Guide: What Is Normal Puppy Biting and How to Manage It

As I've pointed out a few times on this site, dogs don't have hands. They're intensely curious about the world around them – so much so that they will happily chase a squirrel way beyond their usual bounds – but they have very few ways to actually interact with that world around them.

Since they don't have hands, their mouths are their primary way to interact with objects. That's why they chew things, lick things, bite things, mouth things, and generally put things in their mouths.

This isn't a learned behavior. Puppies, from the moment they open their eyes and can start moving through the world, will start to bite and nibble on things.

Whether it's a plush toy you give them, a disc or ball you use to play fetch, or a cool stick they found, they're going to use their mouths to figure out what it is, carry it around, and possibly even give it to you, whether you want it or not.

Of course, having a puppy that chews on everything isn't necessarily a good thing. It's one thing if they chew on a toy meant for chewing. It's quite another if they're chewing on your kid's homework, or your shoes, or the cables to your computer.

There are a lot of things in the world that, when chewed apart, can be harmful. Sometimes, that harm is to you and your life; sometimes, it's to your puppy, who can accidentally swallow things they shouldn't or get objects lodged in their throats.

Naturally, you want to know how to train your puppy not to chew on things. But can you really do so, and is it ethical to do so? After all, in a sense, it would be like training a child not to touch things with their hands. Is that kind of behavior even possible?

Let's talk about puppy biting and chewing, what's normal, what isn't normal, and how you can manage it.

Why Puppies Mouth, Chew, and Bite

Biting behaviors from puppies start early. In fact, even before they're old enough to open their eyes, they feel around with their paws and their mouths. That's part of how they find their mothers, so they can eat, after all.

As they get old enough to explore and interact with you and the rest of the world, biting will be one of their main behaviors. This serves two purposes.

The first is that they're telling you they want to play. Play biting is usually soft – they aren't trying to attack you, naturally – but puppies often don't know their own strength or how sharp their tiny little teeth are.

This plays into the second reason, too. Puppies bite and nibble and chew and mouth things, including your hands, because they're still figuring out how their mouths work.

If they bite hard enough to break the skin and hurt, you need to react appropriately because that's how they learn how much force is too much force.

There's also the fact that they are, very likely, teething. This is painful for children and puppies! When teeth grow in, they have to work their way out through the gums, and that leaves the gums swollen, tender, and painful.

Teething by chewing on things helps relieve that feeling, even temporarily. It's why we give teething toys to our children, and it's why we should do the same thing for puppies.

What Biting and Chewing is Normal?

Puppies will bite, chew, and nibble just about everything, just about all the time, when they're very young.

When they're under two months old, they won't be biting as much, just because they're barely active creatures at that point. As they get older and explore and learn about the world, the biting and chewing ramp up into high gear.

It's best to think of this as a phase. As they get more experience with the world, they'll start to learn that they shouldn't be biting and chewing on everything.

Their teeth will have come in, and they won't need to teethe to alleviate the mouth pain. They'll have learned that some things are hard, some things are soft, and some taste really bad, and they'll associate the sights and scents with the tastes and the feelings.

By the time a puppy is 5-6 months of age, they'll be doing a lot less biting and chewing. They'll still probably chomp on things a little too hard from time to time (especially if they're an energetic working breed), but they'll be more selective about it.

What triggers a puppy to bite and mouth?

So far, I've mostly said that biting is a natural behavior, and that's entirely true. At the same time, there may be some triggers that make your puppy more likely to bite and chew on certain things.

Think about:

• Are there big, fluffy objects your puppy will find very compelling to bite? Dressing gowns, fluffy slippers, housecoat ties, curtains, puffy jackets; these are often similar to the objects you allow a puppy to chew on, and sometimes can even be infused with delicious (to them) scents and flavors.
• Are they nervous and use biting and chewing as a coping mechanism? Often, you can identify sources of stress and remove them, or just put more time into tiring them out so they don't have the energy to chew.
• Are they teething? If they're usually chewing on objects that are stiffer and more resilient, they may be trying to soothe their gums. There's not much you can do to stop this, but it doesn't last too long as a phase.

Regular exercise, regular rest, and regular meals all help as well. Heck, sometimes your puppy chews just because they're hungry and want to eat, but they don't know how to otherwise express it.

Can You Prevent Puppy Biting?

No, not really. It would be like telling you not to move your tongue. Not only is it an unconscious and entirely necessary behavior, it's essentially impossible if you want to live and enjoy living.

That's not to say you can't manage puppy biting, though.

The goal isn't a complete restriction on the behavior. Rather, it's to redirect it away from things they shouldn't chew, to teach them that some things are bad to bite, and to teach them self-control.

The official name for this, by the way, is " bite inhibition training." You basically just want to teach them to think twice before biting something.

How to Train Bite Inhibition in Puppies

Training starts early, and there's a lot you can do to help train a puppy not to bite on things they shouldn't.

If your puppy has other puppies to socialize with, they naturally learn some bite moderation.

When they play, they bite at each other, and when they accidentally bite too hard, the negative reaction of their playmate teaches them that it was too strong of a bite.

If they don't have a playmate, then you have to work on that yourself.

This is where things get tricky. Advice differs, and different authoritative sources (the ASPCA, the American Kennel Club, and others) have different advice!

For example, some people say you shouldn't play with a puppy with your hands. If you do, you're basically teaching them that it's okay to play with people by biting at their hands, and once they're older, that can get them in a lot of trouble.

On the other hand, other sources claim playing with your hands is the best option. That way, if they bite too hard, you can yelp and scold them, which teaches them they went too far, just like if they were playing with another puppy.

However, still other sources say you shouldn't do the yelp and scold because sometimes that kind of reaction has the opposite effect.

Some puppies realize they did something bad and stop, but others might find the noise encouraging, and you really don't want to teach them that people make funny noises when they're nibbled!

Navigating tricky training.

So, what's the truth?

The truth is, it varies by dog and by age.

The older a dog is, the less you want to play with them with your hands directly. When they're very young, you can play with your hands and use feedback if they go too far.

Over time, start to replace your hands with toys like tugging ropes or plush toys. These can take more abuse and are better for your dog to chew on.

Should you yelp or not? That depends on the dog as well. If you try it and they just get more excited, it's obviously not going to work, so you need to stop.

On the other hand, if it makes them back off and cuddle or lick at you instead, then it's an effective way to help train them to be more controlled in their nibbling.

Playtime is over.

The biggest thing you need to do, regardless of how you play or whether or not you yelp, is to reinforce that if they go too far, playtime ends.

While scolding them verbally can be a deterrent, if you keep playing with them afterward, it's not a very strong deterrent.

On the other hand, if you stop playing altogether – or even put them in another room for a time out – it teaches them in no uncertain terms that there are lines they cannot cross.

Redirecting behaviors.

As your puppy gets old enough to stop teething and return to just biting and nibbling as a way to play and interact with objects, you can start redirection training.

When you're playing with your pooch, and they start chewing at your hands, it's best to have something like a stuffed toy on hand to replace your hand and get them to chew on that instead.

What Not to Do

When trying to train your puppy to be more regulated with their chewing and biting, there are some things you should avoid.

Don't roughhouse and encourage biting. Yes, flipping a puppy over and scratching their belly while they try to nibble at you is adorable, but it also encourages them to go overboard and bite when they don't even really want to. Be careful with any over-play that encourages biting, especially if it's something that "traps" your puppy.

Don't use physical deterrents. There are distressingly many people who still feel like the best way to stop a behavior is a bop on the nose, but that kind of physical reaction doesn't actually work when training animals like dogs. There's no way to be light enough to not hurt them and still act as a deterrent, and being hard enough to hurt is abuse.

Don't just blindly follow advice from the internet. Every puppy is different and will respond differently to different actions and reactions. If your puppy immediately understands that a yelp is crossing a line, then yelp. If walking away and ending playtime makes them think that it becomes a game of chase – or their unsupervised time is a chance to chew on something else – don't use time-out as a solution.

The goal really just comes down to finding what works best for your pupper and using those options. Just remember to take it slow; a brand-new puppy isn't going to be well-disciplined and well-behaved right away.

Puppy Biting FAQ

What are some of the biggest questions about puppy biting and how to stop it? Let's look.

How much biting is normal?

Puppy biting is pretty much the only thing they can do for several months of their puppyhood. If they're biting a lot and they're under six months old, it's perfectly normal. If they're reaching a year old and are still biting and chewing on everything, then you have some work to do.

Do bitter sprays work?

There are some sprays you can use on objects like furniture that taste awful, so if your puppy tries to chew on it, they get a mouthful of unpleasantness. These can work as long as they're refreshed enough to stay effective. Just don't make sure to spray too much that they end up stressed out because of it.

Can you train a puppy to stop biting entirely?

No, and you really shouldn't try. No matter what, your dog needs to be able to use their mouth to interact with the world around them, and if you're trying to stop it entirely, it's never going to happen.

What's the most important part of puppy training?

Positive reinforcement! When training a puppy not to bite, it's not about discouraging the biting; it's about rewarding the times they don't bite. This can be tricky to identify, but the rewards don't need to be big, either; just a little praise can go a long way.

Do you have any other questions? If so, ask me in the comments! I'd love to help.