How To Stop Puppy Biting Lesson 2

Welcome to Lesson 2 in the series "Biting Puppies. How To Stop A Puppy From Biting".
In this second Lesson we will look at using distractions to avoid biting. We have looked at the use of Toys to help learn How to stop Puppies from biting both us and other things including the furniture. We will now turn our attention more fully to using distractions to help in controlling biting Puppies.

Stop Biting Puppies With Distractions

Using a distraction is a very effective way of controlling the biting behaviour of Puppies. Training puppies to not bite using this technique can work extremely well. Used correctly it can greatly help with the problems associated with uncontrollable or overly excited Puppies. There are a few different distractions we can use and some of them can be extremely effective. We shall examine each of the best distractions in turn and you, the owner should try them and see which distraction helps the best with stopping biting Puppies. The distractions we will be concentrating on are:

• Toys


• Using Food as A Distraction


• Using noise as a distraction


• Playtime


• Training to help your Puppy concentrate


• Grooming as a distraction

There are , of course any number of things that can be a distraction to a Puppy, and you will encounter many of them. These are simply some of the best distractions to stop biting Puppies.

The Use Of Toys As A Distraction To Stop Biting Puppies

We discussed comprehensively the use of Toys to help controlling Puppy biting behaviour in your Puppy in Lesson 1. Toys are very effective when it comes to creating the perfect distraction when your Puppy simply will not stop its aggressive or painful behaviour. Whenever your Puppy starts biting at anything it is not allowed to then you need to quickly tell it "no". It should stop what it is doing for a short while, and if not you will need to try some of the "yelping" or "growling" techniques discussed fully in later Lessons. One you have its attention place the Toy either in its mouth if it is suitable, roll it along the floor, or whatever you need to distract it. More often than not it will stop its biting and investigate what you have given it. To stop Puppy biting hands this works very well indeed.

Toys can be very effective when it comes to getting a Puppy to stop biting and should not be neglected as an important training aid.

Using Food As A Distraction To Stop A New Puppy Biting

Is your new Puppy biting? Food may be a great distraction. Firstly you should know that Puppies need to eat at least four times a day when they are young and seem like a bottomless pit of Hunger. They are growing so fast they seem to be perpetually in need of food.

You can use food as an effective distraction but you need to be careful. Never let the Puppy dictate when it will be fed and you really must guard against Dogs begging for food. Never feed from the table or give food while you are cooking. Such behaviour will come back to haunt you in later life. There is , however, nothing wrong with giving an odd treat or two to your Puppy throughout the day as long as you keep track of it.

When your Puppy won't stop biting and you have tried other techniques and for whatever reason this time it is not responding, you may try a little treat as a distraction. By now you should have a way of calling your Puppy when it is mealtimes. Maybe you use a certain voice, or a command. Whatever it is, mimic this style and it should get the Puppies attention. It should stop its biting behaviour for a while as it becomes interested in what you have to offer.

Many times this little distraction with food will snap your Puppy out of its excited state and it may help stop your Puppies play biting.

Use Noise To Distract Your Puppy From Biting

When it comes to biting Puppies using noise as a biting distraction can be very successful. It does not always shave to be a loud noise either. Try, when your Puppy has begun biting, a strange noise. We have all done it and it can be very effective against Puppies biting. Try making whatever strange noise you feel like. This distraction will probably result in your Puppy wiggling its head from side to side in a comical manner trying to understand just what is going on. Sometimes a low noise like this can be enough to snap the Puppy out of its painful or destructive habit.

There are any number of variations to this method. Noise can be very effective but there are things not to do. NO SHOUTING! Shouting really will get you nowhere. When training puppies to not bite we should always keep this in mind. Many new owners resort to this all too quickly out of sheer frustration. If there is one thing I have learnt it is that shouting absolutely will not work. Puppies simply do not understand what you are doing. It may stop for a second but it will be back for more trouble almost immediately. Shouting is simply seen as fun or a call to aggressive play. Don't fall in to this trap, it will not help stop Puppy biting.

Try techniques such as a "clap" instead. Much more effective and it will keep your blood pressure down when trying to train a new Puppy that won't stop biting.

Use Playtime To Distract A Puppy From Biting

Playing with your Puppy can be an effective way to curb its almost obsessive wish to bit at anything in site. But you must be careful. Playing with your Puppy can lead to it biting you. You need to do it correctly. Puppies and biting, in case you haven't realised yet, can go hand in hand. Overtly aggressive play may just exacerbate the problem. By all means play with your Puppy but just don't get carried away.

If you find your Puppy biting the furniture, or it may be in the middle of biting your ankles, getting up and calling for playtime should see it, alt least momentarily, stop its destructive actions.

How Do You Play With A Puppy?

Gently. No grabbing for it and pushing and pulling while it is still being trained not to bite, this will make matters worse. It does, to some extent, depend on the nature of your Puppy as to how exactly you will play with your Puppy but some games are suited to most Puppies.

Running around is always a simple but effective way to interact with your Dog. It gets them excited and happy but not overtly so. They will happily run around with you and hopefully there will be no puppy biting ankles trouble!

Rolling over and playing with your Puppy can also be great fun. Their inquisitive nature will be aroused and the Puppy will just have to come and see what is going on. Just be careful of those sharp teeth when you are i a vulnerable position, Puppies get excited very easily and can soon forget about the "no bite" rules you are trying to impose. Playtime can also make biting Puppies tire quickly which should be the aim, but ensure you do not have prolonged playtime as a tired Puppy that is still being bothered may snap out of sheer frustration when it needs to sleep.

Begin Training As a Distraction To Stop Puppy From Biting

Puppies are never too young to begin their training. The sooner you start your Puppy Training the sooner you will have a very well behaved Dog. If your Puppies biting of various objects, both animate and inanimate, is occuring yet again then take the opportunity to begin some training. Training can be a great distraction from bad biting behaviour and will give the Dog something different to focus its attention on.

Start with basics like "sit", you can teach most young Puppies to sit very quickly, they are surprisingly responsive to such commands. To best go about it, when your Puppy is in the middle of a biting period, get up and call its name in a voice that you would normally use at feeding or at treat time. This will be a distraction in itself and get its attention. You can then try teaching basic commands and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Don't be disheartened however if at first the Puppy does not respond well, most Dog training is based on repetition and you need to keep this in mind. Remember, no shouting, just have patience. At first you may find that training Puppies to not bite using a distraction does not go very well. Your Puppy may become bored or preoccupied very quickly and decide that Puppy biting is much more fun. Stick with it and you will gradually notice that your Puppy becomes more fixed on the task at hand, i.e Training and will begin to give the task its full attention.

Puppy Grooming As A Distraction Against Puppy Biting

Many adult Dogs are very hard to control when it comes to basic grooming routines. If they have not been brushed regularly when they are young then it can be more of a struggle to get them used to grooming when they are older. They will wiggle and squirm as they are not used to being brushed, especially around sensitive areas.

To stop Puppy from biting brushing its coat is an excellent distraction. You will, however, find that initially it probably wants nothing more than to bite the brush. This will soon pass as the act of repetition proceeds. If nothing more it will at least not be biting hands, feet, ankles, chairs, sofas, small children etc. It will be focused on your actions and that will be all there is for the moment in its little world. This technique of using brushing as a distraction is well worth doing. It gives you a routine that is important to follow, your Puppy will quickly get used to it and it works very well to at least stop biting Puppies from their latest exploit.

The use of a distraction is now another method in your arsenal as you go about learning how to get a Puppy to stop biting.