There is a stage in the puppy's life during which he feels the need to bite everything around you, something that is mainly due to the fact that his teeth are starting to come out. Thus, the dog is likely to bite and destroy our things often, and even to acquire the habit of bite us U.S. Although it is a natural behavior at this age, we must correct it to prevent it from becoming a more serious problem.
Common causes
To find a solution, the first step is to find out what is the origin of this behavior. Among the most frequent reasons we find:
- Curiosity. The dog is an exploratory animal by nature and during an early age it uses its mouth to recognize what is around it. For the first few months, he will nibble on anything that catches his eye.
- Early weaning. Puppies that are separated from their mothers too quickly have a greater tendency to bite than others. And it is that dogs learn to control the intensity of their bites by dealing with their parents, who scream when they bite while they suckle, and by playing with their brothers, who react in the same way.
- Boredom and / or anxiety. If the puppy is not physically active or spends a lot of time alone at home, he may try to calm his excess energy or anxiety by biting, as destroying things with his teeth can be an ideal entertainment for him. On the other hand, he probably finds it fun to bite our hands and fingers when we play with him.
- Pain in the gums. During the first months of life, puppies suffer pain in their gums while their teeth come out, a discomfort that they try to calm by biting everything they find.
Techniques to avoid it
- Little screams. Every time the puppy bites us, we can emit a small cry to indicate that it is hurting us. We should stop yelling as soon as he stops digging his teeth into us, because we don't want to scare him. Once he stops biting, we have to offer him a toy so he can vent with it.
- Avoid playing with your hands and feet. If we tempt the animal in this way, it will most likely end up trying to "catch" us with its teeth. Better get some special chew toys for this stage and encourage him to have fun with them by moving them around.
- Disapproval. When the dog starts to bite any of our objects, we must firmly forbid it; a "No" or "Enough" will suffice. Then, we must show him one of his toys so that he understands that he can bite them.
- Exercise. Daily walks are essential, as they help the dog to balance its mental and physical energy, so that at home they feel calmer and comply with obedience orders more easily. However, he cannot go outside until the necessary vaccines are administered, so the first months his exercise will be based on games inside the home.
It is a slow learning process, so it would be better for us to become aware and squander a good dose of patience towards our little one. With the passage of time and following these techniques, we will surely reach our goal.