Dog Biting and What You Should Do About It

Dog biting just is not necessary. But it is most common in new dogs and young puppies. This usually happens when puppies are playing or when they are teething. Most of the time, these young dogs are sweet and loving. But there will be times when they start to bite.

Controlling That Bite

Dogs are not born with the understanding that biting is not wanted or appreciated. They must learn to control their bites. The best time for puppies to learn to stop biting is before they turn 4 months of age. Usually, a puppy will learn this while they are still with their mother and litter mates. Unfortunately, many puppies are taken away from their mother and litter mates before they can learn this lesson. So that is why we must step in and teach them.

Time to Socialize!

One of the best things to do for your puppy is to allow it to socialize with other puppies and adult dogs that have learned not to bite. When with other puppies, your puppy will roll around, play, chase after and tumble with them. It is always fun to watch puppies playing with each other. During play, the puppies will bite each other everywhere. This is when your puppy will start to learn when not to bite.

If your puppy is too hard or rough when biting other puppies, the others will react and interact in such a way that you as an owner will not be able to teach. It is a natural process that must be done between puppies.

What Happens if Your Dog Does Not Socialize?

If you offer your puppy little to no socialization with other dogs, it will grow up being fearful of others as well as exhibiting aggressive behavior. Two of the major ways that a dog reacts when it is afraid is by avoiding whatever is scaring the dog, or it will bark and bite. The biting behavior is unacceptable.

Before you can teach your dog anything, there are two important things that your dog must have. Those two are trust and respect. He must be able to trust you and he must have respect for you. If your puppy does not trust you, there is no way that he will respect you. If he does not respect you, you will not get very far with your puppy.

Physical Punishment

One very important thing you must remember is to never physically reprimand your puppy. This means that you can not hit, slap, kick or do anything physically to your dog when he does something that you do not approve of. If you do, this will be the quickest way to lose your dog's trust in you.