One of the most annoying behaviors in a puppy is their biting behavior and training a puppy not to bite can be challenging. It is not a teething behavior, but rather a form of social play. One of the first things to remember is that puppies learn by playing. You will need to set aside time to play with your puppy every day and give them lots of opportunities to play without biting- retrieving balls or soft toys.
If your puppy is younger than 7 weeks, it may not have had time to learn bite inhibition. They tend to learn this from the other puppies in the litter. By playing and biting one another, puppies learn how much pressure they can exert with their jaw to cause pain. When puppies bite each other, the puppy being bitten will yelp if the one doing the biting nips or bites too hard.
Here are the Basics to Training Your Puppy Not to Bite
1. Show your puppy that all contact with hands - mouthing or chewing is painful by letting out a "yelp". Make sure that everyone in the family is on board. If the puppy bites or mouths anyone they should terminate play immediately. Once you start this behavior - "yelping" if the puppy mouths or bites you and then terminating play, your puppy will soon get the message that this behavior will terminate play time. You have to be consistent and take immediate action for this to be effective.
2 If the puppy does not stop biting, put the puppy in "isolation" behind a baby gate or it its crate. Leave the puppy for a few minutes and then return. Repeat this each time the puppy bites.
3. If the puppy licks your hands instead of biting or nipping you, reward the puppy immediately.
4. Never leave children alone with a puppy, you should supervise their playtime together.
5. Avoid punishments such as holding the mouth closed or hitting the puppy, this encourages aggression.
When you are training puppy not to bite, your most powerful tool is social withdrawal or giving puppy a time out.