Plain and Simple Ways to Train Your Dog Not to Bite

by Lee Dobbins

With pet ownership comes responsibility. Unfortunately, many dog owners are still irresponsible with training their pets properly. In fact, an annual barrage of law suits, medical bills, and instances of dog euthanasia result from dog bites each year — almost 5 million according to the Center for Disease Control. This often avoidable behavior can be taught to dogs from a young age, which is a good thing for both dogs and their owners.

There are common techniques that have been proven to be effective in suppressing biting behavior of dogs. However, the degree of difficulty of dog training varies with the breed of dog, age and individual temperament.

Like with any other training you should start training dogs not to bite while they are young. Puppies naturally nip and bite but this behavior should be discouraged by you from day 1. Owners that let their puppies bite because they think it is cute often end up with grown dogs who don’t understand why this behavior is suddenly not allowed.

Puppies as young as five weeks old can begin to respond to simple commands. For biting behavior, a gentle, firm “No!” and a slight squeeze of the muzzle can be a good place to start.

It is important not to squeeze the muzzle too hard or too high up. Doing so can cause the puppy to bite its tongue or damage the delicate odor receptors that are high up in the snout. A dog’s ability to smell is one of its most important assets!

Squeezing your dog’s muzzle isn’t intended to punish him, but to let him know that the behavior isn’t acceptable. By squeezing, you associate the verbal command with something the dog can readily understand: discomfort. Regardless of their age, dogs find having their muzzle squeezed uncomfortable.

Other than verbally discouraging your dog or using soft physical restraint to remind your dog, socializing your dog may help to train him or her. Socialization can and should begin at as early an age as possible, and your dog should be around other animals and people as much as possible. Socialized dogs are tranquil and confident dogs. Timid dogs that are unused to unfamiliar people or dogs are much more likely to bite.

Socialize young dogs with other non-aggressive dogs. This will help them to adjust to differences in smell, looks, temperament, etc. and, ultimately, prevent fearful and territorial behavior.

While it is natural for a dog to nip and bite, the know enough not to do this too hard to their littermates. They will nip each other while playing, but they learn early on not to press too hard. This natural instinct can be used in training dogs not to bite by teaching them to extend the scope of the pack to include family members, frequent visitors and other pets.

When your pet first meets an animal from another household, begin by restraining them both. Slowly, allow them to meet each other and sniff, or do whatever seems natural for them to get tot know each other.

You must be aware that some usual indicators of oncoming dog aggression are body tension, snarling, and erect ears. You can prevent possible aggression by ordering your dog to sit, back stroking, and or reaching out your hand to the other animal. If you have conveyed the smell of your pet to the other animal, let them interact naturally.

At the age of four and a half months, dogs normally learn to inhibit biting. But for some dogs, the learning process may take longer time. Dogs behavior and their ability to learn varies with the breed, age, and other factors. Training of dogs will be more easy if they are started young.

Some dogs are not fully trained to not to bite other people and animals. In this case, the owners need to take special care to insure the dog is never put in a situation where it can harm another person or animal.

While it may take some time and patience to train your dog not to bite, your efforts will eventually pay off with a more calm and playful pet which in the long run is much better than having to pay off a lawsuit!

About the Author: Training your dog to be the perfect pet all boils down to using the right dog training techniques - find out what those are at http://www.positivedogtrainingtechniques.com/.