Play Biting, Nipping and Chewing
There is a youthful playfulness to the biting and mouthing of your hands and clothes by your puppy. It is common among puppies, but it also occurs in older dogs that haven't learned proper bite inhibition. It's normal for dogs to mouth and nip; they explore their world using their mouths . To a dog, his mouth is as important as eyes and hands are to us. Nipping is different from true aggression: it's a form of communication, interaction, exploration, and play. From birth, pups use their mouths to explore the den, their mother, and their litter-mates. From a few weeks old, they use their mouths to play with their brothers and sisters: puppies play by biting and mouthing each other. Some adult dogs - usually, those with owners who encourage rough play, or who were removed from the litter at too early an age - retain these same tendencies to nip during play and in moments of emotional stress.
Sibling play is actually how young pups learn a very important lesson, called bite inhibition. If a puppy bites another puppy too hard, the other pup yelps loudly in pain and stops playing with him. This teaches the biter that such a degree of bite force results in an undesirable outcome: social isolation. When other puppies bite him, that's how he learns what that pain feels like. (This is one of the reasons that puppies removed from the litter too early are often 'maladjusted' - they've missed out on some of the important lessons their mother and littermates have to teach).
Pups that have learned basic bite inhibition from their siblings usually need to be reconditioned again upon entering their new home: humans are much more easily damaged than dogs, so it's necessary for us to intervene and refine the puppy's bite pressure even further. A dog without any concept of bite inhibition is both annoying and dangerous to have around: a harmless play session can rapidly turn into painful ordeal. Puppies can't usually inflict serious damage - although their little teeth are razor sharp, their jaws are too weak to do much more than elicit a trickle of blood - but an adult dog can do a great deal more than just scratch the surface, and it makes very little difference when you are bleeding that the dog "didn't mean to do it"!
You want to nip this nipping in the bud. The best time to start training your puppy not to bite is NOW... get started today.
