Tried And True Methods For Training Your Dog Not To Bite
As a dog owner, it’s your responsibility to learn the training methods for teaching your dog not to bite anyone. This is a critical part of pet ownership, in fact, The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that more than 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year. These bites result in unwanted medical bills and law suits, and, in some cases, the dog has to be put to sleep. With a little training, none of these negatives have to happen to you or your pet.
Training a dog to refrain from biting can vary by the breed, age, and personality of your animal, just as with anything else you teach him. Here are some tips to help you teach your dog not to bite:
The younger the dog, the easier the training will be. Because mouthing, nibbling, and nipping come naturally to a puppy, an owner must be firm to stop this behavior when it starts. Even though it may begin as a cute nuisance, it can turn into a bad habit if not contained from the get-go.
Puppies as young as five weeks old can begin to respond to simple commands. For biting behavior, a gentle, firm “No!” and a slight squeeze of the muzzle can be a good place to start.
Be careful not to squeeze the muzzle too hard or high enough to hurt his nose. Dogs have very sensitive and delicate odor receptors and you wouldn’t want to damage this in any way.
Squeezine your dogs muzzle will help him associate the verbal command with the discomfort of the squeeze. Since most dogs are uncomfortable with having their muzzles squeezed, this will help him think twice about biting.
Other than verbally discouraging your dog or using soft physical restraint to remind your dog, socializing your dog may help to train him or her. Socialization can and should begin at as early an age as possible, and your dog should be around other animals and people as much as possible. Socialized dogs are tranquil and confident dogs. Timid dogs that are unused to unfamiliar people or dogs are much more likely to bite.
It’s a good idea to let your dog get to know other dogs, as long as they’re not aggressive themselves. This allows your pet to become aware of a variety of smells and appearances that might otherwise arouse his suspicions, and tends to negate his normal territorial reactions.
Although dogs may take gentle nips at their litter mates, they rarely bite them seriously. This is an attribute you can develop, by encouraging your pet to consider welcome humans and animals as part of his “pack”.
When introducing your dog to other household pets, restrain both your dog and your other pets. They will learn to gradually approach each other naturally.
Put your dog at ease by having the dog sit and stroke its back. Check your dog for signs of aggression like body tension, snarling, and erect ears. After stroking your dog touch the other animal to convey the smell of your pet to that animal. After checking to make sure there are no signs of aggression and the other dog got a scent of your dog then allow them to interact.
Many dogs can be trained to curb thier urge to bite by the time they are four and a half months old, but it may take your dog longer than that. It varies by breed, and each individual dog within a breed is different. And you know that saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? It’s not exactly true, but training an older dog to stop biting is much more difficult than it is to teach a puppy.
Some dogs are not fully trained to not to bite other people and animals. In this case, the owners need to take special care to insure the dog is never put in a situation where it can harm another person or animal.
Persistent long term use of these dog training techniques will likely result in a more stable and fun pet, not to mention that it could prevent an unwanted situation where your dog could get hurt or hurt someone else.
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