Oww! Puppy bitting.

Best picture I have of puppy teeth in action.

How to: Puppy biting.

I feel like the second biggest issue most people complain about with puppies is biting. Who can blame them? Those puppy teeth hurt.

Here are some ways to help work on puppy biting.

Nom nom nom.

Suggestion One (What we used with Simon): The "Yelping" Method

When the puppy bites you, yell "ow" in a high pitched voice and stop giving them any attention. The noise is to imitate how puppies communicate with each other when playing. A yip means 'hey you went too far, stop'. It's one of the reasons you want to leave puppies with their litter until they are 8 weeks old, so that they can learn from there siblings. You just continue to use that method of communication to tell your pup to stop. Also by withdrawing your attention there is a negative consequence to that behavior and they learn to do it less.

Now the issue people have with this is they forget puppies take time. Also, you have to be consistent. You can't one day do it and the next day switch. It took weeks for Simon to significantly back off on biting and if he still gets excited he can still be a little mouthy. However, Simon has improved. Even when he gets mouthy he doesn't bite as hard and he is getting better and better.

I am glad that is snow and not me.

Suggestion Two: Bitter Apple (and other deterrents)

Bitter apple is a nontoxic spray designed to be unpleasant tasting to dogs and to make them not want to chew on anything you put it on.

This only works if your puppy does not like bitter apple, so spray some on the back for your hand and make sure he is not a fan. You can spray your hands before playing with the puppy. Let it dry a little and go play. If your puppy dislikes bitter apple as much as most dogs do it will be unpleasant for him to put your hands in his mouth. The thought process is that eventually the puppy will associate putting hands in his mouth with the unpleasant experience and not do it as much in the future. I haven't tried this personally but bitter apple did work really well to deter Simon from chewing other things so it could work well.

Suggestion Three: The Parrot Tactic 

A good dog trainer I know likes to use this method with her puppies. What you do is when they bite you, push your hand further into their mouth. It's similar to the bitter apple method in that you are trying to show them that biting them is unpleasant. She told me that with parrots you want to push in and not pull out so they let go not bite harder. I have never been bit by a parrot so I can't say if it works on them but all her dogs have excellent mouth control.

Simon says "This is my  rope!"

Personally I like the method we used the best. It uses communication to teach the dog what is acceptable. You also use your affection and attention (or lack thereof) to help them learn what you need.

At this point Simon is four months old and is pretty good with not mouthing. When he does, he does it softly. Sometimes he will get overly excited and get a little mouthy, but it is happening less and less; and when it does he is mostly using a nice soft mouth. The only time recently I have really had any issues is when we are playing with a toy and he misses the toy. He is really fantastic learns very quickly I can't wait to keep watching him learn and grow.

Puppy mouth.