How To Stop A Dog From Biting
Which Dogs are Considered the most Dangerous and Will Most Likely Bite?
Based on North American data regarding dog attacks between 1982 and 2020, the dogs most likely to bite humans are:
Pit bulls.
Rottweilers.
Pit bull mixes.
German shepherds.
Bullmastiffs.
Wolf hybrids.
Huskies.
Akitas.
If you have or are about to have small children around the house often it is probably a good idea NOT to get one of these dogs as a domestic pet. Dogs are wonderful pets in general but these dogs in particular can mistake young children as threats in certain situations and possibly cause great harm.
Dogs bite for all sorts of reasons. CLICK HERE to find some comprehensive information about why a Dog Bites, the type of breed of dog that is likely to bite, and some other ideas about how it may be stopped.
Click on the picture below for a truly awesome method of training your dog to stop biting!
Dogs can be extremely territorial and protective. Dogs can attack any person who poses a threat to their companions, whether other dogs, humans, or even cats. It is said that Dogs can rival bears and Big Cats in ferocity when confronting burglars even if they are ordinarily docile.
Often you can judge the underlying ferocity of your Dog by attempting to take his food away whilst he is happily eating it. Some Dogs don't mind, while others will growl ferociously and possibly even attack their very owner!
Be very careful trying this if you are a new Dog owner!
Why Do Puppies Bite And Chew?
How can we stop our dogs from biting and chewing?
Puppies are one big bundle of fun and energy with their happy smiles and wagging tails.
But when a wagging tail is accompanied by 40 kilos of leaping, bounding energy that doesn’t know when to stop, it can soon become less fun and much more of a problem.
Unfortunately, as owners of puppies, we tend to reinforce the behaviour that we think is “fun” by playing and encouraging them to do it when they are young, allowing our furry friends to believe what they are doing is acceptable and desirable.
This includes rough play, allowing them to nibble and bite at our hair and hands and jump up on us as they please. Whilst it might be okay when they weigh just a few kilos, when they grow up to weigh more and have a full set of teeth and a powerful jaws, we no longer want them to do this and so we start to tell them off or even punish them for the unwanted behaviour.
This is very confronting and confusing for your dog as you may have actually ‘taught’ them this behaviour and rewarded them for it, by allowing it to happen and continue when they were a puppy. Then suddenly they are being punished for something that they thought was perfectly acceptable behaviour.
This is what we refer to in training as setting your dog up to fail and is why it is so important to address any potential future behaviour problems as soon as they begin.
Biting and mouthing is one of the most common complaints of new puppy owners and is the issue we will focus on here.
Why does my puppy bite and mouth me?
Puppies explore their environment with their mouths and also use their mouths in play and when teething, so it is important that we allow them to do this, but direct in the right way.
One way that puppies learn to inhibit their biting is by playing with other puppies. When one puppy bites the other puppy too hard, the play stops. This is no longer fun for either puppy so they learn instinctively that if they want the play to continue, they must control their bite. We can teach our puppies the same thing.
Ways to divert your puppy mouthing and biting
You can encourage your puppy to chew on safe, durable and appropriate sized toys that can’t be swallowed.
Interactive treat dispensing toys like Aussie Dog or KONG toys are great for keeping their interest as well. Rotate two to three toys daily.
Fresh raw bones are good to exercise their jaw and clean teeth. Check with your Vet about what size and type is best for your puppy.
Do not encourage it!
Never allow your puppy to bite, chew or mouth you, even if it seems to be in play, as this reinforces the behaviour.
Definitely do not encourage rough play and biting. Often kids will get down on the ground with the puppy and roll around letting them jump all over them and bite their hair etc. which encourages the puppy to do it more and sets them up to fail.
Encourage interactive play using a ball, frisbee or tug toy instead.
If your puppy does bite walk away or fold your arms and ignore it. We do not want to give in to their attention seeking behaviour so no eye contact or verbal responses either.
Your puppy is still learning about the world through chewing and biting, so it’s important to instead just ignore them and remove access.
Do not punish your Playful k9!!! - Remember NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT is NOT the way to train your PUP!
If your puppy goes to mouth or bite you could also gently offer a toy to redirect it. You do need to be very careful with timing so that the toy connects with their mouth before they have connected with your hand or body, otherwise it could be seen as a reward for the biting behaviour if they have managed to make contact with you and then receive the toy.
Try not to overexcite your puppy by waving your hands around and if they are biting it is also best not to use your hands to correct the behaviour. Slapping your puppy can make things worse. It can make some puppies hand shy or for others it might actually encourage aggression and more biting.
If they are chewing on plants or furniture you can make up a spray of chilli or vinegar in water to spray onto the plants or areas they chew, or there are a number of ‘chew stopper’ sprays available in shops.
Always put away items that they tend to chew like shoes, socks, kids toys etc.
Digging is also a common puppy behaviour, so sandpits are great to redirect digging and can help with boredom too when dogs are left alone at home. You can hide treats or toys in the sandpit to help direct any digging to this area.
Remember, dogs don’t grow out of problem behaviour, they grow into it, so we need to make sure we set a puppy up for life by teaching it the behaviour we will expect of it as an adult.
A registered Puppy school is a great way to start. Or if you’re having a few issues, get the help of a qualified trainerbefore the problem gets too bad.
Sick him Rex!
GOTCHA ..GRRRR You're NOT GETTING AWAY! 👹