Train your puppy to prevent destructive biting and mouthing

In today’s post, you will learn some easy and helpful tips & tricks to train your puppy to prevent biting. As a dog owner, you love all the things your dog does. But sometimes you might get irritated and annoyed when your dog displays aggression. However, the typical aggressive behavior found in dogs is the way they bite. Like human babies, all puppies learn to bite and chew very early, so it is usual for them to chew on all the objects during the teething stage. Also, many dog breeds prefer to use their mouth rather than paws for handling things. This behavior in dogs begins with puppyhood as they start to explore the world.

At the initial stages, all the owners find puppy biting an adorable thing. But their little bites can turn into painful bites as they grow old. Generally, puppies have healthy and sharp teeth, and they even do not know how hard they are biting. Therefore, while raising your fido, you need to train and teach some basic behavioral commands. Want to learn more about how to train your puppy to prevent destructive behavior? Scroll down to get all the information. Before getting on the training techniques let us understand why puppies use their teeth so much.

Why do puppies use their teeth?

Following are the common reasons why puppies use their teeth-

1 – Teething-

This might be the most common cause of biting & mouthing in puppies. The initial 6-8 months are quite challenging for them when they start getting two sets of teeth, including the milk teeth. When the whole process gets much complicated for them, they decide to chew and bite on all the objects, human hands too.

2 – Playing-

All the four-legged creatures lack independent fingers and toes. Also, they do not play the way humans do. Instead, the canines use their mouth frequently, and unintentionally they end up chewing on their littermates.

3 – Out of affection-

You brought the puppy home, and in all these years, you have seen how interestingly the little pup has grown up to a mature dog. You get attached, and the dog becomes your family member. Similarly, your puppy also feels the same bond with you, and to express its love and affection, he/she will use its mouth and start licking you. All the dogs lick their littermates to show appreciation. It is expected behavior even in wild animals.

4 – Frustration-

There are many situations where your pup gets stressed out and frustrated, like loud noises, an unfriendly environment, and being left alone. Usually, when a dog gets frustrated or stressed to that level when peeing and whining does not work, they choose to mouth on everything and anything. Being left alone is possibly the most common reason for displaying aggression no matter whether you have any dog, either high maintenance or low maintenance dog breeds.

Essential Commands to Teach & Train Your Pup

Every dog owner must train their pups with some familiar and basic commands to get important directions from their owners. Basic training will help them to understand the difference between what is acceptable vs. unacceptable behavior. Followings are the basic commands that you need to start teaching your puppy –

• Look at me
• Sit
• Down
• Stand
• Stay
• Please leave it
• No
• Recall

Before teaching your dog any command, you need to ensure that the dogs get your full attention.

You may also read – How to Prepare for a Road Trip with your Dog?

How to Give Command to Your Dog?

Dogs have a good memory; therefore, positive imposition will help them to learn new skills. To keep them motivated, you need to encourage them by giving them occasional treats. Given below are some steps on how to provide the command for your pup –

• The foremost thing is to gain your puppy’s attention.
• When they get your attention, they are now ready to take control.
• Forgiving commands, you need to be good with verbal command and hand gestures.
• Allow your dog a few seconds to listen to the order and start moving.
• Once the pup starts following your order, provide some treats to encourage.

You may also read – Fur baby meeting human baby!

The Atmosphere During the Training:

Small pups are funny and active, so they get distracted easily. Therefore, you must provide the training with a minimal distraction environment. Start with training in a quiet room; once the pup starts following the command, gradually introduce some distractions like another dog, chew toys, etc.

Stop Puppies from Mouthing and Biting on Your Hands:

The time when the pup starts putting their teeth into your skin, you need to stop them. You need to correct them by sitting with them and pet them. When they begin mouthing or biting, you need to push them away and make a loud noise like “Ouch.” This will let them understand that they have done something incorrectly.

You may also read – Raising a pup!

Conclusion:

Training your pup is very important to let them understand the difference between good and bad behavior. When you do not teach the puppy, then after growing older, the dog will display such behavior with other family members and the guests who visit you. However, initially, your pup will mimic all the activities, just like a small human toddler. Therefore, you need to teach & train your puppy what kind of behavior is acceptable and how they need to behave with other humans.

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That’s all for today. I hope you find this post helpful. Do share your views in the comments below. And don’t forget to share this post with your friends and family!

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