How To Stop Puppy Biting - PetMD

Why Do Puppies Bite?

It’s normal for puppies to use their teeth during play and exploration. It’s how they learn about the world, and it plays an important role in their socialization. Not to mention, puppies also chew on everything—including you and your clothes—while they are teething.

Here are a few reasons why puppies bite.

1. They’re Exploring the World

Puppies learn a lot from biting things, including other puppies, their pet parents, and inanimate objects. They receive sensory information about how hard they can bite that particular object, what it tastes like, and whether they should modify their behavior.

Depending on the feedback a puppy receives, like the taste and consistency of the object or the reaction they get, a puppy may continue to bite, change their bite pressure, or stop entirely.

2. Your Puppy Is Teething

Adult dog teeth start to grow in when your puppy is 12–16 weeks old, and your puppy’s gums may be a bit sore during this time. Because of this, puppy biting tends to hit its peak when a pup is about 13 weeks old.

During this time, you’re likely to see an increase in chewing on objects—including you, your clothes, and maybe even your hair.

3. It’s Play Behavior

Some puppies nip or bite to entice play. When puppies bite each other, they learn a very important skill: bite inhibition. With play biting, puppies learn how much pressure they can apply with their teeth and what happens when they bite too hard.

For example, let’s say Puppy A and Puppy B are playing together. When Puppy A bites too hard and causes pain in Puppy B, Puppy B will cry out and refuse to continue to play with Puppy A. Puppy B may even move away from Puppy A.

Through this interaction, Puppy A learns that if he bites too hard, other puppies won’t play with him. So, Puppy A makes his play bites softer, so they don’t result in play with Puppy B ending.

Some puppies may learn through a one-time process, while other puppies need multiple play sessions with multiple puppies to learn to soften their bite.

Your puppy will try to engage in play by biting you because, to them, this is a normal dog behavior. When this happens, you will need to understand how to respond so your puppy has clear and gentle guidance.