Mouthing

Biting and mouthing is very natural for all puppies.  Teaching bite inhibition is very important for your dog.  What we are worried about is not whether or not your puppy bites, but how hard he bites.  We want your puppy to learn to bite softly.  Puppy play school (kinderpuppy) is an excellent place to help your puppy learn bite inhibition and also socialization.  First thing, make sure your puppy has plenty of things to chew on besides your hand.  When you are playing with your puppy, make sure you have at least one of his toys handy to stick in his mouth, should he get mouthy.  One of the best ways to teach bite inhibition is standing up and ignoring your puppy when he bites too hard.  When you are playing with your puppy, if he grabs and bites down hard on your hand, give a loud “ouch!” and stand up and walk away, or immediately put your pup in his crate.  A 1-2 minute time out is all a puppy needs, anything longer is pointless.  Go right back to playing with your puppy and if he bites down hard again you stand up and ignore again.  Keep this up until your puppy starts to get the picture (I bite hard, fun stops and mom goes away.)  I encourage people not to get too worked up about mouthing.  All puppies do it and they will grow out of it.  Keep it positive, use time outs, and have alternatives for the puppy to chew on.