What's Teething? Like babies, puppies need to replace their baby teeth with adult teeth. Your puppy should grow in his full set of baby teeth by the time he is 8 weeks old. Between the ages of 2 and 7 months is when teething begins. Chewing is a way of massaging the puppy's gums to reduce the pain that is experienced from teething. It also helps to loosen the puppy teeth for the adult tooth to come in.
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How to control Teething
Like a baby, a new puppy will begin to put anything in it's mouth. The simplest way to control it is to give it bones and toys for it to chew on. Freeze the chew toys before giving them to your puppy. The cold helps to ease the pain and swelling that comes with teething. Puppy proof you house by putting everything that is harmful to the puppy and anything you do not want chewed, out of his reach.
No Hitting!
Don't ever hit your dog, physical punishment is not recommended if you are looking to stop dog biting. Your dog will loose trust in you and want to bite you as frustration and aggression.
Biting
Puppy biting is another one of those common puppy behaviors that can become a problem if you don't deal with it early on. Puppy biting is part of basic canine behavior so it will require patience on your part. Although this may seem a harmless behavior when your puppy is small, it's definitely a habit you want to discourage right away. Your tiny puppy will be an adult in the blink of an eye, and then this behavior will be a lot more irritating and harmful to others.
Puppy training for biting behavior is something that you need to start early and be consistent with during those first few months. Don't keep young children alone with the puppy. The puppy may still be in the learning stages.
Here are some tips to help you stop your dog from biting:
- While playing with your puppy, express how biting you hurts by "yelping” whenever your puppy bites. Release a high-pitched sound so it sounds like a yelp. It would also be a big help if you did not encourage games that involve biting, such as wrestling.
- To train him not to bite your hands try using butter and smearing on your hand and letting your dog lick it. Your dog will learn that it wont get anything by biting. For biting you at other places, like the leg, just use a strict tone and say "no" while looking at him, then stop playing, or if you weren't, just go back to what you were doing. Doing this repeatedly each time, will give it the idea that this is an unacceptable behavior. Reward your dog when they are good and not biting you.
- It's easier to acknowledge when your dog is about to approach you with the intention of biting you and say "stop," have him sit, then give him a treat. You want your dog to get used to you coming towards you in that manner. If you do this consistently, your dog won't even see you as something he can chew on.
- Dogs need regular exercise and attention. Not giving them either can hype them up, so make sure to do your part in giving them enough attention before you get to the point where you have to yell "no."
- If your dog is already an adult it will take more dominance to prevent it from biting. You will need to do more training to ensure that your dog wont bite again. When your dog tries to bite you make a high pitched yelp. At this point saying what you have been saying, like "no!," may not help so change it up a bit.
- If your dog has bites because of aggression (shows symptoms like snarling, growling, or teeth baring) consult a professional dog trainer.
Puppy training for biting behavior is something that you need to start early and be consistent with during those first few months. Don't keep young children alone with the puppy. The puppy may still be in the learning stages.
Here are some tips to help you stop your dog from biting:
- While playing with your puppy, express how biting you hurts by "yelping” whenever your puppy bites. Release a high-pitched sound so it sounds like a yelp. It would also be a big help if you did not encourage games that involve biting, such as wrestling.
- To train him not to bite your hands try using butter and smearing on your hand and letting your dog lick it. Your dog will learn that it wont get anything by biting. For biting you at other places, like the leg, just use a strict tone and say "no" while looking at him, then stop playing, or if you weren't, just go back to what you were doing. Doing this repeatedly each time, will give it the idea that this is an unacceptable behavior. Reward your dog when they are good and not biting you.
- It's easier to acknowledge when your dog is about to approach you with the intention of biting you and say "stop," have him sit, then give him a treat. You want your dog to get used to you coming towards you in that manner. If you do this consistently, your dog won't even see you as something he can chew on.
- Dogs need regular exercise and attention. Not giving them either can hype them up, so make sure to do your part in giving them enough attention before you get to the point where you have to yell "no."
- If your dog is already an adult it will take more dominance to prevent it from biting. You will need to do more training to ensure that your dog wont bite again. When your dog tries to bite you make a high pitched yelp. At this point saying what you have been saying, like "no!," may not help so change it up a bit.
- If your dog has bites because of aggression (shows symptoms like snarling, growling, or teeth baring) consult a professional dog trainer.