How to deal with a teething Puppy?

Does your puppy have a habit of biting your hands and/or feet? Well, almost all dogs do, since it is one of their primary ways to express themselves during the play or to get your attention. The good news is that this intrinsic behavior can be moderated and your job as a dog owner is to be patient and persistent with that aspect of training.

Teething 101

There are 2 fundamental approaches to handling teething. Both focus on what we call "bite inhibition" but in somewhat different ways. Depending on what your goal is, you can teach your puppy either to be gentle with human skin or to abandon the idea of gnawing on your limbs altogether. The first approach will be especially handy for those who can't imagine a play without getting a little wet.

Learning from dogs

If you observe a bunch of puppies playing with each other, you will notice that their games usually involve a lot of wrestling and biting. This way, they learn different things about behaving themselves around other dogs, and when a painful bite occurs, the natural reaction of a bite recipient is to yelp and stop playing for a bit. Each reaction of this kind is a small lesson teaching a puppy to be more careful next time.

This observation should help you to realize that you can do the same while playing with your puppy. Since human skin is not that tough, especially against needle-point puppy teeth, it would be a good idea to inhibit teething by reacting to your puppy's bites accordingly. Each time you feel it bites you a bit too hard, make a loud noise, you can even yelp if you like, it is crucial to stop your play for a moment to send a well-defined signal to your dog.

It might also be useful making your hand go limp and raising your voice each time you receive a bite that is on the hard side. This way, your puppy will be taken aback and get a clear message. Over time, the bites will become softer and you can gradually teach your dog to be extra gentle with human skin. Eventually, your puppy will learn to bite with little to no pressure at all.

Making teething legal

If being constantly chewed on is not your thing, then consider training your puppy to bite other things that are made for that. We are talking about toys, the second-best thing to gnaw on after human limbs. So how do you redirect a puppy's attention from its owner to other things that are more resilient? The key to successful training is keeping your cool and being consistent.

When your puppy bites, try not to express any kind of reaction, just calmly get a toy and put it in its mouth. Sooner or later it will occur to your dog that toys are a great way to satisfy all its teething needs and it will leave your precious hands alone. Of course, your participation in the play involving toys will be much appreciated. Try to get several different kinds of toys so that your puppy has some options. And it goes without saying that you should avoid leaving things that you don't want to be chewed on the floor.

When your puppy is out of control

Sometimes it so happens that your puppy is so tired that he exerts an extra amount of energy and becomes an uncontrollable wild beast. You have to be able to detect when it's in such an agitated state because it almost always ends up in intensified teething. Usually, you can tell that your puppy is throwing a tantrum if its body is stiff, and its facial expressions become more aggressive, with a wrinkled muzzle and teeth exposed. In this state, it is advised to abort playing.

It is best to let your puppy rest by placing it in its crate along with its favorite toy. Also, provide your puppy with its favorite treat to help it fall asleep. Most of the time, your dog will fall asleep in a couple of minutes and will be ready for new playing and training sessions after a nap.

What about adult dogs?

Sometimes it so happens that your puppy is so tired that he exerts an extra amount of energy and becomes an uncontrollable wild beast. You have to be able to detect when it's in such an agitated state because it almost always ends up in intensified teething. Usually, you can tell that your puppy is throwing a tantrum if its body is stiff, and its facial expressions become more aggressive, with a wrinkled muzzle and teeth exposed. In this state, it is advised to abort playing.

It is best to let your puppy rest by placing it in its crate along with its favorite toy. Also, provide your puppy with its favorite treat to help it fall asleep. Most of the time, your dog will fall asleep in a couple of minutes and will be ready for new playing and training sessions after a nap.

Reward is key

Training a puppy while catering to all its needs can be tiring. It is hard work to keep an eye on multiple things around the house throughout the day. Sometimes, this ends up in us paying attention to our puppies only when they don't behave too well or do something we don't like. That is a habit you should avoid picking up because negativity causes a lot of harm in the long run. Instead, try to reward your puppy when it is quiet or playing by itself. If your puppy brings you a toy, don't ignore it, give it some attention and play with it. Focus on things that you want from your puppy and acknowledge them.

Your puppy's mouth is always on the lookout for things to bite, and it's perfectly natural. To put it simply, your mission as an owner is to direct your dog's biting to something that is OK to bite. Training a dog on your own might prove to be an arduous task and to help you, we've developed eTrainDog, an app that takes care of your training program. Simply download it to your phone and discover hundreds of useful dog training tips and lessons.