How to Stop Puppy Biting: A Dog Trainer’s Guide

In this blog, we’ll discuss the causes of puppy biting, effective methods to stop it, and how to get back to enjoying your puppy.

Why Do Puppies Bite?

Puppies begin teething between 12 and 24 weeks of age. During this time, they experience significant discomfort in their gums, which can lead them to bite down on their caregivers to alleviate the pain.

Other reasons puppies bite include:

• Frustration from being handled or restrained too often

• Communication needs—remember, they can’t speak, so they may be hungry, tired, need the toilet, or just want attention

Understanding these causes is the first step in addressing puppy biting effectively.

How Do You Discipline a Puppy Who Is Biting?

I don't recommend strict "discipline" for puppy biting. The biting is happening for a reason—usually due to pain from teething. Punishing a puppy for reacting to that pain can damage your relationship with them.

If your goal is to have a well-trained adult dog who follows through on cues, you need a secure relationship built on trust. Be their place of safety and comfort, not someone who shouts and yells when they’re in pain.

5 Ways to Stop Puppy Biting

1. Redirect, Redirect, Redirect!

This is the most important tool to stop puppy biting. Keep a variety of long and soft chews stored at height around the house. Grab one when your puppy starts to bite you and redirect their attention to the toy.

My absolute favourite are the Tug-E-Nuff toys. They're super hard-wearing and can handle puppy teeth! Plus, they're so fun and engaging, your puppy will find them irresistible compared to your boring fleshy hands. Check them out here: Tug-E-Nuff Toys.

2. Provide Plenty of Chewing Opportunities

Your puppy should be spending 2–3 hours a day chewing. This can include both edible and non-edible chews. Consider:

• Frozen options like carrots, stuffed Kongs, or Topples

• Olive and coffee wood for puppies that enjoy chewing on wooden furniture or skirting boards

• Edible chews such as Whimzees, pizzle sticks, or rabbit ears

3. Manage Your Reactions

Avoid reinforcing the biting behaviour with your reactions. That old-school advice of yelping can actually turn you into a human squeaky toy. Keep your reactions calm and nonchalant while redirecting their attention to the appropriate toy.

4. Ensure Adequate Rest

Over-tiredness is a huge cause of more puppy biting. Ensure your puppy has a quiet and peaceful place to rest where they feel safe and comfortable enough to snooze. This may need to be close by to you initially.

5. Enrol in Puppy Life Skills

Want more puppy advice? Join our Puppy Life Skills course for expert guidance and support.

When Do Puppies Stop Teething?

Puppies finish teething at 6 months old. However, puppy biting usually phases out at about 20 weeks.

At What Age Do Puppies Stop Biting?

This depends on your puppy. Typically, smaller-sized dogs mature more quickly and therefore stop biting sooner. For larger breeds, this may continue a bit longer. Puppy biting should be finished by about 6 months of age, provided it's due to teething and not other behavioural issues.

My Puppy Keeps Biting Me Aggressively…

When you're deep in puppy biting, it can feel as though your puppy hates you. Often, the biting seems aggressive, but this is typically when your puppy has gone beyond excited and into the realms of a Tasmanian devil! At this stage, they need help calming down with a snuffle or licky mat exercise.

Rest assured, most puppy biting is not actually aggressive and is a perfectly normal phase for your puppy to go through.

If you believe your puppy is demonstrating biting out of fear or aggression, get in touch to discuss a 1:1 session to look further into this. This can happen due to fear, over-handling, pain, or discomfort, so it's important we get to the bottom of it as early as possible.

How Do I Get My Puppy to Stop Biting My Hands and Feet?

Hands and feet are often the most bitten parts of humans because they move a lot! To stop your puppy from biting your hands and feet:

• Only play with your puppy if you have a toy in your hand that they can bite onto

• Consider your footwear—wearing plain (not fluffy) slippers or boots around the house temporarily can help ensure if your puppy does bite your feet, you don’t end up jumping and squealing, giving them a fantastic reason to do it more

  
  

Does Yelping Stop Puppy Biting?

The old-school advice used to be that yelping will stop puppy biting, as this is what their littermates would do to let them know they're biting too hard. Spoiler alert… your puppy knows you're not a dog.

Yelping often has the opposite effect and can either encourage more puppy biting because we elicit an incredibly exciting sound when they bite us, or at worst, it could scare our puppy and damage that ever-important bond.

Overall, we never recommend utilising yelping to stop puppy biting.

Want More Puppy Advice?

Join our Puppy Life Skills course for expert guidance and support.