Stop puppy biting
Is your puppy chewing up your house or using your hands and feet as chew toys? It hurts right!?
Now, a level of puppy biting is normal, they need opportunities to chew to help with teething, but excessive puppy biting is usually a symptom of something else.
If your puppy has episodes of frenzied biting and redirecting them on to a toy or chew doesn’t work, then it’s very likely their daily routine is out of whack, and needs adjusting. They need a balance of:
REST
A puppy should be resting 20+ hours a day! Yep you read that right…20+ hours! But if the house is busy, they stay awake to join in the action and quickly become that over-tired bitey pup. Create a quiet spot in the house, they can go with a chew and drift off to sleep.
TRAINING
Mental enrichment, such as learning a new trick like sit, drop or focus, engages their brain and tires them out.
CHEWING
Chewing soothes puppies, and if they are also teething, it is essential they have plenty of chewing opportunities, on appropriate items like Kongs, toys or long lasting chews. Ensure you also put items you don’t want chewed out of reach.
SNIFFING
Dogs are scent driven animals and they love using their noses. It’s essential, they’re allowed to sniff. It has the advantage of lowering their heart rate and therefore chilling them out. You could scatter feed some treats for them and engage that snoot!
EXERCISE
Exercise is important, understand exactly what your pup needs each day. 5mins per month of life is good rule of thumb, but each pup will be different. You do not want to overexercise to ensure protection of those growing joints.
ROUTINE
Their routine should give them a balance of all of those things, especially good quality, undisturbed naps. A good routine will mean you see a drop in puppy biting because your pups needs are being met before he turns into a land shark.
Try tweaking your pups routine and see what difference it makes.
Share with someone who has a baby land shark!
