Biting is a big no-no for your dogs. You may think it is cute and playful when it is a puppy, but that is the wrong behavior to encourage. By encouraging it, you are letting your dog know that their instinct to try to become the alpha dog in the house is correct and you will submit to them. In dog training biting is the thing that needs to stop as soon as it starts.
When your dog is a puppy, it only has its animal urges to go on. It is trying to assert itself in the only way it is capable of, which is biting. Often dog’s this young cannot bite very hard, but the behavior should not be encouraged. One of the biggest ways to stop your dog is constant conditioning until they understand.
When the puppy starts gnawing on you, it may not even hurt. However, you should loudly state the command word. A simple “No!” or “Bad!” works quite well. Never use the dog’s name as a way of reprimanding them. You do not want them growing up thinking they are doing something bad every time you call them. It is not so much the word as the feeling behind it. You have to be as authoritative and powerful as possible. The dog will sense it.
A couple of things should be done in addition to a loud command. You should not be afraid to give the dog a light smack. Do not hurt the dog, but do not be too gentle on them, either. They are used to being rough. A little sharp slap on the side or the snout can illustrate that what they are doing causes pain. It is the antithesis of being petted, but it is not animal cruelty.
Dog’s crave attention, especially as puppies. After you say no and give the dog a smack, your best bet is to ignore the dog. Break eye contact and do not react to anything the dog does. Leave the room and close the door behind you if you need to. Do this for a full minute before you come back, and do it every time the dog bites. This will definitely make it stop.
If you get a dog when it is older or if you never properly trained your puppy, biting could get more serious. By the time the dog is a year, it should have stopped biting long ago. These are a dog’s teenage years and you must be twice as assertive, just like with a teenager. Just as with a teen, you have to take away privileges. If the dog bites and you do all three things that you would do with a puppy, take away the dog’s food for a while or limit the space in which it can move.
If your adult dog bites, it is because it feels that you are the inferior creature and have stepped out of your boundaries that it has set for you. You should get your dog to an obedience school immediately and, in the mean time, try to be as assertive as possible and punish the dog if it bites. If the problem is not straightened out, the pet could end up really hurting someone and will legally have to be killed in order to protect others.
