Puppy Biting

Everyone knows puppies bite - it’s a normal part of their development.  But the frequency and intensity of the biting can take many by surprise as there are huge variations between puppies.

This information refers to puppies up to about 4 months old (maybe 5 months at a push) as this is when they still have their needle-sharp puppy teeth.  If your puppy is older than this and still biting, the information here may not be relevant, so please seek advice from a qualified/educated and experienced reward-based trainer.

Puppies will bite and mouth to explore, in response to movement (eg chasing feet and clothing), and to play.  They also bite as an emotional response, for example if they are revved up, overtired, overstimulated or frustrated.  Puppies have the full range of emotions, but not the ability to regulate themselves yet, and biting is often the response because they don’t know what else to do in the moment.  They will grow out of puppy biting, with some guidance from us, and it should have reduced significantly by the time they start getting their adult teeth by around 5 months old.

Often biting is predictable, and if you can make some changes to what precedes it, you can reduce your pup’s need to bite and mouth.  Puppy owners may not realise they are able to influence their pup’s behaviour by predicting what’s coming next, and making changes to how they interact (being proactive).  Thay may wait until the biting is happening to try and work out how to stop it and may well escalate the biting instead (being reactive).  Whilst it’s important to know how to respond when it does happen, it’s equally (or even more) important to know how to reduce its frequency in the first place.  Here are some predictable situations, and what you can do to minimise biting:

First thing in the morning.  Keep your voice low key and body movements slow and calm.  Toss some treats on the ground or offer them a toy at their nose level or throw it low along the ground to chase after.  Talk to them in a normal conversational voice, “good morning, hope you slept well”.  This creates calmness and predictability, reducing excitement levels. 

Overexcitement during play when they bite your hands instead of the toy.  Play is exciting and puppies very easily get revved up which reduces their ability to regulate what they are doing.  Watch them closely to monitor their excitement levels and stop playing before they are unable to calm themselves down!  It’s a good idea to play for a bit, then do something calmer for a few seconds, just to bring the arousal levels down, they play again, rather than play, play, play.  Always keep the toy at their nose level or lower, don’t lift it up otherwise you will teach them to jump and grab which will increase their excitement levels.

When you’re walking along and they bite your feet/shoes/clothing.  Most puppies love to chase after moving objects, it’s a fabulous game for them.  Encourage them to chase after a moving toy instead (a polar fleece plaited tuggy is perfect), that you can wiggle along the ground as you walk and/or encourage them to follow beside you using some treats in front of their nose or thrown on the ground.  You can also toss a few treats away from you as you walk, so they are getting to chase after the food as you throw it, instead of your feet; you can add a verbal cue for this eg “go get it” so they learn this game.

Just because.  Yes, sometimes it isn’t predictable, but making sure your pup has plenty of permitted outlets for chewing and biting will help; different toys, food dispensing toys and safe chewable items that they can really get stuck into!

By far the biggest contributing factor to puppy biting, is your hands and what you do with them near your puppy.  Almost without fail, when people become aware of this and change how they behave, the biting reduces.  If your response to biting, is your hands become busier and faster it will encourage biting; if your response is for your hands to become slower and more deliberate it will likely reduce biting.

Don’t deliberately encourage your puppy to play with your hands or clothes or to pull your hair; don’t rough and tumble and wrestle with your puppy.  Play with them with toys; tug, chase, bite the toy, fetch, chew, search.  Also, they may not like to be cuddled and held, and trying to do so may encourage mouthing and biting; leave that for now, it will likely come later.

If you think your puppy is over-tired, put them in their sleeping area and see if they have a nap, if they go off the sleep right away, that’s your answer.  Whilst puppies do need a lot of sleep and being over-tired can be a reason for biting, the opposite may also be true, they could be bored or under stimulated and biting gets a reaction from you.  Make sure they are getting plenty of time with you; alone time to play; solid sleep; gentle exercise; training, and socialisation with the outside world.  If they have a predictable schedule where all their needs are met, they are less likely to be bitey.

Diet can also have a huge impact on behaviour, so if your puppy over-reacts quickly and takes a long time to settle afterwards or seems to be constantly biting, it’s worth considering changing their diet to see if that helps.  The online course I recommend below, includes a discussion on changing what your puppy eats to help reduce biting.

If your puppy is stressed, they are more likely to over-react, make sure they have a safe space to retreat to for a rest, consistent routines, and watch their body language so you can see how they are responding to what’s going on around them.

Make sure you don’t rev your puppy up before bedtime, ensure that calm activities precede bedtime; they need darkness at night, and a safe space where they can fully stretch out and get comfortable for a proper night’s sleep.  This all helps them to regulate themselves and be properly rested.

When your puppy does bite, don’t inadvertently make it worse.  Keep your hands still, stop moving, redirect on to a toy.  Can you play with them a different way, or with a different toy, can you sit on a chair rather than the floor?  What can you change for next time to make the biting less likely to occur?  Don’t yelp or make a high-pitched sound if they bite, this may make it worse, and it doesn’t replicate what happens when littermates are playing together.

I highly recommend enrolling for this online course with UK trainer Sarah Whitehead, https://sarahwhitehead.thinkific.com/courses/help-with-puppy-biting  It’s a series of short videos, they’re really easy to watch and understand and has a lovely training exercise to teach “no biting”.  It’s 15 pounds (as at Sept 2026) which is about $30, a very worthwhile investment.

If you are struggling with your pup’s biting and are concerned, please contact a qualified/educated and experienced reward-based trainer for advice.