In addition, puppies have the infinite energy of youth. Like the Energizer Bunny, they can keep going, and going, and going. After a nap, their engines rev-up from SLEEP to GO, faster than you can catch your breath and shout “Stop!”.

Sound and movement are especially irresistible to a puppy.

The more we shout and move our hands, arms, or feet around, the more likely our puppy will get excited, bite, jump, and act even more crazy.

A very important part of training my puppy involves managing his excitement level, and teaching him self control. By doing this, I set my puppy up for success, and reduce out of control biting and jumping, before it occurs.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
~~[Benjamin Franklin]

Managing Puppy Excitement and Self-Control

1. Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF)

1. Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF)

NILIF stands for Nothing in Life is Free. It is a great way to train a puppy, build a strong bond with him, and remain sane in the presence of our bouncing ball of fur.

NILIF is simple – we just ask our puppy to do something for us first, before we give him anything in return. This includes food, toys, freedom, and yes, even our affection.

First, I train my puppy to do some very simple commands. Here are three simple commands –

Look simply asks puppy to give you eye contact for a short amount of time.

1. Look

Look simply asks a puppy to give us eye contact for a short amount of time.

1. I train this command by showing my puppy that I have a piece of food.
2. I say “Look”, and bring the food up to the level of my eyes.
3. Puppy will naturally follow the movement of my food-enhanced hand, and look-up at me.
4. As soon as he looks, I mark the behavior (Good!) and reward him with some food from my other hand.
5. As my puppy improves, I get him to look at me for longer, before rewarding the behavior.

2. Touch

Touch asks a puppy to gently touch our hand with his nose.

1. Again, I let my puppy see that I have some food in my hand.
2. Then, I close my hand, move it a short distance away from my puppy, and say “Touch”.
3. Puppy will naturally follow the food. At first, he may try to mouth or lick at my hand. I ignore these behaviors and wait until he touches my hand with his nose.
4. As soon as that happens, I mark the behavior (Good!) and reward him with some food from my other hand.

3. Sit

Sit is a useful evergreen command. Even after our dog has matured into an adult, we will still find this command to be very handy.

1. To train a Sit, I show my puppy that I have some food in my hand.
2. I close my hand and move it over and above my puppy’s head. He will naturally want to follow my hand, which will cause him to turn his head up and move his rump down into a sitting position.
3. Some dogs may move backwards instead of sitting. That is fine. I just repeat the motion until I get a Sit. However, it is important not to repeat the verbal command. I only say “Sit” once.
4. As soon as my puppy sits, I mark the behavior (Good!), and give him a treat from my other hand.

Once my puppy understands these simple commands, I ask him to do something for me, before I do anything for him in return. For example,

• Ask for a Look, before giving a puppy affection or tummy rubs.
• Ask for a Sit, before we open the door for our puppy to go on his daily walk.
• Ask for a Touch, before we give a puppy his interactive food toy.

This teaches our puppy that the best way to get what he wants, is to do what we want first. When my puppy bites, I no-mark the behavior (Ack-Ack) and give him an alternate command (e.g., Sit). This not only teaches our puppy what not to do (bite), but also what to do instead (sit).

Siberian Husky puppy Lara doing an awesome Sit and patiently waiting for her reward.

2. Drag Lead

2. Drag Lead

By using a lead, I can easily control and stop my puppy from jumping and biting.

Sometimes, puppies get so excited while playing, that they are no longer able to listen to us. In general, I try to step in and have a play break before this happens. However, we may sometimes miss our window of opportunity, and our puppy becomes so excited that he will not stop biting or jumping.

In such situations, I find that it is extremely useful to have a drag lead on my puppy. By using a lead, I can easily control and stop his bad behavior.

Often, when a puppy bites, our instinct is to try and stop him by using our hands and arms. We push back, shout, and move-around a lot. All this hand and arm movement will only get him even more excited, because he thinks we are playing with him. Furthermore, rapid movement may trigger a dog’s prey drive and get him to bite more, and bite harder.

To stop a puppy from biting, it is important to stay calm, don’t shout, and not move in a fast and erratic fashion. Instead, I calmly pick up the drag lead and move my puppy into a quiet area, where he can calm down.

I use a flat collar with the drag lead. Do not use an aversive collar such as a choke chain or a prong. Such collars are risky. Some choose to use them during supervised walks, but they should always be removed at the end of the walk. I also cut the loop of my drag lead, so that it does not catch on furniture or objects in the house, while my puppy is running around. I only use a drag lead when I am around to supervise.

Siberian Husky Puppy and Shiba Inu playing ball. Both have drag leads to manage excitement level and puppy biting.

3. Lots of Exercise & Play

Lots of Exercise and Play

Puppies are extremely energetic and curious. As such, they often need a lot of activity and play time.

If we do not provide interesting and supervised activities for them to do, they will figure out their own activities which will rarely appeal to our human sensibilities. Bored puppies will start chewing on books, curtains, furniture, and people.

To reduce puppy biting, make sure to provide him with a lot of physical and mental stimulation.

Interactive food toys are a big favorite with my dogs. Instead of presenting food to them on a silver dog bowl, I put some of their food into interactive food toys. In this way, they are motivated to work on the toy, and they get mental and physical exercise while figuring out the best and fastest way to get at the food.

Daily walks will also help to drain a puppy’s energy. Make sure that a puppy has had all of his shots before taking him to areas where there are other dogs, and where there is poop from other dogs.

Puppies also love playing with other puppies. Nothing burns quite as much energy as a fun puppy chase and wrestling session. I make sure that all my puppy’s play-mates are balanced, healthy, and have had their requisite number of shots.

Other fun puppy games include soccer, catch, fetch, tug, and flirt pole.

Nothing burns quite as much energy as a fun puppy chase and wrestling session.

4. Rules and Routine

4. Rules and Routine.

Puppyhood is the best time to teach a dog new tricks. Puppies learn quickly, and are usually eager to please.

I set up a fixed routine for my puppy as early as possible, and also start enforcing a consistent set of house rules. My puppy routine includes food time, play time, walk time, chew time, grooming time, training time, and most important of all – sleep time. Puppy sleep time is when I get some much needed time-off, away from Energizer puppy. *Hooah!*

In the beginning, it is best to institute more house rules and to address them consistently. In this way, our puppy does not develop any bad habits, which will be hard to break later on.

My dogs have the following house rules –

• No getting on furniture.
• No biting on people or people stuff.
• No pawing on people.
• No guarding of toys or food.
• No bullying of other dogs.

Congratulations on your new puppy! Puppy time is precious and passes very quickly, so enjoy yourself and take lots of pictures. 😀

Puppy time is precious and passes very quickly, so enjoy yourself and take lots of pictures.

Unlike us, puppies do not have opposable thumbs, so they manipulate stuff with their mouths, in the same way that we manipulate stuff with our hands. New puppies or young dogs will try to put everything into their mouths, because they are curious about objects and their surroundings.

Therefore, puppy biting is normal canine behavior.

Puppies also play with each other through play-biting. When a puppy bites too hard during play, his siblings may yelp and stop interacting for a short duration. Biting too hard on an adult dog (e.g. their mother), may also result in an undesirable consequence. In this way, puppies learn social rules and boundaries.

How to Stop Puppy Biting

There is nothing wrong with dogs or puppies biting each other during play, but it is crucial to teach them to be careful with their mouths when interacting with people.

A puppy who is not taught this lesson, may become a danger to all the people around him, including his owners. Play-biting with humans, especially seniors and children, may cause accidental injuries and ultimately result in forced euthanasia.

If our puppy is biting us or others in an uncontrolled way, it is best for everyone not to engage in rough play with him. Also, do not play games that encourage biting such as Tug-of-War.

There is nothing wrong with puppy play-biting, but we need to teach them to be careful with their mouths when interacting with people.

How to Deal with Puppy Biting

I deal with puppy biting by training my dog in three important areas –

1. Bite inhibition training
People have thinner and more sensitive skins than dogs do. Therefore, one of the first things that I teach my puppy is to control the force of his bites, especially when interacting with me and others.

2. Redirection and no-bite conditioning
When my dog bites on people, clothing, or unsanctioned objects (e.g. books, wires), I no-mark to let him know that it is an undesirable behavior. Then, I redirect his mouth onto something acceptable, and reward him for doing the right thing. In this way, he learns which objects are off-limits, as well as what he should do instead.

3. Excitement and self-control
An over-excited puppy, who lacks self-control, will tend to bite more often and with greater force. By managing my puppy’s excitement level and teaching him to control his impulses, I set him up for success, and reduce the number of instances where he engages in bad biting behavior.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
~~[Benjamin Franklin]

When dealing with puppy biting issues, I always try to stay calm but firm. I do my best to catch problems early on, and fix them before they escalate in degree and frequency.

If a dog is causing puncture wounds, or escalating his aggressive biting behavior, it is best to get professional help as soon as possible.

In this article, I discuss bite inhibition training and no-bite conditioning. For more on managing a puppy’s excitement level, please refer to Managing Puppy Excitement and Self-Control.

Bite Inhibition

Teach our puppy bite inhibition.

Hand-feeding is a good way to train for bite inhibition.

Some dogs may have low bite thresholds. This means that they resort to biting or aggression even with fairly low, seemingly harmless stimuli.

One of my dogs, a Shiba Inu, can get mouthy when he is excited or frustrated, when I restrain him, when I stop him from doing something, and much more. Because of this, it is extremely important to train him to have good bite inhibition.

I start bite inhibition exercises as soon as I bring a puppy home. Even though puppy teeth are sharp, a puppy does not have the jaw strength of an adult, and is not capable of doing as much damage. Once my puppy has a soft mouth, I train him to stop biting on people.

Hand-feeding is a good way to teach our puppies to control the force of their bites. I hand-feed my puppy at least some of his kibble every day. If he bites too hard when getting his food, I do a sharp ouch or yelp, and ignore him for a few seconds. This teaches him that if he bites too hard, the food stops.

If my puppy is taking food from me gently, I praise him and keep the food coming. Often, I will combine hand-feeding with puppy obedience training and dog grooming sessions. Hand-feeding can also help prevent food aggression issues, so I continue this practice throughout my dog’s life.

We can also get Ian Dunbar’s book After You Get Your Puppy, for an overview of bite inhibition training.

Initially, Dunbar may come across as somewhat alarmist. We may feel that if we do not meet his somewhat unrealistic dog socialization and puppy training demands, things are going to go badly. I just try to ignore the alarmist talk, and focus on the bite inhibition and handling exercises, which are quite useful.

I am very thankful that my puppy (now adult dog) has a soft mouth. Because my Shiba Inu has good bite inhibition, we were able to solve many of his subsequent issues, which would have been difficult to deal with if he were biting at full strength.

Good bite inhibition allowed us to solve many of Shiba Sephy’s problems, which would have been difficult to deal with if he were biting at full strength.

When Our Puppy Bites …

When our puppy bites, it is important NOT to jerk our hand away. If we jerk away, we will likely get scratched. In addition, sudden and quick movements may make our puppy think that it is a fun game. This rewards the biting behavior, and encourages him to bite on us even more.

In the worst case, quick movements can activate a dog’s prey drive, and encourage aggressive behaviors. Therefore, it is important to control this reflex action, and stay still. In addition, I give a no-mark or yelp as a puppy might do to his litter-mates, when they are playing too rough.

I usually yelp when it is an accidental dog bite, for example when my dog gets his teeth on me while taking food out of my hand. Yelping is also appropriate for puppies that are still learning the rules. Otherwise, I use No for adult and adolescent dogs, who should know better.

After the no-mark, I always follow-up with a positive command, e.g. redirect him onto a toy.

When our puppy is biting us, it is important NOT to jerk away.

1. Redirect Our Puppy onto a Toy

Redirect our puppy onto a toy.

This technique is especially useful for an untrained puppy. It lets him know that it is ok to bite on a toy, but not ok to bite on people.

For example, my dog gets excited and starts biting when I scratch his tummy. Therefore, I used that as a training exercise to get him to bite on a toy, instead of on my hand. Since I can start the exercise anytime I want, I control the environment and make sure that I have multiple soft toys nearby for use. I make sure to reward my dog very well with food and affection when he redirects, so that I further reinforce the behavior.

A toy can also be useful for those cases where the puppy is losing control, and getting a bit too excited or frustrated. Giving him something to redirect his excitement or frustration at, may help to calm him down.

If I do not have a toy handy, I can also redirect by giving my puppy an alternate and simple command that he knows very well, e.g. Sit.

My dog gets excited and starts biting when I scratch his tummy, so initially, I used that as a training exercise to get him to bite on a toy instead of on my hand.

2. Withdraw Attention and Affection

Often, a puppy starts to bite at us because he wants to play or interact. Therefore, if my puppy does not respond to my redirect, then I withdraw my attention and affection. I do this by standing up, folding up my arms, and ignoring him. I make sure not to give any eye contact, not to talk, and not to engage him in any other way.

This is also called a timeout lite.

By doing this, my puppy learns that-

Out of control biting and jumping = No play, no attention, and no affection,
Gentle interaction = Play continues, food rewards, and extra attention.

Sometimes, my puppy may get too excited and escalate his behavior by biting on feet, or jumping and trying to bite on clothing. This is something that I absolutely do not allow because it can be very dangerous, especially with children and the elderly.

If my puppy escalates his behavior, I no-mark, say “Timeout”, and take him to a low stimulus timeout area immediately.

NOTE – In general, I try to set my dog up for success by managing his excitement level. In this way, I keep timeout-necessary episodes to a minimum.

3. Timeout

Dogs like their freedom and they like being with their pack.

Most dogs value their freedom to roam around the house and backyard. Dogs are also pack animals, and like being with both human and canine members of the family. Since a timeout takes away both of these things, it is an extremely effective method of dog discipline.

When giving my dog a timeout –

• I make sure to put him in a really boring room, with no windows that he can reach. Currently, my dog’s timeout area is the laundry room.
• I check that the room is safe, and contains nothing that he can chew, play, or interact with in any way.
• Finally, I ensure that nobody gives puppy any attention during his timeout period.

It is better not to use a crate for timeouts. Crates are useful for transportation, management, and more. Therefore, I ensure that the crate is a happy place, where my dog feels comfortable going to for some peace and quiet, for sleep, and to chew on his favorite toy.

I find that a timeout is the most effective way to stop my dogs from biting. However, I only use it when my puppy is deliberately acting out, and not for accidental bites.

Initially, I start with a short 1 minute timeout. If my dog continues to bite right after he comes out, I return him to the laundry room for a much longer period of time (about 15 minutes). Be flexible with the timeout duration, and adjust it according to our dog’s age, temperament, and behavior. Some trainers do not believe in long timeouts, while others may ignore their dogs (timeout lite) for hours.

Do not use timeouts for training mistakes or lack of motivation.

Shiba Inu – Independent, Aloof, and Stubborn

How to Stop Puppy Biting

Some trainers suggest using aversive techniques to stop dog biting. For example, one suggested making my hand into a fist (so my fingers are safe), and then pushing my fist gently in when my puppy bites. This is uncomfortable for the puppy, and he will likely release our hand.

While it did get my puppy to release my hand, it did not reduce his biting behavior. In fact, my dog responds badly to any aversive methods. Doing this made him want to bite on me even more, because he got a reaction, and now has something (my fist) to fight with.

The same thing occurred with spraying water on his muzzle; he just started attacking the water bottle.

Ultimately, aversive techniques were not very effective with my dog, and caused even more behavioral issues. With aversive methods, it is difficult to trick a puppy into thinking that the bad stimulus is not coming from us. This can compromise a puppy’s trust and weaken our bond with him.

Instead, when my puppy bites,

1. I first use a no-mark, for example, No or Ack-Ack to let him know that it is an undesirable behavior.
2. Then, I redirect him onto a toy or give him an alternate command, for example Sit. If he stops biting and follows the command, then I praise him and reward him with attention and a fun game.
3. If he continues to bite, I start with a timeout-lite by first withdrawing my attention. I do this by standing up, folding my arms, and turning away from him.
4. If he escalates his behavior and starts to jump or bite on my clothing, then I quickly remove him to his full timeout area.

I always try to set my dog up for success by managing his excitement level. When he starts biting, I try to redirect and turn things into a positive learning experience. I only escalate my response when I absolutely have to, and I try my best to minimize those instances.

Shiba Inu Sephy did not respond well to aversive methods. Reward training yielded much better results.

Bite inhibition basically means training your dog to have a soft mouth.

When they are puppies, dogs automatically learn this lesson from their mother and their litter-mates. When a puppy bites down too hard on a litter-mate, he will get a yelp and play stops while the hurt party licks his wounds.

Through this process, puppies learn to control the force of their bites because they know that biting too hard will cause play to stop.

Dog bite inhibition.

Dogs use their mouth to interact and play, not just to attack.

The mouthier a dog is, the more important to teach him bite inhibition.

It is important to continue this lesson throughout a dog’s life. The mouthier a dog is, the more important to teach him bite inhibition.

My Shiba Inu is an extremely mouthy dog, and I am extremely thankful that I taught him bite inhibition from a young age.

Later on, he really started acting out and doing leash biting, humping my leg, and biting on my hands and arms. Throughout all this, he never broke skin.

Bite inhibition, made it possible for us to re-train him and re-train ourselves with very little wear and tear on both dog and humans.

When excited, dogs may mouth on people, not to hurt them, but to interact with them.

Bite inhibition is important even for normally even-tempered, social dogs.

Dogs use their mouth to interact, not just to attack.

When excited, dogs may mouth on people, not to hurt them, but to interact with them. This may cause accidental bites if the dog does not have good bite inhibition training.

Dogs may also bite as a reflex when they are startled, for example, when you accidentally step on their tail or wake them up from a deep sleep. A dog with bite inhibition may scratch your arm, but an untrained dog will cause deep puncture wounds.

The best time to teach dogs bite inhibition is when they are young. Puppies may have sharp teeth, but they have not developed the jaw strength of an adult dog yet, so they cannot inflict the same type of damage that an adult dog can.

The best time to teach dogs bite inhibition is when they are young.

Hand-feeding is a great way for teaching bite inhibition to my dogs.

I have found that hand-feeding is a fun and good way for teaching bite inhibition to my dogs.

Hand-feed your dog at least some of his kibble every day. If he bites too hard when getting his food, do a sharp ouch or yelp and ignore him for a few seconds then start hand-feeding him again. When your dog takes food from you gently, praise him and keep feeding him.

First, make it easy for your dog to get at the food without biting you, then slowly make it more difficult by covering the food partially with your fingers. You can also combine hand-feeding with training and handling sessions.

Hand-feeding also helps to prevent food aggression and resource guarding issues, so it is good to continue this practice throughout your dog’s life.

I first learned about bite inhibition from Ian Dunbar’s book After You Get Your Puppy. He has more in his book on bite inhibition and puppy socialization.

Although it is easier and safer to teach dogs bite inhibition when they are young, it is never too late to teach them to have a soft mouth.

Bite inhibition will significantly enhance your relationship with your dog because a dog with a soft mouth is easier to trust, easier to handle, and a joy to spend time with.

Note – If your dog is already food aggressive or resource aggressive, it is best to consult a professional trainer. Do not perform bite inhibition exercises on such dogs as they may bite anybody or anything that comes near their food.

A dog with a soft mouth is easier to trust, easier to handle, and a joy to spend time with.