mmowens40@yahoo.com (845) 675-7200
Be consistent; everyone in the family needs to be consistent.
Teaching your Puppy to NOT BITE
Irwin and his cousin Bonnie play.
"No Bite!"
Irwin loved to chew (See Episode 2 for a not-so-funny and rather expensive chewing escapade). Toys and ropes are much better chew toys than your latest shoe purchase.
Some chew toys can be filled with a few kibbles as a treat. Choose a challenging toy that requires lots of manipulating before the food comes out. It will keep your puppy engaged longer.
"No Bite!"
Most puppies bite; it’s what puppies do. Their mouths serve as their hands. For 8-10 weeks,
your puppy’s mother corrected her pups by biting at them, and Mom and siblings nipped
at each another as they played; thus, biting is not an easy behavior to turn around. However,
biting is not a desirable behavior for a pet. Words and capitalizing on the puppy’s desire to
please will be our best tools for changing this behavior.
Biting is also not cute one day and annoying the next. It can be dangerous, particularly for
babies or young children ~ for those in-house or with visitors. Biting is never an appropriate
behavior for a well behaved pet, and biting will not automatically stop when a puppy becomes
a dog, unless you do something about it EARLY; i.e., as soon as you bring your puppy home
when s/he is 8-10 weeks old. Do not wait!
• When your puppy bites.
Immediately say “No bite” and step away from the puppy. Sometimes a gesture of putting up your
index finger and giving him a stern look as you speak might help.
If he bites your hand, say “No bite!” as you pull your hand away, hold your hand, and
whimper “Ouch” as if it truly hurts (probably more than it actually does). Your puppy
wants to please you, not hurt you. Eventually, s/he will understand that his behavior hurts
you and will stop.
Walk away from the puppy and do not continue playing with her/him for a short period of time.
You do not want to reward biting.
• Consider an alternative - a toy.
Give your puppy something on which s/he can chew (appropriate toy), or provide a toy the two
of you can enjoy together that will allow the pup to bite it, not you. Keep a variety of chew
toys about. A KONG is a good choice.
CAVEAT: I do not recommend you try the Irwin balloon scenario to teach your puppy to “Not Bite.” (See Irwin stories, Episode 6) Puppies can easily swallow a balloon, which will not digest and can obstruct his digestive tract. Irwin chose the balloon himself, and I loved that balloons eventually became one of Irwin’s favorite toys and they lasted much longer than others, oddly enough. Irwin never played with balloons without my close supervision. He often brought the broken balloon to me, completley flat, as if to ask me for a new one.