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Puppy Nipping [Print This Article] [Video]
Frequent nipping and puppy biting can be extremely frustrating for a puppy’s human family. Nipping can take time to stop because: (1) it is difficult to be consistent about never rewarding it; and (2) most puppies have not learned another way to express excitement or frustration.
Try to NEVER reward nipping. If your puppy puts his mouth on you, but you do NOT feel any teeth, reward this behavior. We want our puppies to learn to use a soft mouth or an inhibited bite. However, if you feel teeth, you need to respond immediately. Remember, the result or consequence of a behavior must occur within 3 seconds!
Use a verbal marker (a word or sound) to let your puppy know he is being inappropriate. The best verbal marker is a high-pitched, short, sharp “Yelp!” or “Ouch!” This simulates the yelp another puppy uses if your puppy is being too rough. Immediately following the yelp, withdraw all attention from your puppy until he stops nipping. If you have a hard time “yelping” then use a specific word, such as “Ouch!” or “Too bad!” We are not scolding the puppy, only giving him a verbal marker that he made a mistake.
You can remove your attention in a few different ways. First, you can stand perfectly still where you are, fold your arms, turn up your nose and look away. No eye contact, no talking, and no touching. These are all forms of interaction. All interaction should end until your puppy is calm. When you do resume interaction, make sure it is quiet and slow to encourage his calm behavior.
Another option is to remove yourself from the situation. You must do this quickly with a minimum of interaction. If your puppy is chasing and nipping at you as you depart, he is being rewarded. Place yourself out of reach by stepping behind a baby gate or door so he can’t reach you.
You can also place him somewhere else, such as in his crate, behind a baby gate or in an ex-pen. This must be done quickly and with a minimum of interaction or once again, he will be rewarded for his behavior by receiving additional attention from you. Make sure he does not have the opportunity to continue nipping at you.
One other option is to have a drag line (similar to a leash) on your puppy. When he starts nipping, take hold of the drag line, not the puppy. Use this line to hold him off from you so he can’t nip at you. Similarly, you can use a leash and have it attached to a table leg or other object so you can simply step out of his reach.
If you are really having a difficult time, you can also consider using a head halter (such as the Gentle Leader or Halti) in conjunction with the drag line. (A head halter should never be left on an unsupervised puppy.) It will give you additional control when you need to stop your puppy from nipping you. However, please try other methods before resorting to this option.
Which method you choose is less important than your consistency with not rewarding your puppy for his behavior.
Another way to put an end to the nipping is to not give your puppy the opportunity to nip at you in the first place. Easier said than done! There are a few things you can do to achieve this seemingly impossible task.
When interacting with your puppy, always have at least one toy on hand that you can place in his mouth. Avoid using your hands near your puppy’s face when he is riled up or playing. He takes this as an invitation to play, which he often does by nipping. Avoid wrestling with your puppy.
You can’t expect your puppy to always be calm and relaxed. He is a puppy, after all! Part of the fun is to see him excited and having fun. However, make sure all his excitement is directed toward toys and other objects rather than toward your hands, other body parts, or clothing.
Take frequent breaks when interacting with your puppy. He must learn to play appropriately, but this will be difficult if you allow him to become frequently overly stimulated. Play for a short while. Take a break. Practice calm behaviors such as sits or downs. Play again. Take another break. Teach him a “relax” or “chill out” cue to let him know when it’s time to relax.
When he is relaxed and well-behaved, reward in some way, but do not get him riled up again. Use calm, slow talk and movements to encourage calm behavior. Puppies will feed off our energy, so be careful how you are responding. Are you contributing to his behavior?
Teething is one of the most difficult times to deal with your puppy’s nipping. Have plenty of appropriate toys and other items for chewing. Puppy Kongs or other interactive toys filled with food, treats or chicken broth and placed in the freezer for several hours work well. If your puppy is not a heavy-duty chewer, try a washcloth or similar object soaked in chicken or beef broth and frozen. Place a few small treats in an ice cube tray, fill with water and freeze. Have several items so you can pull something new out of the freezer as needed.
Puppies have plenty of energy, but they also need plenty of rest. If your puppy has constant interaction, he will become overly stimulated easily and nipping will result due to frustration and crankiness. Be sure to give him some time with no interaction from anyone.
The two most important things to stop a nipping puppy are never reward his nipping behavior and to teach him an alternative action. As with other undesirable behaviors, consider what you want your puppy to do instead. If your puppy nips at your hand to demand attention from you, ask for an alternative behavior BEFORE he nips. Teach him to bring you a toy to play or sit next to you for some petting. If he learns an alternative behavior to get what he wants, and he learns it is more effective in achieving what he wants, he will start to offer those behaviors more often and the nipping will eventually go away.
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