Puppy Training Tips - Playing with Your Pup

Playing with Your Puppy

Your new puppy is a bundle of unlimited energy, and while it can be heartwarming to have your pet want to spend so much time around you, it can be a little overwhelming.

Playing comes naturally to puppies - it's how they socialize with their litter mates, and how they explore the world around them. Within a few days, you're likely to have red marks of his play all over your hands and feet, as he begins to use your body as one large chewable toy.

What is Play Biting?

Puppies can begin biting as a form of play as early as 4 weeks after birth. They might have hardly enough strength in their little legs to walk straight, but that doesn't stop them fro staggering over to the pup nearest to them, and biting him or grabbing hold of his neck and trying to shake him. In fact, biting and nursing is all puppies do at this stage, besides emptying their bowels and bladder at regular intervals. When they arrive in your home, they bring all these behaviors with them. In these new and unfamiliar surroundings, your pup begins to search for his litter mates and potential bite victims, and lo, he finds them soon enough - your hands and ankles!

Remember, your puppy is not biting you because he is a vicious animal. Punishing and yelling therefore, is not going to help, because biting is perfectly normal behavior and just part of his curious and naturally rambunctious personality. Puppies use their mouths they way a child uses his hands - to explore, feel, experiment with new objects, smells, tastes, and textures.

Teaching a puppy that biting doesn't equal play in your eyes is necessary, although it might not seem like such a bad thing when your pup is just a baby. Even so, a nip from a a pair of sharp little incisors can make you yelp. If your pup isn't trained to curb these play biting tendencies, he will carry this behavior into adulthood, when it could prove dangerous to the targets of his play.

Teach Your Pup Not to Bite

To make your beloved pooch stop using your hands and feet as chewable toys, you have to teach him that biting means the end of play. His natural instinct is to bite for play, and if you can break the connection between biting and play, or biting and fun, you're on the road to a bite free dog and a safer you!

The next time your puppy bites your hands, yelp with pain yourself. Let him know it hurts you, and immediately stop playing with him. If you continue playing, he'll assume the biting is a good behavior, because he hasn't lost anything after biting you. If on the other hand, you immediately stop playing with him and walk away, he slowly but surely begins to understand that biting equals no more play.

Another trick you can try to break the connection between biting and play, is to make a sound loud enough to startle him, making him drop his hand. While he's looking up at you wondering what happened, immediately give him a chewy toy to play with, so he can turn his attention to the toy. Here, you're trying to get him to see that biting you is no fun at all, while biting a chewy toy is definitely fun.

If you have kids in the house, it's all the more reason why you should break this biting habit as soon as possible. Teach your kids that when your pup bites, they should immediately stop playing, and leave the room. He'll soon stop biting because he doesn't want to be left alone without his play mates!

Avoid tackle games or playing tug of war with your pup - these are all games that require him to bite, and it will be difficult for you to get him to break the biting habit if you're constantly playing games that encourage him to do exactly that.

Make sure you have lots of chewable toys around the house. Keep a stash of toys, and rotate them as he gets bored of the previous ones.

Never offer your hand to a puppy to bite - some people think it's cute when a pup latches on to their hand and begins chewing. Your teaching your pup that this behavior is not just acceptable, but also rewarding.

See if you can find a play group for your boisterous pooch. Ask your vet if he knows of doggy play groups in the area. Or go online and search for doggy playgroups by breed. These play groups have the same benefits that children's playgroups do. They encourage socialization with others like him, and they help establish "bite inhibition." If your pup decides to try his biting prowess on another dog, and that dog yelps and walks away in disgust, your pup has just learned a valuable "no biting" lesson!

Plus, shy dogs can be made to come out of their shells and mingle in a group. Take care to choose a playgroup that's made of similar dogs, so it's not overwhelming.

Playtime is one of the best parts of owning a pooch - make sure you teach him to play fair.

Puppy Playtime