Biting Dog Problem - How to Stop Dog from Biting Behavior

Dogs bite more than 4.7 million people per year, according to statistics from the CDC (Center for Disease Control). This, often avoidable, behavior can result in law suits, medical bills and sometimes dog euthanasia.

The ease or difficulty you will have training a dog not to bite will vary depending on the breed, age and individual temperament of the dog. There are some common techniques that you can utilize that will usually help suppress biting behavior.

Start the training as young as possible. Puppies have a natural inclination to bite and nip. Often seen as cute in puppies, it's often behavior encouraged by owners, but human restraint is a prerequisite to dog restraint. Good - and bad - habits start young.

Puppies can begin to learn simple commands once at about four weeks. A gentle, but firm 'No!' followed by a slight squeeze of the muzzle can help when the puppy moves his mouth to bite.

Be especially careful not to squeeze hard or too high up on the muzzle, or cause the puppy to bite its tongue, though. Dogs have sensitive and delicate odor receptors high up inside the nose. You never want to damage a dog's ability to smell.

The squeeze is to inform, not punish. To help the young dog associate the verbal command with something it can understand at that age – discomfort, and not pain – is the goal. Most dogs naturally dislike having their muzzles squeezed at any age.

Socializing your dog - as young and often as possible - can help develop calm and confident dogs when used in conjunction with verbal discouragement and gentle physical restraint or reminders. Much more likely to display biting behavior are fearful dogs, who are not used to strangers (whether human or animal).

Expose the dog to other (non-aggressive) dogs. Triggers that can cause dogs to become wary are differences in smell and looks. This territorial response can be discouraged by introducing them to variety at a young age.

When playing with litter mates most dogs will naturally inhibit biting. They learn early not to bite, but to nip. Take advantage of this by 'widening' the pack to include family members, other pets and frequent visitors.

When first introducing animals from other households restrain both pets. Allow them to approach each other slowly and sniff or carry out other natural behavior.

Watch for potential aggression indicators - body tension, snarling and erect ears. Make the dog sit, stroke its back and put out your hand to the other animal then convey the smell to your pet before allowing them to interact again.

Dogs normally learn bite inhibition by four and a half months, but don't be discouraged if it doesn't happen that quickly. Individuals, and breeds vary. Naturally, more difficult to train with be older dogs that were not trained early to suppress biting or not socialized.

Some dogs can never be taught to fully suppress the urge to bite. Part of training involves training people, too. Make sure other people or animals can not be reached by any such dog. And, make sure that people understand not to try to interact with the dog.

Though stopping a dog from biting requires time and effort, the results are a much happier relationship between owner and pet. In most instances, with patience, consistency and repetition, you can ensure your pet stops this undesired behavior.

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