Last Updated on February 14, 2022 by Marco C.
Pups of all breeds love to bite and nip when teething. Labs are particularly notorious, however, so here’s how to get a lab puppy to stop biting – 4 crucial points. We’ll go over how to deal with lab puppy bites, why are puppies so bitey in the first place, and what are the big No-Nos of raising puppies with a biting habit.
How To Get A Lab Puppy To Stop Biting?
Biting is one of the few big things that dissuades a lot of would-be dog owners from getting such a pet. It’s also a big reason why there are so many dogs in shelters – people get scared when their teething puppy starts biting, they can’t figure out how to deal with it, and they just throw the pooch out for fear of their kids.
We don’t mean to shame anyone here – worrying about your kids’ safety is every parent’s main job. However, there are actually some pretty easy ways how to get a lab puppy to stop biting. Follow the 4 steps below and you’ll teach your puppy to behave pretty easily.
First, Understand Why Puppies Bite
There are several main reasons why a puppy would bite. Understanding those is key to figuring out when the biting is a problem and when it’s just a mild inconvenience to deal with. Here are the 8 main ones of which only the last one is truly problematic:
- Exploration
- Communication
- Instinct
- Attention seeking
- Teething
- Boredom
- Over excitement
- Potential aggression
With each of the first seven causes, you can deal with them pretty easily with the method we’ve mentioned below. If your dog has aggressive tendencies, however, you may have an issue. In that case, you’ll need to first go back to obedience training.
Learn The Triggers To Know How To Get A Lab Puppy To Stop Biting
Next, figure out what are the triggers of your dog’s biting habits. The more common ones are – hands, feet, and kids. Some dogs go wild when they see you moving your hands around, especially if you’re doing something loud with them. Others are enthusiastic ankle-biters. And then there are those who love to run with kids and play with them as they would with a fellow puppy – by biting.
Identifying the trigger is a major part of prevention. It allows you to get rid of the biting habit easily by removing its cause. It also allows you to be ready to take action as soon as it happens. The way to do that is by having a toy or another distraction at standby whenever your dog’s trigger is about to happen.
Learn more about: The Best Toy For Lab Puppy – Here Are 31 Amazing Ideas
Bite Inhibition – The Secret Of Learning How To Get A Lab Puppy To Stop Biting
Bite inhibition is the simple three-step process of deterring a pup from biting. Here’s what it includes:
- Give your dog a firm and loud (but not yelling) verbal signal that you don’t like the biting.
- Rid the dog of your presence or the presence of the trigger – leave the room if possible or just get out of the dog’s reach and stop interacting.
- After a brief pause, give your dog an alternative to play with.
Explore Other Tips and Tricks For How To Get A Lab Puppy To Stop Biting
Of course, there are also other tricks you can use. These include:
- Train licking instead of biting
- Use a time-out room or crate
- Get dog taste deterrents
- Teach the “Leave It!” command
- Reward positive behavior, i.e. anything but biting
In Conclusion – How To Get A Lab Puppy To Stop Biting?
As you can see, figuring out how to get a lab puppy to stop biting isn’t all that complicated. All you need is a little persistence and a firm attitude. First, make sure your dog understands that you don’t like being bitten via a simple verbal signal such as a loud “No!”.
Next, deprive the dog of your attention or even presence for a few minutes (not more). Lastly, give your dog enough other toys and distractions to give the pup outlets for its energy and enthusiasm.
That’s pretty much all there is about it. Puppies can be stubborn at first, especially when they are still teething. However, if you’re consistent and persistent enough, your lab should not learn to bite pretty quickly.
FAQs
How to train a lab puppy not to bite?
The simple principle behind no-bite training is to make biting boring and uninteresting for the pup. This includes several steps:
First, inform the pup that biting is undesirable – a simple firm “No!” or even just an “Ouch!” accomplishes this easily. There’s no need to yell at the dog, raise your voice just enough to get the pup’s attention.
Next, deprive the dog of what it was biting on – your hand, leg, clothes, etc. You can do that by tethering your dog’s leash somewhere and walking away, by just leaving for another room and closing the door behind you, or by utilizing the “be a tree” method.
Thirdly, distract the dog with something else to play with. That’s why there should always be enough new dog toys around to get your dog’s attention. Just make sure that the dog doesn’t start biting to get you to play with a dog toy. If you notice that causal relationship, don’t offer a toy immediately and give your dog a short time-out first.
And that’s about it. There’s no need to punish your dog in any way – just emphasize how undesirable biting is, make it a boring thing for the dog to do, and offer alternatives.
When do lab puppies stop biting?
Most of a pup’s biting comes from their teething. When that stops, your dog should have significantly less inclination to bite, nip, and chew on everything it sees. This typically happens around the 3 to 5 month period of a dog’s age.
However, do keep in mind that a poorly trained dog may continue biting after that too if the activity has become a habit. That’s why it’s important to teach your pup not to bite at all. Or, rather – to only bite its chew toys. So, if your pup continues to constantly bite everything that moves even after its 5th or 6th month, it’s (well past) time to take some measures. Especially if your dog is of a hunting or sporting breed such as a Labrador Retriever, you’d do well to focus on no-bite training as soon as possible.
