How Do I Stop My Puppy From Nipping?

Nipping or biting is normal behaviour for puppies. They are exploring their worlds with their mouths and in a litter of puppies it is normal for them to nip at each other. However, in a human family this is not acceptable and so it is your job to teach your puppy not to nip at people, pant legs etc.

If your puppy nips pant legs – “Play Statue”.
Your puppy wants to play. If you are still, you are boring and he will stop and find something else to do.

For hands –
1. Replace the inappropriate object your hand/shoe etc. with an appropriate chew toy.
2. Say “no” or “ouch” in a high pitched voice. (this generally works better for women and children). The puppy will be startled and realize that he hurt you. Repeat as needed to get him to stop. If not effective try…
3. ….If your puppy will neither take the appropriate object after repeated attempts , nor stop when you say ouch try a short time out. If you are crate training it is best not to use the crate. Instead put your puppy behind a closed door (laundry room, bathroom, outside for 10 seconds. (no longer or the puppy will find something else to do). After 10 seconds let the puppy out. If the biting continues repeat the 10s time out, until he calms down.
4. Some puppies will do this when they are overtired. Setting a good routine through the day as well as a good bedtime routine can help to alleviate this.