Some Easy Ways to Stop a Puppy From Biting and Nipping

For this Los Angeles puppy training session we worked with Zeus, a 10 week old Porcelaine puppy, teaching her to not bite or nip people.

The best place for a puppy to learn bite inhibition is a puppy socialization class. Unfortunatley due to CoronaVirus, there are few puppy classes in operation in LA.

I recommended the guardians look for social media groups specificities to the area and getting the word out through their local pet store, friends, neighbors and anyone else they can think of to find other puppies so they can set up backyard play dates. Puppies learn more about bite inhibiton in an hour of playing with other puppies than they do in a week’s worth of instruction from a human.

To help the humans teach the puppy to stop nipping and biting, I pulled out my camera so I could film a short video. Stopping puppy nipping and biting is all about good timing, consistnecy and some thespian skills. You really need to sell the yelps.

You can learn how to train a puppy to stop nipping and biting humans by watching the free positve puppy training video below.

If the guardians can arrange a few puppy play dates each week, they can help the puppy develop bite inhibition faster, but if they have to do the work themselves, the steps in the above video is a good place to start. It works with all puppies if your timing is good, even if you are not a professional Porcelaine puppy trainer.

If the yelping or nipping get worse with these tips, then its a safe bet Zeus is over tired. Crabby puppies often bite and nip more aggressively when they are in need of some sleep. So walking Zeus into her LTCA when she acts that way is a great way to stop aggressive puppy nipping. This is a version of a negative punishment which is a great way to communicate to a dog you dont like something. But since its a puppy, simply moving it to a low distraction environment so it can get rest is the best approach.

A great game that helps puppies learn bite inhibiton is tug of war. But any time the puppy teeth make contact with a human’s skin, they need to yelp, drop the toy and stop playing the game. This can become a powerful tool if the human stops the very first time teeth touch skin.

If Zeus ever gets more frustrated at the yelps and nips or bites harder and refuses to be redirected, it probably means the puppy is over tired. A Porcelaine puppy needs a good 14-16 hours of sleep every day. If she starts to bite and nip and the redirecting doesn’t work, walking into the Long Term Confinement Area then leaving immediately so they puppy can get some rest is always a good idea.

To help the humans remember all the other puppy behavior tips we shared in this in home LA puppy training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video that you can check out below.