Puppies love to play with just about anything at their disposal, and unlike humans who use their hands and feet to interact with the world, dogs primarily use their nose and mouth to explore the world around them. Hence, it is not unusual for growing puppies to often bite and chew on things. Moreover, unlike grown-up dogs, puppies do not know to control the force of their bite to not hurt anybody.
If your puppies have their mother with them, she would usually take care of that by herself, and they would learn what to do and what no to do from her. However, if you are raising pups without an adult dog, then it becomes your duty to teach them to behave in a manner that does not hurt anybody else knowing or unknowingly.
If you do not do something about it soon, they may carry this behaviour with them into their adulthood where things get much more serious because their bite force also increases and can mistakenly hurt a person.
So, before we jump into what can be done to discourage your puppy from biting uncontrollably, it is important to know why your dog is behaving as such.
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Why is Your Puppy Biting?
There can be an ocean of different reasons for your pup to be doing that. But there are three major ones you should be aware of:
- Your puppy is teething.
- Your pup is hyperactive.
- Your pup is not getting the appropriate nourishment.
Teething
Puppies generally start to grow their teeth around the age of three weeks, and this is when they begin to bite instinctively. As they attain the age of 12 weeks, their milk teeth start to fall out, and the permanent teeth begin emerging. It is not until about 6 months of age that all of their milk teeth are replaced by permanent teeth.
Hence, you can expect your pup to have a tendency to bite until about 6 months of age. They do this instinctively in order to facilitate faster teething.
Hyperactivity
Puppies are packets of energy that go all-in when its playtime. Some puppies are more active and playful than others. Hence, they also tend to bite more.
The best way to counter this is to drain all of their energy. Read on to find out how you can do this.
Nourishment
Another major reason for your puppy to bite could be because it is not getting enough nourishment required for growth from its food.
This is particularly common in households where the dog is not given meat and is forcibly made to be on a plant-based diet. This is unnatural for dogs as they are inherently carnivorous and hence, leads to health problems.
In an effort to compensate for the missing nutrition, dogs, just like human babies, tend to bite different things and sometimes even manage to swallow harmful substances like plastic and metal. Calcium and Vitamin B12 are some essential nutrients that pet owners often overlook.
Check out our other article that talks about what happens when your dog is not given meat. Click here.
How to Discourage Biting
Firstly, you need to make up your mind to the fact that your dog is never going to stop biting. However, you can teach it to not bite hard and above all, you can teach your dog that its teeth never belong on human skin. Here’s how you can do that:
- Introducing appropriate toys.
- Keeping the dog engaged.
- Providing appropriate foods.
- Train using treats and other methods.
Introducing Appropriate Toys
When your puppy is teething, it is important to introduce some new toys to it before it gets the hang of biting human skin. Do not buy toys that are too hard like those made out of hard plastic. In fact, keep your dog away from anything that is plastic – this is good for both the dog as well as the environment.
The best kinds of toys are the ones made out of cloth, jute and/or rubber/silicon. Rope toys are usually the best way to go. Your dog will be able to comfortably dig its teeth into these toys without hurting you or itself.
Another low budget toy is coconut husk. Get plentiful and use your creative mind to turn it into a toy.
Keeping the Dog Engaged
If your dog is hyperactive, then the best way to discourage the habit of biting is by playing with the dog such that all of its energy is drained.
Engage the dog by playing tug of war with it (preferably with a rope toy or maybe a cloth that you have at home and are willing to sacrifice 😛). You can even use a mop and make your dog chase it all around the house.
You can even use this time to teach your dog to learn to fetch a ball, stick, frisbee, et cetera.
Another good way to engage them is through mental stimulation. If there is any particular food your dog likes (preferably dry food), then scatter them across the floor and let your dog sniff around and eat them. But be ready to do some cleaning work because you are likely to end up with a messy floor if you pour a lot of food pellets or if your dog is uninterested in the game.
Also, do not forget to take your dogs on walks or any outdoor places. Beaches, parks, lawns and other such places are amazing for both the dog and you.
Providing Appropriate Foods
By providing appropriate nutrient-rich foods like eggs, chicken, mutton, fish and more, you can ensure that your dog is always healthy and happy both physically as well as mentally.
When your dog does not receive the required nutrients, it can get cranky, short-tempered, aggressive or even become depressed. Moreover, the risks of dental problems and other body problem increase unprecedentedly.
Train Using Treats and Other Methods
If you can spare a good amount of uninterrupted time with your dog, then consider employing different training techniques. You will not only discourage biting by doing this, but you can also teach your dogs some pretty cool tricks like obeying your sit, stand, roll and heel commands.
Such behavioural training methods are excellent ways for your pup to grow up to be a calm and disciplined dog.
Dedicating at least 30 minutes of your time every day for this should be good enough. But make sure that you do not snoop of after every 5 minutes onto your social media. This time you spend to train your dog must be completely uninterrupted and should only be focused on your dog.
If you are a very busy person, or you have very less knowledge on how to get started, then consider hiring an expert. iAdopt will be happy to help in this aspect as well. Reach out to us, and we will put you in touch with one of our expert dog trainers.
Conclusion
You need to acknowledge and accept the fact that the results are not immediate. It may take as short as one or two weeks and as long as over a month.
Your pup can even be rebellious at time, and this is quite normal. So, instead of getting irritated or pissed off, calm down and try to affectionately encourage the dog to do your bidding by giving treats and other forms of appreciation.
