ACQUIRED BITE INHIBITION. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS?

If you have ever owned a puppy you know how sharp their teeth can be. If you are like most puppy owners, you have probably told your pup off for biting and tried many tactics to stop them biting. But did you know that puppy biting is a necessary part of your puppy's development. Puppies play bite so they can receive the necessary feedback on pressure of their bite.They are looking for a reaction. If you have watched young pups or dogs playing it can seem quite aggressive with their mouths opening and snapping shut. My girl even at 5 tries to get her whole mouth around my other dogs snout sometimes. But both of them are always gentle and have never hurt each other. They know how far to go. . Play puppy biting actually cultivates a safe adult dog. They learn to monitor and adjust the force of their jaws. If puppies don't learn this then when they become adults and their jaws are much stronger, they don’t know what force to apply or damage they are doing. If you stop puppy play biting, the bite training stops too. WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT Focus on intensity before frequency, biting will get softer and softer before the frequency of their biting The more puppy play you can get, the better. Dogs give better feedback than humans so because of this puppies have to believe that humans are super sensitive when it comes to their biting. Every time they bite you,cry out with a very loud ouch followed by “That hurt”. When doing this do not jerk hand or body away even though it feels natural to want to. Quick movements are stimulating and this triggers chase drive and the puppy is likely to come back for more even harder. Leave your hand there, your puppy needs to be the one to back off. If you say Ouch loud enough and sharp enough, your puppy should pull his head back. When this happens immediately give praise, “oh good dog, good choice, excellent etc”. If they come back with a softer gentler approach give more praise otherwise continue with the ouch each time they bite. It has to be constant and consistent, one or two times won’t work. And the sooner you start doing this the better before their bite becomes out of hand. It is going to take time but it’s worth the effort. You're not trying to stop the biting, you're wanting it to get softer and softer. Cry out even if they are biting your clothing hair or anything else on you. Bail out when too intense. Get up and leave the puppy. This mirrors how puppies do it. Make sure he cant follow you so have a Playpen or crate to confine him. Puppies don’t want playtime to stop so it should make an impact. Go back after a couple of minutes and try again. Having your puppy confined to a certain area and letting them earn more space makes it easier in the future for boundary work. Once the biting becomes soft mouthing, then you can address the frequency. You should also be attending doggie school during this time so implementing polite behaviours, redirecting, and learning impulse control. Use chew toys for quiet time, not as a means for controlling biting. Teaching dogs to quieten down with a chew toy teaches them to occupy themselves and if you watch, you’ll see them kind of bliss out. Also teach your pup gentle tug game. Don’t let it get out of hand. If your dog gets too growly then stop and wait until he quiets down before resuming. We don’t want the game to turn aggressive. Teaching them games early builds manners, impulse control and focus.