The arrival of a puppy is a moment of great emotion and tenderness, however, the human family soon discovers that educating and raising a puppy is not as simple as it might seem at first. It is common that at this stage we observe that the puppy bites all the time, even the owners, is that normal? Of course yes.
Knowing what to do when a puppy bites everything is not easy, because if it targets our hands or feet it can do us some damage, but if it starts to bite anything you find, including personal items, makes the problem worse. On our site we will give you some tips so that you understand that it is normal for a puppy to bite everything (and all the time) keep reading:
The bite in puppies
Puppies bite a lot, what's more, they tend to bite everything, but it's something completely normal and also necessary for proper developing. It is also important for them to develop the well-known "soft mouth", that is, they bite without doing damage in their adult stage. If, on the other hand, we inhibit this behavior, our dog may suffer from a lack of exploratory behavior in the future, which will affect him negatively.
Bit in puppies is a way of knowing and exploring the environment around them, as they also exercise their sense of touch through his mouth. In addition, due to the great energy that puppies give off, this need to explore the environment is even greater and the bite is the main means of satisfying their curiosity.
Another fact that we must not fail to take into account is that puppies have milk teeth that must be replaced by permanent teeth and until this process is completed feel discomfort, which is relieved by biting.
My puppy bites everything, is that really normal?
It is important to highlight that up to 3 weeks of agewe must allow our puppy to bite everything he wants. That does not mean that we leave shoes or valuable objects within their reach, on the contrary, they must have own toys to bite (and specifically for puppies), and we must even allow him to nibble us, he is getting to know us and exploring, something positive for him.
Don't forget that when you leave home and your dog is unsupervised, it's essential to leave it in a puppy park (also called a pen). In this way you will prevent it from biting all the objects it finds around the house.
Remember that even if your puppy spends all day biting, initially you don't have to worry, biting is very necessary for a puppy, as much as sleeping, that is why the sleep of puppies is characterized by occupying a large part of the day. You should only be concerned if your puppy bites very hard or if he aggressively bites another member of the family, be it a human or another pet.
In other cases, while this is normal behavior, it is important to set limits so that as the puppy as he grows up don't misunderstand our good intention of letting him explore the environment with his teeth.
How to manage puppy bite
Below we show you some basic guidelines so that this typical behavior of the puppy is managed in a he althy way and does not trigger in the future in behavior problems:
- Assuming that the puppy needs to chew, it is best to offer him toys specially designed for this purpose and make it clear what he can bite, praising him every time he uses them.
- From three weeks of age, every time the puppy bites us we will make a small screech and move away, ignoring the dog for a minute. Since he will want to continue playing with us, he will gradually understand what is the acceptable level of bite. Every time we move away we will include the command "let go" or "let go" which will later help us in the dog's basic obedience.
- Avoid overexciting the puppy, this can lead to a stronger and uncontrolled bite. You can play bite with him but always in a calm and quiet way.
- When the dog understands the limits and does not bite what we have prohibited, it is important to positively reinforce this success. We can use food, kind words, and even a touch.
- Prevent children from playing bite with the puppy, they should always interact with a toy that prevents it from hurting them.
Although it is normal and necessary for your puppy to spend much of his time biting, these simple tips will help your dog's development to take place in the best possible way.
