It is tempting to think of a little nipping as cute behavior and to laugh and pet the puppy when it happens. This reinforces the behavior, which means that if you do this, you are actually rewarding them by showing them love and attention when they bite. This is the opposite of what you want to do, so it is very important to stop yourself from acting happy when the puppy includes biting in his or her play.
Remember that it is important that everybody who is close to the puppy needs to be involved with the puppy training biting techniques. Your puppy will not learn, or certainly will learn much slower, if he is receiving different messages from different people in the family. Everybody, including kids, needs to understand that they must stop playing with the puppy any time that he bites them. They should stop giving him attention at that moment.
However, there is no point in punishing the puppy for biting. A little nipping is natural when puppies are playing with each other, so of course this continues when the puppy is playing with you or your kids. Your young dog will have trouble understanding that he has done anything wrong.
Stopping playing with the puppy is the most important rule, but there is more that you can do when you are establishing good puppy training biting techniques.
When puppies are playing together, they will yelp any time that they are bitten too hard. This stops the other puppy biting them. So any time that your puppy nips your hand or foot, just yelp like his brothers or sisters would have yelped. Be sure to sound as much like a puppy as you can.
When you do that, your puppy will probably let go so you can move away. Stop playing with him at once. Do not give him any more attention by talking or looking at him, either. Switch to doing something completely different that does not involve your puppy at all. That way he will learn that you do not like being bitten and if he wants lots of attention and play, he better not bite you.
You do not have to stay away from him for very long. Puppies have a short attention span so everything is very immediate for him. The consequences of his behavior should happen right away, and after a few minutes you can go back to him if you want.
Of course it is important to reward the good behavior too. Many people with dogs (as well as with kids) make a point of correcting them when they do something wrong, but forget to reward them when they do something right. It’s like we take it for granted when they behave well. But a dog will learn just as much from a reward as from a punishment.
So when you have been playing with him and he has not bitten you at all, give him a reward for that. This form of puppy training biting that involves rewards as well as walking away will be the most successful.
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