Puppy Biting SOS

Help! My puppy turned into a shark!

Puppy Biting 101

Meet your puppy's needs:

• Sleep – young puppies need to sleep 16-18 hours a day (tired puppies are cranky!)

• Food – does your puppy become more "bitey" close to meal times? Check the amount you are feeding is adequate to your puppy's age and weight; how many times a day do you feed your puppy? Puppies under 3 months old would benefit from 4 meals a day, puppies 3-6 months old will benefit from 3 meals a day.

• Thirst – puppies should have access to fresh clean water 24 hours a day, they may forget where their water bowl is (especially if they are playing), so make sure there is a water bowl in every room your puppy hangs out in.

• Toileting – some puppies might bite when they need a toilet, keeping a toileting diary will help to identify this!

Puppy Biting Do's:

Teach your puppy what is acceptable to bite – toys! Puppies need to play, so schedule short play sessions into your day.

Play by the rules:

• Start play BEFORE your puppy starts biting.

• Play with long toys (so those sharp teeth are away from your hands).

• Those long toys are special! They are only available during interactive play sessions and do not live in your puppy's toy box.

• Don't play for too long – 2-3 minutes will be enough for young puppies.

• Finish play with a calming activity.

• Have a selection of toys that your puppy can pick up – praise your puppy whenever you notice them picking up a toy. Have a variety of shapes and textures.

• Rotate your puppy's toys every few days to maintain novelty.

• Make sure you check your puppy's toys for signs of damage and remove them, should they become unsafe for your puppy.

3 calming activities:

• Sniffing (snuffle mats, scatter feeding)

• Chewing (edible and non-edible chews)

• Licking (Kongs, lick mats)

Try and utilise your puppy's daily food allowance for these activities.

4. Have a Zen Zone

A room where you want to relax and watch TV in is NOT the room to play with your puppy in.

5. In the moment, if the puppy bites you:

• Stop (if you can), movement is more likely to excite your puppy and they will bite more.

• Call away – if there is another family member there, they can call puppy to them (they can then reward the recall and redirect puppy onto an alternative activity).

• Ask the puppy to perform a known behaviour, a "sit," for example (if no one else is available) – you can then reward the sit and redirect puppy to a different activity (a toy or drop a few biscuits on the floor).

Avoid these common mistakes:

• Shouting "ouch" or "no" – a lot of puppies will find it exciting!

• Allowing puppy to bite hands in play (long toys will help with that).

• Playing with puppy when they are overtired (choose a calming activity instead).

If you'd like a hand putting this into practice, our puppy classes run with rolling start dates - so you don't have to wait weeks for a new course to begin.