Biting Puppy
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While dogs are commonly known as man's best friend, you, as the dog owner, are responsible for the training of your dog, if you want him to live up to that moniker. When you bring that cute puppy home, he's a rambunctious and loving character. But, he does lack is discipline and that's where you come in. You need to fulfill
your end of the bargain.
Dogs are generally the most lovable of creatures, inherently loyal, fun loving, comforting, and amusing. However, you've got to face the fact that dogs are like three year old children, in terms of discipline. That's why an early program of dog training is essential. Dogs absolutely love to please their owner. It's up to you to let your puppy know what's expected of him as far as behavior goes. From his point of view, he's in a constant state of having fun. He doesn't know good from bad behavior unless you teach him the distinction. One of the most common dog behaviors you'll want to curb is the biting puppy syndrome.
Puppies enjoy chewing on everything, as any dog owner can attest to. The biting puppy may have an enjoyable session with your favorite shoes, a book or a tasty bone. He should certainly be able to enjoy his bone, but you've got to provide behavioral guidance that steers him away from your shoes or your current reading material. He doesn't realize that there's a difference, unless you let him know. If you just let him do his thing, he may soon be an irreverent biting puppy, with just about everything on his approved list of biting behavior. If you're an irresponsible dog owner, you have no one to blame but yourself when he graduates to biting you, your children, or your next door neighbor whenever it pleases him. The biting puppy, unchecked, will grow into a biting dog, landing you and him in a whole bunch of trouble.
Just like kids, dogs need behavioral guidance. Getting a biting puppy to understand his limitations is really quite simple. Where do you draw the line? Biting food items and bones is a good rule of thumb. Anything else is a deal breaker. If you allow him to bite an old, worn out pair of shoes, you're giving him a license to bite and chew up a variety of household items. He can't distinguish between things which are OK to bite and those which are not.
Puppies, while teething, are prone to be biting puppies. However cute you might think his decimation of yesterday's paper is, you've got to put your foot down. Dogs only understand rules in terms of the absolute. It's either OK or not OK. The punishment must also fit the crime. In the case of inanimate objects, a rolled up newspaper, with a sharp noise report, should get your message across.
You must hold in reserve the most serious punishment for infractions which involve your puppy biting a person. No matter how fun loving and lacking in malice it is, a puppy must be dissuaded from the idea that biting a human is acceptable. Let's say your daughter decides to share some fat scraps from her dinner plate with her puppy. He's certainly eager to share them, inadvertently biting her in his haste. While he meant no harm, if you let this pass unpunished, you're giving him a green light for biting behavior that spells trouble down the road.
In order to promptly nip the biting puppy behavior in the bud for good, you've got to come down on him hard. A sharp smack on the nose, removal of the food, and the dog version of a time out is what you need to impose on him. Slip his leash on and give him a taste of isolation out on the porch, along with a firm 'bad dog'. This is language and action he will understand. He'll know that his behavior resulted in a physical punishment, loss of the desired item, and isolation from his family.
Using this strategy, you can quickly and easily train your biting puppy out of his bad habit. By the time he's 6 months old, you'll have a permanent toddler dog who knows his limitations!
