Biting is one of the most frustrating aspects of parenting a puppy for some people. That’s because their razor-sharp teeth may actually hurt.
In most cases and at specific ages, biting is a regular habit in dogs. At the age of 3 to 4 months, puppies’ deciduous teeth begin to erupt completely so they start biting till the age of 6 months when the permanent teeth appear.
At this stage, you can deal with biting by giving your dog an appropriate chewing toy to play with.
What you need to do as a pet parent at this stage is to prevent this habit from continuing with your puppy after 7 months of age.
In this article, we’ll discuss some reasons for this habit and ways to deal with them.
They want to play, in this case, you can bring them dog toys to play with.
Overstimulated by many activities around them, you can keep them in their puppy zone with interactive toys.
Chasing moving objects, you can give them toys like a flirt pole.
Boredom, since dogs like to explore the world so keep them busy with toys, playing with them, or walking.
Seeking attention, in case you don’t give them enough time to play and pet, you can work on teaching your puppy alternative behavior to seek attention like “sitting in front of you”
Aggression, biting is a sign of defense in dogs so you can identify that by noticing others besides biting such as pinned back ears, tucked tail, baring teeth, and wide eyes, in this case, you have to show your puppy that they’re safe and try to calm them.
Things you shouldn’t do when your puppy bites you:
Don’t hit your puppy, this is a negative punishment that will lead to the opposite result and make your puppy more aggressive to you instead of loving you.
Don’t encourage biting, by moving your hand fast while biting or showing fright, instead you should move your hand slowly and smoothly or freeze it till they stop biting.
Don’t bite your puppy back, you should avoid this since it could lead to an aggressive response or misunderstanding with your puppy.