what age should a puppy stop biting?

by shannon

my husky

What age does a puppy stop biting because I have a 5 month old husky and it still bites.

So I was just wondering what age will it stop and how do I teach my puppy not to bite?



Hi Shannon
All puppies bite and nip to some extent, some breeds and some individuals are worse than others though.

It's important to discourage this habit while a pup is young, as it can escalate later on and an adult dog can cause injury with his big teeth.

Puppy biting is usually either an attention-seeking behavior, or an attempt to dominate. Puppies play with their siblings by biting, nipping and wrestling and they often continue this behavior with their human family.

It's important to let your pup know that you don't appreciate this. Say "NO OUCH!" in a loud, firm voice whenever he starts to bite at you. Then immediately withdraw your attention from him. Stop whatever interaction is going on (petting, playing etc.), fold your arms across your chest, avoid eye contact and ignore him for a few minutes. You can even walk away or leave the room if you need to.

Once he's settled down, resume whatever you were doing. It's important to be consistent and do this EVERY time he starts biting. He needs to associate losing your attention with his biting. Obviously it doesn't happen overnight and you will need to be patient and consistent. But within a couple of weeks you should start to see an improvement.

Biting usually peaks during the teething stage (between 3 and 7 months) and will naturally wind down somewhat once all your pups adult teeth are in. But, if you don't make an effort to show him that this is not allowed, he could continue it into adulthood.

If the above measures don't work, there are other things you can try. You can find out more and find other tips and advice on dealing with this problem on my Puppy Biting page.

Best of luck, hope this helps.