My 5-month-old puppy bites. Is it playful or aggressive? How to train?

Biting is normal puppy behavior but it is something you want to try to get under control quickly. There are a few methods to deal with biting and my favorite is to imitate another puppy. As soon as Apollo puts his mouth on you, 'yelp' and then walk away from him. Completely ignore him until he calms down. As soon as he does so, give him calm attention and encourage him to chew on something like a toy. If everyone is consistent with this behavior, most puppies learn quickly because they want their human's attention. That being said, not all puppies are cuddly. They are individuals just like people. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hello, and thank you for your question. Puppies are teething around the ages of 3-6 months, which makes them interested in biting anything and everything at times! Ensure that he has appropriate, safe toys for him to chew on, such as rubber Kongs filled with treats or peanut butter, and rope toys. You can also try putting these toys in the freezer, which some puppies like as it helps soothe their irritated gums. When Shadow tries to bite you, give a firm "ow" or "no". Never hit him or use any other form of physical punishment. Instead, offer him his chew toy to play with on his own. Walk away, cross your arms and legs and do not give him any further attention. If this does not work, you may need to find a toy that is more rewarding for him, such as putting something even more tasty into the toy. The good news is that teething will finish by 6 months, so this should be a temporary behaviour. However, we want to teach Shadow what is appropriate to chew on, and what is not. Here is an article with some further tips to help prevent destructive chewing: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=3701 I hope this helps!

It can always be tough with a new puppy. Some chewing is normal with a young puppy however it is important to start trying to control the behavior now. I would recommend when Blue starts to bite to replace it with something he can chew on. Also, I would recommend starting with some basic training. This would be sit, stay and come. That way when Blue starts to bite you he can be re-directed with the commands. I hope that helps

Most puppies go through a stage where they become very mouthy and try and bite everything. This is a very different situation to an aggressive dog that is not being playful but is trying to inflict damage. I assume your dog is just being mouthy but if it is aggressive then you should contact a professional behaviourist asap. Mouthy puppies are best handled with consistency. When the pup bites firmly say no and put it on the floor and ignore it for a minute or 2. Resume play and repeat when the pup bites. Give the puppy plenty of toys which it can bite but never encourage it to see your hand as a toy.

I recommend getting him into a puppy kindergarten obedience class. The trainer can help you guide his energy into less aggressive, destructive paths. Also, make sure he is getting lots and lots of exercise, going for long walks, take him for a jog, throw the ball for him, get a tug toy and let him play tug of war with you or another dog, get him out for play dates with other dogs (best left after his vaccination series is finished, at about four months of age). A tired dog is a happy dog, and one less likely to get himself into trouble with boredom. When you play with your puppy, let him mouth on your hands. Continue play until he bites especially hard. When he does, immediately give a high-pitched yelp, as if you’re hurt, and let your hand go limp. This should startle your puppy and cause him to stop mouthing you. (If yelping seems to have no effect, you can say “Too bad!” or “You blew it!” in a stern voice instead.) Praise your puppy for stopping. Resume whatever you were doing before. If your puppy bites you hard again, yelp again. Repeat these steps no more than three times within a 15-minute period. If you find that yelping alone doesn’t work, you can switch to a time-out procedure. When your puppy delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Then, when he startles and turns to look at you or looks around, remove your hand. Either ignore him for 10 to 20 seconds or, if he starts mouthing on you again, get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds. After the short time-out, return to your puppy and encourage him to play with you again. It’s important to teach him that gentle play continues, but painful play stops. Play with your puppy until he bites hard again. When he does, repeat the sequence above. When your puppy isn’t delivering really hard bites anymore, you can tighten up your rules a little. Require your puppy to be even gentler. Yelp and stop play in response to moderately hard bites. Persist with this process of yelping and then ignoring your puppy or giving him a time-out for his hardest bites. As those disappear, do the same for his next-hardest bites, and so on, until your puppy can play with your hands very gently, controlling the force of his mouthing so that you feel little or no pressure at all.

That is a lot going on and it sounds like Oggy would benefit from a visit with a trainer or veterinary behaviorist in your area, especially if she is being aggressive to the point of bruising or drawing blood. Aggression usually looks very different from play/exploration biting and can include low growling, stiff bodies, showing the whites of the eyes, hair raising on the back, baring teeth, and then nipping or biting. This is unusual in a puppy of this age, so if it is happening, it is best to seek professional help in person ASAP since it is a complex issue that needs to be worked with. If the nipping is just puppy nipping, and she is also chewing on lots of things, it could just be normal puppy behavior and a puppy kindergarten/training classes is a great way to establish some ground rules and get used to interacting with each other in a positive manner. I'm also including some articles on general puppy nipping/chewing that may help as well. https://www.petcoach.co/article/puppy-biting-nipping-of-hands/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/puppy-biting-when-does-it-stop/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/chewing-in-puppies-how-to-control-it/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/6-tips-to-help-prevent-destructive-chewing/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-choose-a-dog-trainer/

At ten weeks of age this is still very normal behavior. If Safiro is getting too excited, taking a time out and stopping all play/walking away until he's calm again can help to teach him that getting too excited results in the fun ending, and that calm behavior is rewarded with more play time. Working on some impulse control training (such as airplaning treats, taking and dropping toys, taking treats nicely, sitting politely -- YouTube has great tutorials for all of this) can also help with over excitement and biting behavior.