Ouch! Deterring Puppy Play Biting

Ouch! Deterring Puppy Play Biting

by Katie Bedrossian, Pet Behaviour Consultant

Does your puppy or adolescent dog mouth or bite during excitement or play? What is normal?

Puppies start using their mouths to explore the world (away from feeding) from 3 weeks of age and this gradually increases over puppyhood.  They have a strong need to find out information from their world, bond, connect and learn social skills from others.

It naturally reaches a peak between 12-16 weeks, due to a greater awareness of their world and an increased desire to socially connect with others.  This greater awareness of what is going on around them often leads to them not getting enough sleep which results in increased biting due to being overtired and overstimulated.

Contrary to popular belief, mouthing and play biting is not related to teething. Teething will be directed to sucking, gnawing and chewing objects of various textures not on their people.  Mouthing and play biting is to bond and connect to people and other dogs and learn play skills with other dogs.  It is also a way to emotionally regulate when they are feeling overexcited, overwhelmed, overstimulated or anxious.

Provided the puppy has learnt alternate ways to play, interact with others, use their mouth and emotionally self-regulate, mouthing and biting gradually reduces between 4-6 months of age.

However, if the puppy has not learnt the above things, the behaviour can continue into adolescence and beyond, albeit now with stronger jaws and an adolescence persistence.  This can be dangerous as even though it may still be out of excitement or play, the mouthing and play biting can now cause bruising and skin tears, often more severe than any nicks received with young puppies.

Three Top Tips for Helping to Prevent Play Biting

• Redirect onto an acceptable chew/biting toy
  Keep a long tug toy on you to redirect puppy biting
• Wind down time
  Allow some time for ‘wind down’ after every physical game or activity through sniffing for treats or food
• Ensure enough rest
  Ensure puppy has at least 16 hours of sleep each day. An overtired puppy finds it harder to settle & choose the right games & toys.

If mouthing and/or play biting is a behaviour challenge you are currently dealing with (whether you have an 8 week old puppy or a 12 month old adolescent), contact us today to book in a behaviour consultation to go through some strategies.