Stopping Play Biting & Nipping
Biting and nipping behaviors are one of the most common concerns from new pet owners. Young pets socialize and test out their environments with their mouth, but it’s definitely an undesirable and inappropriate behavior – often starting out cute but becoming problematic (even dangerous) over time.
What Your Pet WANTS When It Nips
Remember this: all behaviors are an attempt to get something we want. And when your pet nips, they almost always want play and attention. To change the behavior, we need to do two things:
- Do not reward the behavior (nipping) with play and attention.
- Teach them acceptable ways to request play and attention. We can’t expect them not to want play and attention, right?
Stop Rewarding Biting
Most “normal” responses to nipping can be interpreted as play or attention. So, the best way to discourage play biting is to completely remove yourself from the situation. Immediately stop playing with them; completely ignore them. Don’t shout “stop,” don’t rap them on the nose – these will be seen as play and attention! This may mean getting up and leaving the room to give your pet time to calm down.
Teaching Polite Ways To Get Rewarded
Next, we have to provide acceptable ways to ask for what they want – play and attention. The easy (and fun) approach is to just keep playing with them so long as they don’t nip. They’re smart, and they’ll figure out that everything but nipping can result in playtime. The key is to be consistent – nipping must always end playtime.
An even more powerful approach is “sit to say please” training, where you consistently make your pet sit before getting anything they want, essentially teaching them there’s a polite way to “ask” for things. Ask us for more info!
You should also keep plenty of chew toys available to provide an outlet for this normal behavior. However, do not give them toys in response to biting you! That reinforces the behavior you are trying to stop: if they nip you and get rewarded with a toy, they will associate play biting with getting a toy. Do make chew toys available, but do not give them toys when they bite you.
More Helpful Tips
- Consistency is key in any training. Get the whole family invested so everyone’s responses are consistent. We all know what happens when mom says no but dad says yes!
- Don’t allow your new puppy to chew on you or your clothes. It may be cute when they are a few weeks old, but it quickly turns into an unwanted behavior as they mature.
- Socialize your new puppy with other dogs helps them learn proper boundaries. When one puppy gets too rough they cry out and stop playing; in return the aggressor learns that if they are too rough they no longer get to play, so the behavior decreases.
- You can use their crate (or small room) as a place to cool off when they are nipping insistently. However, they need to be trained to be comfortable in the crate first or it can be counterproductive. We have a handout on crate training if you need help.
- Young children will have inconsistent responses to biting, often inadvertently encouraging it and undoing your hard work. Minimize and supervise their interactions until trained.