Dogs, especially puppies, get excited about so many things. Anything new or something they already know and love is enough to get their tails wagging. Sometimes, though, the greeting isn’t as nice as you would hope for, especially when they start to nip at you out of excitement.
For many pups, after several months to a year, they grow out of it. Instinctually, they know that it can cause pain, and as they grow older, their teeth are more prominent, and their jaws more powerful. Other dogs, though, retain this poor behavior into adulthood.
Teaching a dog not to do this is the best way to go about their training. Read on to learn why pups do this and the best ways to stop it.
Why Do Dogs Bite When They Get Excited?
Just like toddlers need to put their mouths around everything, dogs like to explore the world by nibbling on it. This is especially true for puppies. It doesn’t have to be damaging when they are little.
Image Credit: Didgeman, PixabayThis means that when something new or exciting walks into the room, they want to chew on it. They might nip at you if they:
- Want to put something in their mouths to chew on, and your appendages seem like a satisfying option.
- Have figured out that chewing on you gets your attention; most dogs don’t realize much difference between happy and frustrated attention from people they love.
- Are teething and need something to mouth on to help soothe the pain.
- Wrestle with their other puppy friends by nipping and biting — they think that it’s playtime!
- Need to calm themselves, and chomping on something has become a way to self-soothe.
Some dogs respond to these things differently. They might spin around quickly or start barking, which might also be behaviors that you want to work on. However, when it comes to nipping, you can use plenty of positive methods to correct this unruly action.
Follow These Ways to Stop Your Dog From Nipping When Excited
Our instinctive reactions are not always the most appropriate. This reaction is true in many training situations, where in response to being bitten or nipped at, you want to squeal or lash out. Making a loud noise sounds like communication to a dog, not discouragement. Being physical with your pup is never a good thing because it teaches them to fear instead of trust.
Instead, use one of these seven simple tricks to train your dog. Teaching them what to do instead and not reinforcing their bad behavior, even accidentally, is essential. Pups like to know that they are making you happy. They just can’t always tell which human reactions mean what exactly.
The 7 Ways to Stop Your Dog From Nipping:
Image Credit: andrescarlofotografia, PixabayContrast their hyper attitude with one of calm and gentleness. Instead of reacting to the dog, even if it hurts, stay calm. Do not reward the pups with any kind of attention, good or bad, until they calm down. Once they do and can concentrate enough to sit, reward them with attention and even treats. If they are too young to understand “sit” yet, reward them for just being still.
If your pup refuses to calm down or the nipping has gotten a bit out of control, try getting into their space. Still, do not reward them with extra attention. Simply take a step toward them while standing. Remain calm during this exercise. Sometimes getting in your puppy’s space helps to bring them down to earth.
For those dogs that are struggling with teething or anxiety and nibbling is a form of self-soothing, make sure they have enough chew toys. Do not give them the chew toys when they start nipping at you, which will seem like a reward for their poor behavior. Having the toys close to the entrance might disengage them from you and toward the chew toy, especially when strangers enter.
- We reviewed the best chew toys for dogs: check out our top picks here!
Take a small handful of food, and throw it on the ground slightly out of your circle, but not so that it makes a huge mess. The time they spend finding each piece distracts their minds from becoming too excited about your presence. Although this doesn’t teach them how to behave instead, it distracts and calms them down.
Even if you do not speak to them, pet them, or even acknowledge their presence while they jump around you and nip, your presence can be enough of a reward. If they continue with their bad behavior after you have remained calm and tried to get into their space, then step back out of it and walk away.
This could be stepping back over a railing, shutting the door, or walking away without acknowledging them after a while. As soon as they calm down, reward them, so they understand what the appropriate behavior is.
Sometimes, dogs that nip and get overly excited when people walk in do so out of boredom and too much energy. They haven’t gotten a chance to explore for a while or to get enough exercise. If your dog continues with this behavior, try taking them on extra walks. Do another before bedtime or before leaving for work.
Hand targeting is a useful way to train a dog to direct their attention to a single spot. It keeps their mind off their poor action and onto the task at hand (pun intended).
What Not to Do When Dogs Nip
There are best practices, and then there are those that should be avoided. When training your dog out of bad behavior, carefully avoid these punishments. Using them can scare them or teach them to react with aggression or other unruly behaviors.
Hurt Them Back
When a dog nips you and causes you pain, an automatic reaction might be to lash out at them. However, hitting or kicking them in response doesn’t teach them not to nip, but to fear you.
Kennel Them
If you are trying to kennel train your dog, it should never be a punishment. Instead of a safe space for sleeping and retreat, your pup associates it with being trapped and disciplined. Even if they are overly hyper and nipping, if you excitedly capture them and put them in the kennel, it could even become a game.
Photo credit: Tomasz_Mikolajczyk, PixabaySqueal or Yell
Making loud sounds at your dog doesn’t sound like words or even cries of pain sometimes. It can encourage them because your squeals sound like their barks and noises. They might think that you are ready to play right back with them. When you come in and they start nipping, it can be difficult, but you must not even acknowledge them vocally.
Hold Their Muzzle Closed
Just as no one likes someone placing a hand over their mouth, dogs do not appreciate a hand held over their muzzle. Dogs with a more aggressive tendency will be tempted to lash out against the discomfort.
More timid animals will have a tendency to become frightened of a person’s hands near their face and can run away or lash out when someone comes over to pet them.
Challenge or Scare Them
Some trainers have suggested scaring them out of their energetic behavior by shaking a jar of coins in their faces. Another tactic is to challenge them by doing something like alpha rolling. The maneuver involves tackling them to the ground and holding them underneath you.
Do not use these maneuvers because they can challenge household roles and cause increased fear of loud noises or aggressive actions.
Conclusion: Stopping Dogs From Nipping
Starting to correct negative behaviors from a young age is the best way to combat them. Many actions can seem excusable for an adorable puppy. Sometimes they can grow out of them, but that is a risk.
Instead, by using constructive methods that might even help bond the two of you, train them early in their lives. As they grow older, they will better understand how to behave properly.
Featured Image: Haelen Haagen, Shutterstock
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Does your dog grab your arms, legs, shoes, and even hair with their mouth when they’re excited? Although you may find it cute and harmless, your guests might think it is embarrassing and annoying.
Biting and mouthing usually happen during play, exercise, and whenever they are overexcited. Some puppies grow out of the behavior, others don’t. That’s why you need to help them eliminate this bad behavior before it becomes destructive and aggressive.
Find out why dogs bite when they are excited and follow our guidelines to teach your dog how to be gentle with their mouth! Here are some great ways to stop your dog from biting when excited.
Nipping and Mouthing Are Normal and Manageable
Nipping and mouthing are “harmless” ways that dogs show their excitement, affection, and curiosity. They like to explore the world with their nose and mouth. It’s like a multi-function equipment they use to east, socialize, and play!
Dogs don’t mean to hurt you when they excitedly nip. They just want to grab your attention by grabbing your arm. The pressure is usually very light, but that doesn’t mean you have to tolerate it.
Mouthing begins early in puppyhood but can (and should!) be stopped with consistent training. What may seem like a cute behavior won’t be so amusing when their teeth grow stronger and they don’t learn bite inhibition.
Why Dogs Bite When They’re Excited
There are several reasons why dogs tend to bite when they are excited. Generally, dogs that do this are in a state of high arousal. They react to everything with barking, spinning, and nipping.
Here are some reasons dogs will bite when excited:
- Because they are used to jaw wrestling with their fellow furry friends, they might think you like it too.
- They want to have something in their mouth, and your hands or feet are the most available.
- They learned that you respond to mouthing by giving them attention.
- Mouthing is their form of self-soothing for mouth and teeth pain.
Other reasons why dogs have a biting behavior include:
- Early experience in the litter. Puppies who have no littermates are more prone to mouthing, as well as puppies who are taken away from their litters before eight weeks. Since they do not have siblings to let them know they are biting too hard, they fail to learn bite inhibition.
- Insufficient exercise and mental stimulation. Excessive energy prompts the dog to play with their mouth. Their boredom encourages this bad behavior as they are trying to find ways to engage you in their games.
Check out this great article on how to deal with nippy dogs.
How to Stop Your Dog From Biting When Excited
Here are some surefire solutions and preventions to dog nipping or biting!
Manage the Environment
This is the simplest and most obvious solution. You can put your dog on a leash before visitors can come over. Put them in the crate or behind the dog gate to stop them from getting too excited.
In some cases, you can also try to keep your fingers safe by putting on a muzzle. Note, however, that muzzles can be inhumane when used incorrectly or too frequently. Reward your dog with lots of treats for their calm behavior.
Toss Food on the Ground
This is a short-term solution where you take a fistful of treats and scatter them on the ground to calm your dog down. It’s not about rewarding your dog for nipping you since your dog will be too distracted to learn anything. In scientific terms, they’re not using their prefrontal cortex at the moment.
After doing this, you can start teaching them lessons.
Leave Your Dog
Step over a dog gate or step behind a closed door for a few seconds. This negative punishment removes what the dog wants when he does something undesirable.
After a few seconds, return and try to ask your dog to sit.
Be Calm and Boring
Some dogs try to jump or nip because we, too, act excited by waving our arms around. Try to make yourself boring and your dog may imitate your behavior.
Exercise
If you have a backyard, let your pooch relieve themselves there, and then play with them there. Play hard. Play fetch. Throw a stick. Have him go over jumps as part of his fetch game. You can also go running or walking together.
Hand Target Method
This is a method that will teach your dog to press their nose to your hand on cue. Watch the video to learn how to do this.
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Reward When They’re Not Biting
Also called Differential Reinforcement, this method requires you to reward your dog when he does something that he can’t do while nipping you. Simply teaching your dog to sit will do the trick.
You have to be consistent when doing this. Do this anytime, anywhere, and any situation for them to know that they should always obey you. Do this until they can sit in really difficult and distracting situations.
Why You Shouldn’t Hurt Your Dog Back
It should go without saying that we shouldn’t verbally or physically punish our dogs. Still, here are some reasons why hurting them won’t solve the biting behavior:
- You can injure your dog.
- Positive punishment is never effective in training and can only cause fear and anxiety in dogs.
- You can damage your relationship with your dog.
- They can be aggressive towards you.
You should also never yell at your dog.
Stop the Problem Before It Worsens!
While it’s normal for puppies to bite as they explore their new surroundings, you shouldn’t let them get used to this behavior into their adulthood. Otherwise, they may injure you or others and may even develop aggressive behaviors.
Stop the problem before it worsens with consistent training, regular physical exercise, and mental stimulation. Be sure to stay consistent as the biting behavior may erupt when there’s been a period of prolonged inactivity or lack of training.
Lastly, remember that hurting your dog back is not only an ineffective way of training them but also an inhumane one!
For more tips on dog biting and other bad behaviors check out these free dog training videos now.