How To Train 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.
There are many common techniques that can be used to assist a dog to decrease, and eventually eliminate, biting behavior. The effectiveness of these techniques will vary from breed to breed, but with patience and repetition, puppies and adult dogs can learn to not bite.
Puppies have the tendency to always mouth and nip and it’s best to nip this behavior in the bud when they are still young. Even though you might think it is cute when your little pup plays by nibbling at you, if you encourage this behavior, you will end up with a big problem when your pet is grown.
You can start giving verbal commands to your dog when he is four weeks and older. When the puppy tries to bite, a gentle but firm “No!’ followed by a slight squeeze of the muzzle will train him not to bite anymore.
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.
Squeezing your dog’s muzzle isn’t intended to punish him, but to let him know that the behavior isn’t acceptable. By squeezing, you associate the verbal command with something the dog can readily understand: discomfort. Regardless of their age, dogs find having their muzzle squeezed uncomfortable.
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.
While still young, socialize your dog with other dogs preferably those that are non-aggressive. Being exposed to other dog breeds will help him cope up with territorial behavior.
Although dogs have the tendency to mouth and nip, they naturally inhibit this behavior when they are playing with their mates. Train them to develop this behavior by expanding his playmates to include your family members, guests and other pets.
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.
Keep an eye out for uncomfortable body language, growling, ears that stand up straight or other signs of possible anger. Have the dog sit down, rub it’s back area, and extend your hand to the second animal, and then convey the second animal’s scent to your pet. Allow them to get to know each other slowly.
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.
While most dogs can be trained not to bite, there are some that still bite despite being trained. Pet owners should also be trained how to handle their dogs properly. If your dog still bites, make sure it cannot interact with other people or be expose to other animals.
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.
Tagged with: Dog Training
Filed under: Dog Training
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