1. Burn off energy! Boredom often leads to nipping and mouthing. Train, play and put them away to rest. Training your dog is going to burn mental energy and exercise or play will burn physical energy. Put them in their kennel to rest afterwards and the nipping should significantly reduce. You can google puppy enrichment games/puzzles to give you a few ideas on how to burn off mental energy.
2. Redirecting onto a toy. Pick a toy and offer it to your dog instead of biting on you. Use the same toy each time and be consistent. They’ll soon learn that every time they nip, you give them this toy. Eventually, they’ll just pick the toy to begin with.
TIP: Don’t use this toy for anything else. Your dog will get bored of it if it’s often laying around, available.
3. Bitter spray. This can be found at your local pet store. Spray it on hands, clothing, mats, and anything else your pup wants to chew. The spray only lasts about 15-30 minutes, so you’ll have to reapply often.
4. Don’t rough play with your dog. Some dogs enjoy rough play, but if you’re rough playing with your dog and also trying to get them to not nip or mouth, it can be very confusing. Until they mature and can know the difference between when it’s playtime and when it’s not, keep rough play to a minimum or eliminate it altogether.
5. Scheduled rest periods. Overtired pupp
ies and dogs can often become irritated and annoyed, leading to nipping and mouthing. Puppies need around 18-20 hours of sleep per day, older dogs are around 12-14 hours per day. Just like babies, they need to be put into a separate, quiet environment to rest.
6. Manage the environment. Before letting your puppy explore the room, make sure anything you don’t want the puppy to chew on is out of reach.
7. Provide appropriate chews. If your puppy is in the mood to chew, allow it to chew on something you provide. Whether that’s a toy, a Kong, a bully stick, or a bone. Giving them appropriate outlets to chew will reduce them chewing on you.
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