There are few experiences more fun than a brand new puppy. Usually, your puppy doesn’t understand just how sharp his teeth are and so you need to train your brand new puppy that nipping and biting are inappropriate behaviors.
Use toys when you play with your puppy and do not use your hands. Using your hands to “bat” or shove your puppy around implies that your hands are toys and therefore fair game to puppy’s teeth. Puppy’s roughhouse naturally and their teeth (and biting) are a big part of that.
Keep a variety of toys on hand for puppy to play with. There are many kinds of doggy toys ranging from soft to hard, all made with the same idea that puppies love to chew. And, they’re certainly less costly than a new couch or a trip to the emergency room! The only rule is that the toys should not resemble things that your dog is not allowed to chew on. Chew toys that look like sticks, bones or fire hydrants are fine. Chew toys that look like your cat – definitely not fine.
Use a deterrent like Bitter Apple Spray or similar substance to keep puppy’s mouth off things that aren’t for puppy to chew on. When puppy grabs at you with his mouth, shove a toy between yourself and the puppy to show puppy what is acceptable. Don’t say “no” or anything else to imply the toy is wrong, merely replace the unwanted behavior with the right behavior.
Do not allow puppy to chew, pull, or otherwise “attack” things that are attached to you, including pants, shoes, hands, etc. It might be fun when puppy is small to hold his mouth and wrestle, but you’re teaching him the wrong thing and he’ll learn to attack your hand (in fun) when he’s a lot bigger too.
One thing to be careful of. If you react in an excitable or startled manner to your puppy biting you, they are likely to think you’re playing a game – this of course makes them think that this is a fun thing to do. Replacing the inappropriate behavior with an appropriate chew toy is far more effective and soon your puppy will understand that toys are for biting and mouthing and not your hand or clothing.
When puppy badly misbehaves, don’t shake, hit, or loudly scold him. Instead, calmly pick him up and put him in a quiet spot (kennel, crate, etc.) and give him and yourself a few minutes to calm down. Then let him out and continue play. Do not use the kennel as a “punishment,” as you want him to be comfortable there. Instead, just put him away calmly for a few minutes and ignore his pleas until he’s calmed down.
Remember, your puppy needs to play to be happy and healthy. Teaching your dog to fetch, play hide and go seek are all great games. If you stop playing any time your dog misbehaves then soon your dog is going to behave because he wants to continue playing. Consistency in training your puppy to have good behavior will mean a happy, well adjusted, well trained dog.
Having a puppy or new dog is very rewarding, but you must keep in mind that there are many dog training tools out there that will help you train your dog as well. Some of these tools come from the manufacturer Innotek such as the Innotek IUT-300 dog training collar, the Innotek ADV-1000 dog collar, or if you have two dogs that need to be trained you might want to try the Innotek ADV-1000 dog training collar.