In the life of many a dog there comes a time when his owner must learn how to stop him from biting. A puppy that bites can be an annoyance but as she matures she becomes a danger and a threat to both strangers and loved ones. You must react very quickly to stop dogs from biting, as it is your responsibility to prevent your pet from becoming dangerous.

How To Stop Your Puppy From Biting

One of the most common mistakes pet owners make is to assume that biting in a puppy is just a normal part of play. The dog is teething, so you figure it’s just a stage that he’ll outgrow. Not so! What your pup is actually doing is learning how to establish his place
in the pack. His teeth are his tool for establishing dominance.

It’s best if you can nip this behavior (pun intended!) in the bud while your dog
is still a puppy. Under age six months, it’s very easy to retrain most dogs, as
this is when they are forming lifelong habits and it is when they learn how to
bite in the wild.

There are many ways to do this.

Do not hit, do not scold … “Silence is golden”. Ignore her when she bites you,
remove your hands and leave. She will understand that this behavior does not
please you and results in your departure. Or, divert her attention with
replacement therapy; offer your dog a toy to nip instead of your hand.

Another thing: when you play with your dog you do get him too excitemed? When
you throw a ball to him, play tug of war, et cetera, these games are involving
your hands. So when your puppy gets excited he takes on your hands in his mouth
because he’s excited and he’s establishing dominance. Don’t offer him this
satisfaction, simply stop all its games where your dog gets excited.

If you can’t get your puppy to stop then you can take things a step further by
hiring a trainer to teach him to stop biting or enrolling him in obedience
class.

How To Stop Adult Dogs From Biting

A dog that has been allowed the run of the house and allowed to nip and bite to
show who’s in charge will start to move on to more aggressive biting habits at
about one year of age. This is when play biting usually becomes a serious habit.
So if you haven’t already, take the advice above and stop all wrestling, tug of
war or other dominance related games.

You’re also going to have to reign your dog in around the house. Establish clear
boundaries and cut down their territory. You may even have to resort to crate
training or obedience training.

As Your Dog Ages

If you let your dogs biting problem go on for too long into adulthood it can
become very dangerous. Past 12 months, if he is still nipping, he has firmly
established himself as the leader of the pack. This means he can even turn on
his owner and assert his dominance with an attack.

Professional help is your best bet for older dogs. Unless your dog is sick or
has a mental disorder, he can be retrained. But really, it’s best to get this
bad behavior under control in puppyhood. Adult dogs who bite are dogs whose
issues could have been resolved much more easily as puppies.