Puppies are cute and all until they start getting their new set of teeth and begin treating everything as a chew toy. It’s all fun and games until you walk around the house to find one of your shoes shredded or a chair leg chewed on.
Don’t fret too much though, this behavior is perfectly normal for puppies around the age of two weeks to a few months old. You see, like babies, puppies experience a bit of discomfort in their gums during the onset of the development of their adult teeth. This manifests in the form of constant chewing, biting, nipping and drooling.
This ‘biting stage’ won’t be over until your puppy gets their adult teeth at four to nine months old. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything to somewhat manage your puppy’s natural inhibition to chew on your belongings or worse, your hand.
So, here are four effective ways to deal with your puppy’s biting stage.
1. Give your puppy plenty of toys to chew on.
Some people might advise you to only leave out one or two toys at a time for your dog so that it won’t get too bored with the toys, but this doesn’t really apply to puppies.
To distract your puppy from targeting your furniture of shoes, get it plenty of chew toys or any other toy for that matter. Keep some inside and outside the house at places they easily reach. This would ensure that your puppy won’t find your couch’s skirts appealing and proceed to shred it with its baby teeth. You should also start reinforcing good behavior by praising your puppy whenever you see it pick up a toy.
Still, remember that it would still be best if you keep your things out of reach from your puppy. Keep your shoes in your room or in an elevated area. Remove house plants off the floor. Simply make sure that your floors are rid of chew-able things except for actual chew toys.
2. Divert attention using latch ropes.
A latch rope is just any thing that you can attach a rope or a long string to and serve as a toy or distraction tool for your puppy. The idea is that whenever your puppy becomes hell-bent on chewing on a certain thing that they shouldn’t chew on, the latch rope would be a way to quickly divert their attention and give you the opportunity to get it away from them.
You might find this idea a bit silly now, but just wait until you see your favorite shoe in your puppy’s mouth and you’ll find out how effective this trick is.
You won’t really need much stuff to make your own latch ropes. You can take old chew toys or your kids old toys and tie them up at the end of a rope, yarn or even cut up pieces of old beach towels and bed sheets. They’re also pretty easy to clean. You can just throw them in the washer when they get too dirty.
3. Introduce your puppy to objects they’re allowed to bite.
Petting a puppy that’s in the biting stage is a tricky thing. It’s as if it has never seen anything as fascinating as your hand even though you’ve pet many times before. And with that curiosity comes the nibbling. Although your puppy won’t actually sink its teeth into your hand, being grazed by sharp tiny teeth is still very uncomfortable. It might even hurt a little especially if your puppy is excited and is in motion.
To avoid getting you hand turned into a chew toy, redirect and introduce your puppy to objects that they’re allowed to bite or nibble like chew toys or your homemade latch rope. Use a hand to hold a toy out for your puppy and use the other free hand to pet it. Like before, praise your puppy when they choose the toy instead of your hand to reinforce this behavior.
4. Avoid using your hands when giving them treats.
Another way to protect your hands from your puppy’s teeth when interacting with it is to give it treats by laying them on the floor. Hey, your puppy won’t get to nibble on your hands when it can’t reach them, right?
This practice, when done over time can help curb your puppy’s interest in hands and teach them to expect their food to be delivered on the ground.
Just remember not to hold onto those dog treats too hard as their smell can linger on your hands. And dogs, known for their acute sense of smell will surely detect the smell of treats and jump for your hands. So, always wash your hands after handling dog treats and dog food.
Some more advise we have for you is to refrain from turning it into a game whenever your puppy’s bite surprises or hurts you. Although these are totally normal reactions, it might just make your puppy more excited. We recommend that you stick with the four tips we’ve discussed above when your puppy’s nibbling obsession focuses on you. If by the odd chance the four tips do not work for you, you can always let out a loud “OUCH”. Make sure it is the same word that will get their attention in a negative way so their focus on biting is lost.
In the end, the puppy biting stage is only temporary. It will pass in a couple of months when your puppy’s adult teeth finally come in. Just have a little more patience for your little one. Remember they really don’t have much control over this stage. As long as you follow our puppy biting stage survival tips, you’ll make it through just fine.
