By: Robin Sockness
Good bite
inhibition (learning how hard is too hard ) does not mean that your dog will
never snap, lunge, nip, or bite. Good bite inhibition means that if the dog
should ever snap and lunge, its teeth will seldom make skin contact. And should
the dog’s teeth ever make skin contact; the inhibited “bite” will cause little,
if any, damage. Good bite inhibition is the single most important quality of
any companion dog. A dog must develop this during puppy hood, before it is eighteen
weeks old.
Puppies bite and
thank goodness they do! Puppy biting is
normal, natural, and necessary puppy behavior.
Puppy play biting is how dogs develop bite inhibition and a soft
mouth. The more your puppy bites and
receives appropriate feedback, the safer its jaws will be in adulthood. It is
the puppy that does not mouth and bite as a youngster whose adult bites are
more likely to cause serious damage.
A puppy’s desire
for biting results in numerous play bites. Although its needle sharp teeth make
them painful, its weak jaws seldom cause serious harm. The developing puppy
should learn that its bite hurts long before it develops jaws strong enough to actually
inflict any injury. The greater the pup’s opportunity to play bite with people,
other dogs, and other animals, the better its bite inhibition will be as an
adult.
After all the
puppy socialization and handling exercises, your dog will be unlikely to want
to bite—because it likes people. However, should your dog snap or bite because
it has been frightened or hurt, one hopes that it causes little if any damage
because it developed good bite inhibition during puppy hood.
DO NOT punish the
puppy in an attempt to get it to stop biting! At best, the puppy no longer bites those
family members who can have punished it but instead directs his biting toward
those who have no control, for instance, children!
Roughhousing and
teasing can be scary for puppies and play fighting is a common cause for
owners’ lack of control over their dogs. On the other hand, with just a little
common sense, appropriate roughhousing and play fighting can be the very best
confidence building, bite inhibition and control exercises. Have frequent time
outs to calm, praise, and reassure your puppy. When your puppy’s needle sharp
teeth cause pain, yelp! Ignore your puppy for thirty seconds or so and then
instruct it to come, sit, and lie down before resuming play. Make sure you have
frequent training interludes to check that you can still control your puppy and
instantly get it to stop biting, to sit, lie down, and calm down.
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