Playful mouthing and biting

One of the most common behavioral complaints owners have about their puppies, is that when the puppy engages in play with people, it bites to hard. Forthunately this does not reflect anything negative about the dog's temperament, but rather simply it encompasses a developmental stage the puppy is passing through. It will eventually subside. Note, that there will be individual differences between dogs. Dogs at times can be very selective in terms of who they direct their playful mouthing towards, for example, more commonly displayed towards children. In most cases, one can not correct the problem to eliminate it using corporal techniques, such as hitting the dog, or putting the dog or the so-called "alpha roll over", etc., but rather it must be managed properly through appropriatly redirecting the tendency.

Specifically, frequently intentionally redirect the puppy's playful mouthing towards an object such as such as a towel, knotted rope, or an old T-shirt. The redirection has to be done interactively, that is, you have to engage your puppy in social play, but terminate the session if your puppy becomes too aroused. If your puppy, then mouths and bites during your attempts at redirection, immediately terminate the playful session with the puppy, and place your puppy in timeout, or simply get up and walk away from the puppy, effectively disengaging the dog from social discourse. You must be consistent in regard to these latter steps.