Ask the AKC Animal Behaviorist - How Do I Make My Puppy Stop Biting?

May 19th 2010

Meet Mary Burch, American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Director and Paw Nation's expert columnist addressing your questions on animal behavior. Dr. Burch has over 25 years of experience working with dogs, and she is one of fewer than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists based in the United States. She is the author of 10 books, including the new official book on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, "Citizen Canine: 10 Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know."

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I've just adopted a 6-month-old puppy named Max from a shelter. I'm starting from scratch with his training, but unlike the last dog I adopted, Max likes to bite. He will nip during playtime, and he really bites when someone does something he doesn't like. He hasn't drawn blood yet, but I worry about what will happen when he gets older and bigger. How can I teach him to not bite?

It's hard to believe how much those needle-like tiny teeth can hurt when a rambunctious puppy nips you -- and of course the injury potential from dog bites increases as the dog gets older. You are right to be concerned. Let me help by explaining a bit about puppy socialization and offer you first steps to take to curb Max's biting ways.

One of the most important lessons a puppy learns from his mother is how to to control the intensity of a bite. This is called bite inhibition and in the litter, if the puppies bite while nursing, the dam (mother) will nip them or stand up and walk away, taking the breakfast buffet with her.

The dam isn't the only one who teaches a puppy not to bite. When puppies are playing with their siblings, if a puppy gets wound up and bites too hard, the sibling will jump up and yelp. She may leave the game as if to say, "Don't do that! That hurts!" The puppy soon learns if he wants the fun game to continue, he cannot bite too hard.

Now it's your turn. When Max bites, loudly say, "Ouch!" This lets him know that biting is not okay. Don't jerk your hand away if he has his teeth on you because this could tear your skin. Instead show that just as with a puppy's mom and siblings would do, you are going to retreat from the game if he bites. Behaviorally, this is a timeout from what he wants -- time and attention from you.