pack. They soon tire of sharp puppy teeth biting ankles or fingers and begin to adopt the puppies out quickly. In the wild, the wolf-pups stay with the parents for one year. Then they become a member of the pack, or the alpha sets off in search of a new pack of his own.

If the puppy leaves the family too quickly, then it is up to the new adopted family to teach the puppy about biting. Unfortunately for some people, their strength and lack of patience makes for a poor substitute for the proper pack.

You cannot stop a puppy from biting. If something moves before him, he will rush at the object and attempt to bite it. If you have adopted a herding dog, you will soon find your pants cuffs are frayed from puppy teeth, or your shoelaces magically become untied. You will also be tripping over your puppy because you are his pack. He will stay close to you, nipping at your heels as you walk in an attempt to "herd" you.

One way to help your puppy understand about biting is to introduce him to other dogs. If your puppy is current on vaccinations, then a dog park is a good place to start. Just be sure that you keep your puppy leashed at all times while at the park.

Your puppy bites for several reasons:

He is playing.
He is Alpha.
He is hungry.
He is exploring.
He is over-stimulated and excited.
He is scared or angry.
He has herding tendencies
He is teething
You should not stop a puppy from biting. Instead, redirect that biting. Val Volinski a leading pet sitter and author in New York City offers this tip:

"When I have a small puppy that is biting me, I take a rawhide chew toy and gently use it as a shield to keep the puppy away from my hands. I quietly give the rawhide to the puppy saying at the time "Yours." Eventually, it is a matter of simply saying "Yours" during a bite-fest and the pup will run and fetch the toy. The toy is a good substitute for fingers, hands and arms."

From Susan Ewing author of Bulldogs for Dummies:

"Well, for starters, there are different kinds of biting. One is just puppy play. It used to be that people were told to tell the puppy ' No!' and even tap the underside of the muzzle as a disciplinary measure.

What is a better way is to teach the puppy "bite inhibition" which is the puppy learning not to apply too much pressure. So, if I have a puppy, and he chomps a bit too hard on my hand, I yelp in a high-pitched, squeaky voice and stop playing.

Now, if a person has a herding breed puppy, the puppy may be nipping at ankles, and this is not the same as those play bites. This is instinct. The dog was bred to chase sheep or cattle and nip the ankles. It can be annoying, but it shouldn't be confused with "biting". It's hard to break. I've had Corgis for over 20 years and if it's a puppy with sharp needle teeth, I tend to do the same as with the play biting...mostly because those sharp teeth make me yelp anyway! Or, I'll just stop moving, or try to distract the puppy, or just give an 'Ahhh!'!

Both of these (play and instinct) are different from a puppy, or an adult, biting because of fear or anger. You have to first understand the difference between play biting, and a puppy biting out of fear or aggression."

Ken Araujo author of Know Your Dog Vol. 1, has a good saying for people with puppies. "No jaws and no paws." If your puppy is jumping on you, then this puppy is excited. An excited puppy will bite. To prevent over-stimulation, avoid stroking the face or the cheeks of the puppy and instead concentrate on the chest and the sides. Remember that in training a puppy you should NEVER hit, slap, kick or push the puppy away. Pushing a puppy stimulates that pup's play mode. Push to hard, and the puppy may attack.

I watched a breeder once as she was playing with a pile of puppies. She pushed one of the alpha males away from her a bit roughly. He spun around and flew at her head with his jaws snapping. Only quick thinking on her part prevented her from injury.

Play with our puppy. Don't buy your puppy every toy that you find at the pet supply store. Your puppy should only have three or four toys at the most. Keep rotating the toys to keep the pup's interest up.

Puppy Toys

So what toys do you buy a puppy? The choices can be confusing. Personally, I steer clear of the stuffed toys, and the squeaky toys. Instead, I purchase the Orbee Balls, Romp N Roll and the Flying Squirrel. Both the Orbee Balls and the Romp and Roll have ropes attached to the balls allowing your puppy a good chew while keeping him away from your fingers. The Flying Squirrel is aerodynamically sound and can fly great distances.

The puppy can easily pick up the soft flat sides (unlike a hard Frisbee). Another favorite trick of mine is to buy a cow knuckle bone and spread peanut butter on it. The pup enjoys the pleasant taste, the good rough chew and it occupies the puppy for quite awhile (also a good remedy for a barking dog). Just be sure to supply the puppy with fresh water because peanut butter sticks to the roof of a mouth whether human or canine.

Enjoy your time and that wonderful puppy breath! But remember to play smart. Instead of punishment, use positive reinforcement and redirection. This way, both of you will then find a time of bonding that will last a lifetime.

My Puppy Bites Me - Why do puppies bite?
 
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#10 ·


When i give my dog a rib bone and put my face close to the bone and his face he snap's
at my face and i have kid's i practice this encase my 5 year old son those it when he plays
with my dog. what can i due for my dog not too snap at me when close. he's 4 month old
overall he's a good puppy very smart and has a very good temper mate. he's a family dog don't want him to snap tho?
 
#12 · (Edited)
I would suggest taking his food and feeding it to him aswell as any other nummy treats and while doing this pet him on the head, body, touch his paws tug a little on his tail and his ears slightly. place your hand in his face and push. (If he isnt food aggressive he shouldn't snap.) If he tenses and he shows his teeth or growls stop and call someone experianced in this situation if you don't have experiance in dog training.

and remember, pups test the waters to see if you are the alpha type. he could very well be testing you on how far he can go with his "alpha" he may even deside to challenge you as alpha.


not sure if this works with every one else dogs but I have had 4 pups I did this too and all came out fine.
 
#13 ·
thanks for that information, besides raw hides and stuff, do you have an ideals on how to get your puppy to think your kids are not puppies lol. hes been bitting at them not aggressively but playingly and not often but im not sure on how to get him to realize that they are not his play toys. i want him to learn immediately so something does happen in the future that can hurt my boys, so i need some prevention ideals plz and thanks
 
#22 ·
Puppies & 5 year olds. Smh :) Sounds like your in a great place in life!
We always had multiple dogs along with 4 kids (3 boys! Lol!)
puppies were never allowed to rough house 'em. First thing I did was teach my children how to act -like staying low key around 'em, and how to break off the play when the pup gets too excited, so I can step in, and put the pup in a "time out" to chill.
Supervised play is key, so is giving you kids & your pup a couple of toys to play with together. A puppy can't nip with a ball /rope in his mouth. The other thing I found when I supervised the interactions was I was also able to correct my children if need be. Raising children to respect animals teaches them to respect others.
 
#15 ·
now i was told a few things and was wondering if i could get your opinions on correcting bitting.

1. to shove a finger in their mouth just enough to make them gage and after a few times they will stop.. i personally dont think that works or is good to do but i could be wrong thats why im asking

2. to force your hand farther in their mouth when they go to bite, not sure why

3. and the other which is to grab their bottom jaw when they are going to bite not hard just enough to show them its bad

now is any of those things that i should be doing, cuz i dont hit i dont see how that would work, and like kids yelling dont work lol. btw my puppy is 13 weeks so hes still got a lot to learn just trying to get advice to get him to stop thinking that my kids are part of his pack so he stops playing with them as if they were. thanks for your help!
 
#16 ·
Thanks for this post! My pit bull actually has a bit of heeler in him too, so the following us around and always being underfoot and nipping at the ankles makes a lot of sense.

Here's my dilemma:

Our pitbull puppy will be 8 weeks old this Sunday; we adopted him 1 week ago. For the most part, he is totally sweet, affectionate, playful, and charming. However, being a puppy, he is also very chewy and nippy right now.

My boyfriend and I are being very consistent with praising him when he gives "kisses," giving him good chew toys and praising him when he uses those, and firmly telling him no when he bites our hands, face, or clothes.

However, he seems to get in these rambunctious biting moods where he is totally out of control, and I can't find anything that will calm him down other than putting him outside or in his crate -- neither of which I want him to view as a punishment!

I have read many forums about this and everybody advises saying no sternly, and then withdrawing attention. The problem is, when I do this, he follows me and continues to nip and bite even though I am walking away and ignoring him. He's already strong enough that if I don't react to this biting, he will tear my clothes or skin. Basically, he forces me to engage if I don't want to lock him outside or in his crate, and given that fact, I don't know what I should be doing in reaction to this. Clearly, I don't want to end up actually running away from him, because that will certainly send the wrong message!

Should I be pinning him down to assert my dominance? I have tried this and because he is still small enough for me to handle easily, I can do this, but I don't want to scare him or make him think he's in a fight; and even this doesn't seem to stick for very long, he is back up and snarling and biting at me as soon as I stop.

I understand that he is a small puppy and thinks he is playing; I truly don't feel that he is trying to be mean or aggressive towards me, he just doesn't know the difference. But I am very adamant about nipping this behavior in the bud before he is bigger, and would appreciate any advice on how I should react when this happens. (Also, I know that he left his litter a bit early. We are going to be very good about socializing him with lots of other dogs, but he has not yet had his first shots so we've been keeping him restricted to our house and yard for now.)

He seems to only do this with me and not my boyfriend, which leads me to assume that it has to do with some sort of dominance relationship he is perceiving only with me. Any advice on what I can do for the next few days until we can take him out around other pups and give him another play outlet would be much appreciated! I love this little guy so much and don't want to get started on the wrong foot!

Thanks so much,
-Lindsey
 
#17 · (Edited)
Submissive roll or Pinning your puppy down to assert your dominance is not recommended. It's a fantasy move used by Cesar Milan to break the spirit of a confused dog. There's better ways to teach a pup right from wrong. He's only 8 weeks old, you can turn his focus on to something else like tossing a ball or giving him a chew toy when he gets like that.
 
#19 ·
My pup is now 22weeks old. And I remember the biting phase when I first got him. I am not sure how you play with you pups, but I read somewhere that your hands should never be used as a play item. So don't rough his face and get him worked up. Don't run your hand over the floor to get him to chase it. It is NOT an easy thing to practice, because that I how we have all played with pups. If you use a toy rather to play with your he will learn that that is an appropriate object to bite, rather than your body.

My boy still gets a little mouthy from time to time. And I know that, because I have been working on it with since I got him, if I say ow and pull myself away from him he stops and goes to licking me. It's quite cute actually. Another perk about training your dog to not see your hands as toys is that it makes checking his teeth easier because he will not want to mouth you.

The thing I have found is that if you don't want you puppy chewing it, don't let him see it as a "fun" item. If you don't want him chewing your stuff, give him some more rewarding to chew. I have never "touch wood" had Jones chew in my stuff, but I give him raw hides every couple of days as a treat, he has pieces of leather that I got from a shop that makes leather bags and shoes. (I have a few of the longer pieces for tug. I find that they don't fall apart like the rope toys do. And from the look on his face he prefer the feeling of leather on his gums to anything else) I give him frozen raw beef knuckles and ribs. They have some meat on them and I know that the coldness in his mouth has seemed to help with his teething. Don't give weight bearing bones from large animals as these are near impossible to chew through, even if they are marketed as "great for dogs" these bones are often responsible for damage to teeth. I also would recommend feeding smoked or dehydrated bones as cooking a bones changes the structure of the bone, making it brittle and splinter prone.

I would start desensitizing your pup to being handled all over his body from as young as possible. There is a great sticky about socializing your dog and all the things to get him used to, I am sure that it is on the list, but try and take your pup to the vets office just for a visit. Get him used to being on the exam table and being handled. Your vet should be ok with this, and may not charge you for this. The same goes for the car. Getting your pup used to the car makes travel SO much easier.

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#20 ·
Thanks for your responses. That is good to know, that the rolling/dominance tactics are not recommended. He seems to respond to this a bit when my boyfriend does it, but it does not seem to make a difference when I do it, and I don't like feeling like it might scare him.

I am way more on board with the idea of giving him positive chew toys to distract him, and most of the time he loves his toys and can play with them for awhile without getting bored. However, he when he snaps into these moods of his, I find that absolutely nothing will distract him. It usually begins with him tugging at my pant leg, and when I tell him no and try to turn my attention away from him, it seems like it makes him angry, as he growls and will latch on to my legs and clothes even tighter. I really just need a tactic for what to do to make it STOP in the moment, and then I can certainly work on distracting and rewarding him for positive chewing, or ignoring him so he gets the picture. The only way I can feasibly separate when this is happening, just to make the biting and growling stop, is to pick him up sternly and put him outside; but of course I don't want him to see outside a punishment, he just needs a break to calm down for a minute.
 
#23 ·
My roommate is a 5 year old in a 27 year old's body, I HAD Xena trained pretty well to not bite but he started playing really rough with her and she went right back to her old ways. I chewed him out big time after I saw him slapping her face to make her chomp her jaws at him, she has seizures and I told him before this not to mess with her head. He hasn't done it since and we are slowly re-teaching her.
 
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