Taking the "Ouch!" Out of Puppy Mouthing

The single most important thing new puppy parents need to know is how to teach their pups to be gentle with regard to mouthing. Puppies can only learn how to do this early in life, before 6 months of age. By the time they’re adults, it will be too late. Time is of the essence!

At some point in life, all dogs use their teeth inappropriately on people. Whether it’s due to unintentional rough handling by a child, being poked and prodded too many times during a routine vet exam, or because they’re not being careful while playing fetch and end up grabbing for the toy but accidentally catch someone’s hand instead, all dogs bite or use their mouths in ways that are less than ideal. When something like this happens, it is essential that your puppy does no physical damage. But “biting gently” does not come naturally to puppies. As new puppy parents, it’s your job to teach them to use their mouths correctly.

Normal Puppy Behavior:

Puppies mouth everything in sight – it’s a very normal way for them to explore the world and, later, they do it to relieve teething pain and to reduce stress. As they age and become familiar with the environment, they tend to mouth less. Early on in his life before you brought him home, your puppy played a lot with his siblings. When your pup bit his siblings too hard, they yelped loudly and stopped playing, and your puppy learned, “Oops, that was too hard. If I want to keep playing, I’ll need to tone it down a bit.” Human skin is much more fragile than puppy skin and fur, but your puppy doesn’t understand that - so you need to continue to give your puppy feedback about the force he applies ON YOU.

Techniques to Avoid:

Some people, even some vets, may advise you to put your hand over a puppy’s muzzle and tell him “No Bite.” This sometimes results in a puppy that mouths less, but it does nothing to teach him how to be gentle; if something bad happens – say, in the future an unkind neighbor boy pulls his tail or tries to hit him and your adult dog’s response is to use his teeth to defend himself – you will not know how forcefully he may bite because no one had taught how to use his mouth safely. Dogs that leave scrapes, bruises or punctures on human skin are not acceptable companions in society, even if done in self-defense, so please do not use this technique on your puppy! It’s not fair for anyone involved.

Other methods to avoid are squeezing the puppy’s muzzle or lips, shoving your hand deep into the pup’s throat, or squirting the puppy with bad-tasting sprays. None of these methods tells puppies how to use their mouths appropriately. And puppies may unintentionally learn that hands coming toward their head bring pain and punishment and they may lash out in fear. Now, that’s not the kind of relationship you want to have with your new puppy, is it?

A Simple Two-Step Process:

Initially, we can teach puppies to not apply pressure (i.e. bite hard) when they mouth people. After they understand this, then we can work on stopping mouthing altogether.

If your puppy just puts his teeth on your hands but he doesn’t apply a lot of pressure, simply ignore him or, if it bothers you, entice him to put his teeth on a toy and praise him when he chews on it. If he mouths you and it hurts, immediately GIVE HIM FEEDBACK by yelping like his sibling or by saying “ouch!” and then carefully pulling your hand away. If the biting was especially painful, get up and immediately leave your puppy by going into a different room – you’re giving him a consequence which communicates, “If you put your teeth on me and apply lots of pressure, I will leave you all alone in the big, bad world”. Come back after 30 seconds and ask or treat-lure your puppy to sit or lay down. When he does this simple behavior, praise him and go about your business. Repeat the time-out every time the puppy bites you too hard.

It’s important that everyone who comes in contact with your pup, including all children, follow these steps. If some family members allow rough play and biting, your puppy will not be able to distinguish when it’s okay to use teeth and when it’s not. Hard biting should never be allowed!

Over time, you’ll notice that your puppy no longer bites you too hard. Now you can start using the same technique with the medium-pressure bites. When your puppy no longer delivers medium-pressure mouthing, address light-pressure mouthing in the same manner. Soon, your puppy will no longer mouth you at all because he understands that your skin is too sensitive and will reserve mouthing for toys and his canine playmates, who can take a lot more abuse!

Time to Chill Out:

If you don’t have time to deal with excessive mouthing or if your puppy continually tries to mouth you regardless of your attempts to redirect him or tell him “ouch!”, it’s time for him to settle down in his crate or other safe puppy-proofed area with an appropriate chew toy, such as a food-stuffed Kong toy or a rawhide stick (always supervise when giving your dog rawhides or other such chew treats).

Let Me at ‘Em!

If your dog mouths excessively hard all of the time, your puppy needs more overall mental and physical exercise, including lots of playtime with other puppies or friendly dogs. Dogs are much more efficient and consistent in giving feedback to young pups about bite inhibition than people are. After all, they do speak the same language! Practice frequent short training sessions and alternate with fetch games or just throw a ball for him to chase, making sure to give him lots of positive feedback when he uses his mouth gently. A tired dog is a good dog! If you haven’t already done so, please consider signing up for a puppy class such as our Canine U Dog Training Program’s Complete Puppy Class. Lastly, avoid repetitive, load-bearing exercise that stresses fragile canine joints such as jogging or biking; save those kinds of activities for later, when your dog enters adulthood, and puppy mouthing will be but a memory, thanks to all your good work!