Episode #5 Puppy Biting

Why do puppies bite and what can we do about it? Amy teaches that puppy biting is actually a normal puppy behavior. Have you ever watched two puppies play? They use their mouths to bite each other's ankles, ears, etc. It is our job to teach our puppies how to play with humans. We don't like needle sharp teeth on us so we must find a more appropriate way to interact and play together.

Links:
www.baxterandbella.com/learn-more

See Lessons 1.3 and 1.4 in our online puppy school, PUPPY PREP to learn how to marker train "YES" and "NO."

Watch this video of two puppies playing and educate your children on appropriate ways to interact with your new puppy.

Transcript

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This is the puppy turning podcast. Episode number five Puppy biting Think podcast is for people looking to train their own dog, either as a companion therapy or service dog. This is the puppy training podcasts, and I'm your host. Amy Jensen. Hey, everyone, welcome to Episode number five. Today's topic is Wanna get asked about a lot, so I thought it would make a fantastic podcast topic. So one of the first issues that new puppy owners experiences dealing with the razor sharp puppy teeth that too often find their way to your skin on my right. I get so many questions about my puppy is biting. He just keeps biting. I try to redirect. He just keeps biting. He's biting me, is biting my kids. He's biting my pant legs. I get this very, very often from new puppy owners. So today, let's talk about number one. Why do puppies bite? And number two? What can we do about it? So, first of all, I want you to realize that puppy biting is a very normal dog behavior. So it's not that your puppy is not eat or that he's, you know, has behavior problems that we need to work out. It's literally that it's just a normal puppy behavior. In fact, have you ever watched two puppies play? It's pretty rough. They the tackle each other. They mouth each other. They're biting ankles. They're biting ears. They're biting tails and they flip flop back and forth and kind of growls They play. So if you watch puppies play, you realize, Oh, this is just what they do and they think they're playing nicely. So when you bring a new puppy home, especially if you have kids in your house, let's say that you have, you know, a five year old and the seven year old and they're running around your backyard and their voices air high pitched and they're quick movements. And so, you know, puppies find kids really, really exciting because of their high pitched voices and their arms air moving in there. They make these really quick fund movements that are fun to follow for puppies. And so your puppies like, yes, let's play. And so the puppy runs to the kids and he's biting their feet or their ankles, and he's trying to play like a puppy would play. And then we're panicking because our puppy is is biting our Children and, like I need to stop this. I need to fix this problem. So I think the first thing we need to recognize is that biting is normal puppy behavior, and our puppy doesn't know how to play any differently. He thinks he's playing nicely, so it's our job to teach the puppy how to more appropriately play with humans. We don't necessarily like their teeth on us, and so we need to teach them how to play more appropriately. The next thing is that they are constantly chewing and biting because they need to strengthen their jaws. So from thousands of years ago, dogs have always just done this. It's a way of strengthening their jobs, which are very important to them. They also do it to sharpen their teeth, and then they do it because puppies air TV and they're growing a new set of teeth. And then around four or five months, they're losing those teeth and they're getting their adult teeth in. And so just that need to non something is there. I'm occasionally, you know, their gums are hurting, and that chewing and that biting helps helps alleviate some of that. So for all those reasons, that's why they do it now. What can we do about it? You know, the first thing I teach my clients is to teach your puppy a common language on I start with marker training. Your puppy needs to know when he does something you like. And so I used the marker word. Yes. And then your puppy needs to know when you're he's doing something that you don't like. And I use the word no or at for that. So I use Maura's like a misdemeanor, and no is more of like a felony like, No, we don't ever do that. But again, your puppy needs to know the meanings of those words. And if you're a member of my program, this is covered in the first unit. So lesson 1.3 less than 1.4. I teach you exactly how to do the marker training, both both yes and no. And you'll see the little light bulb click on and your puppy's head as soon as he understands the concept of no. And I teach you exactly how to train that in my program. So if you need to rig. Oh, review that lesson that check that up. I can put a link to that lesson in my show notes as well. If you want to go on, refer back to that. So once they know the marker training and they have some common language, then we need to recognize that they're going to have that need to bite and chew. So let's provide them with things that they can bite and they can chew and then redirect them onto those items. When they're trying to do things that we don't like, such as biting us or biting our family members or things like that. The next thing we can do is educate our Children and the family members in our home how to appropriately interact with the puppy. For example, if your kids are out running around the backyard, dogs have an instinctual chase behavior where they see something that moves quickly and they want to chase it. So if your kids take off running through the yard, your dog will want to chase wth Um, that's just who they are. That's part of normal dog behavior. So we need to teach your kids and your puppy how to play appropriate games together. If your kids are down on the ground wrestling, your puppy's gonna want to get in the middle of that wrestling match and start wrestling. And unfortunately, when the puppy wrestles, they use their mouth as part of the play. And so the ears were going to get bitten with child's legs or arms or things like that. So let's redirect our Children and our puppies to more appropriate things that they can do together. Some of my favorites are hide and go seek puppies love to seek, and they love to chase. So have your Children go hide. Sometimes they if they take a squeaky toy or a yummy treat, and then you release your puppy and your child can squeak the toy. When the public finds the child, the child can give them the treat, and then we play again. So it's very important, as your Children and puppies are interacting that you provide structured playtime. If you're not able to watch your Children and supervise them with the puppy 100% then you need to separate them. So if your Children I want to be out in the backyard playing and running around, and you can't watch them with the puppy. Then I would put the puppy away. Either keep the puppy with you inside or put them in their crate for a little bit. Or put them in a fenced off area where the puppy can play and your Children can play. But not together. Make sure that all of that time is structured. I have six games listed in our positive section. If you like to go check those out, those air really good patients. Impulse type control games to teach your puppy howto wait for things or to be patient. And that alleviates a lot of that puppy biting were just behavior where they're trying to get their way through their mouth. So those were all great ideas. Find a toy that your puppy loves. Some puppies love. Take, engage in tuck, so find a nice long rope toy were along, you know, plush toy. That's long enough that your puppy can bite one, and you could kind of lead him around. I don't ever get aggressive with the Game of Tug, but it is a good exercise if they can, you know, clamp onto the toy and then you kind of move him around. But I don't shake him side to side. I don't shake him up and down. I never aggressive in the play of Tug now, but a lot of puppies will grab on to something, and you can follow that. Lead them around and they'll follow you around with that toy, so find a toy that they like. I also encourage families to keep toys available and easily accessible. So if your child and your puppy are going to be playing, I have 3 to 4 toys that I could easily just hand to my puppy to redirect him if he were to go and try to mouth my child. I do that for myself as well, or for guests when they come over and your puppy just needs to mouth and bite. Then I just always constantly putting something in his mouth that he can bite. That's appropriate. All right, so some final tips and tricks on the puppy biting Let's say that you maybe have dried redirecting, and you it just keeps happening. Your puppy just keeps coming back and keep fighting. I'm going to go through a list of about 10 to 11 different ideas that you could maybe use that will give you a little tool kit. So the more tools you have in your bag, I feel like the better equipped you are, too. Teacher puppy, more appropriate things. So here's some helpful ideas for puppy biting. Find something your puppy likes. To play such a sketch, you could toss a ball a few feet away. Will she go get it? Engage her in a game and she will focus on that, not the biting, so again redirecting with a game of play. Do not let her have free time all day. Create some sort of routine you can play and then settle in a great play and then settle in a crate, et cetera. When she's out running around the yard, you are with her. Then when you go in, she goes in a kennel or create or supervised play in your home and then every hour, letter out to play for 5 to 15 minutes and then back in the crate with a chew toy. Our boys stick or Ben a bone. Whatever you give your dog, hold your puppy up in the air, facing away from you until she stops trying to bite and then set her back down. So sometimes just simply picking your puppy up facing her away from you just kind of reset, sir. Let's air settle down for just a second, and then you can place her back on the ground and see if she can, you know, better control herself. Another idea is to teach her to relax by holding her back against your chest. You're gonna slowly rub her ears, gonna rub her belly, talked to her in a slow, calm manner and then let her go play again and repeat that every two minutes or so. You know he's playing and having a fun good time. But as soon as things get too aggressive or to escalated even before that point, I like to stop the play and practice these subtle exercises. And then I go back and forth about the puppy settle, and then I let the peppy play, and then I have the puppy settle, and then I let the puppy play. All right, so replace your clothes that she's biting with a rope toy and keep toys handy. So we talked about that a minute ago, but just keep things handy that you could constantly just kind of put in her mouth. It's almost like having a brand new baby with a pacifier, and every time they just spit it out, you just keep putting it back in their mouth. And eventually they love that pacifier. It's a lot like that with puppy biting. Just keep sticking something in her mouth to redirect her onto something more appropriate. I like to follow the rule of exchanging soft fur soft and hard for heart. So if your puppy is biting your clothing, then give them something soft that they can sink their teeth into, like a rope toy or a plush toy. If they are trying to bite something that's more hard that chairs your table legs or your shoes or something, then give them something that would give them something hard to sink their teeth into. All right, pull out treats and redirect that behavior. So think, What do you want your puppy to do? A lot of times, we just think I don't want my puppy to bite. Okay, well, that's nice, but what do you want your puppy to do? Like how do you want your puppy to interact with your Children, how do you want them to interact with you and then do that? So the more cues that your puppy nose there, the more commands your puppy nose. You can go through a little training session. You can get a chair in a game of play, but use some high value rewards or treats to redirect that biting behavior onto more appropriate one so that she learns, Oh, this is acceptable. This is not Don't let kids roughhouse with your puppy. So again, a structured play is the best thing. I get a lot of questions from mostly the puppy biting questions come from people who have Children in their home. You know, I'll put a video in my show notes so that you can see how puppies play and what it looks like and what it sounds like just so that you could educate your Children on. This is how they play and then make sure that they have games that they can play with it the puppy, because we want them to interact with the puppy. We just wanted to be in a healthy way, an inappropriate way, so teach your kids how to give the puppy cues. Practice getting the puppy to sit with them. Practice getting the puppy to come to them. Practice getting the puppy to do fun things like shake or roll over things that your kids will find fun but that it's appropriate for both of them. So then also remember that your puppy is most likely teething. Here's an idea for that. If your puppy is just really wanting to non something, or maybe he's in the state of where he's losing his teeth. Freeze a wet washcloth with bits of hot dog in the middle. So what I do is I get a rag. I get it wet. It put some hot dogs in the middle. I roll it up and tie a knot in it, and then I stick it in my freezer for 20 minutes. Then give that to your puppy, and that gives him something really cold but tasty to chew on and sink his teeth into. So if you need some redirection, or maybe he's in is great for a little bit While your kids were out playing. That's a great thing to stick in the crate with him so that he keeps that positive association. And he also gets to practice that puppy biting. All right, that's it for today, You guys, Thanks for listening in. If you know someone who could use puppy training, help, please share this with them. You could also follow us on social media, and you can learn more about our puppy training program by visiting our site, www dot Baxter and Bella dot com will put that link in our show notes as well as always, Have a fabulous week and happy training. If you have a question about anything you heard on this podcast or any other puppy training question, visit my sight Baxter and Bella dot com to contact me.