Puppy Biting: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

By week two, most new puppy owners have the same worry: this one is different, this one is actually aggressive.

They almost never are. Puppy biting is normal, it peaks somewhere between 10 and 16 weeks, and it fades — faster if you handle it well, slower if you do the things the internet suggests.

Why they do it

• Teething. Adult teeth arrive from about 12 weeks and it genuinely hurts. Chewing relieves it.
• Exploration. A puppy has no hands. The mouth is how they investigate everything.
• Overtiredness. This is the big one. A puppy that has been awake too long gets frantic and bitey, exactly like an overtired toddler.
• It works. Bite the sleeve, the sleeve moves and squeals. That is a brilliant game.

The tired test

Before you try to train anything, ask how long your puppy has been awake. If it is more than about an hour, they are not being naughty — they need a nap.

Put them somewhere quiet and dim and let them sleep. An enormous share of "biting problems" we see in Halifax are simply sleep-deprived puppies. Fix the sleep and half the biting disappears without any training at all.

What to do in the moment

1. Swap, do not scold. Have a chew or a tug toy within reach in every room. Teeth on skin → offer the toy → praise when they take it.
2. Go still and boring. If teeth land on skin, stop moving. Hands that flap and voices that squeal make the game better.
3. Leave, briefly. If it keeps going, stand up and step over a baby gate for 20 seconds. Come back calm. The lesson is "teeth end the fun", delivered without any telling off.
4. Feed the calm. Notice the moments your puppy settles and quietly drop a treat. Most people only give attention when the puppy is being awful.

Stop doing these

• Holding the mouth shut, or pinning them down. It teaches your puppy that hands coming towards their face is frightening. That is how you build a dog who bites the vet.
• Shouting. To a puppy, loud noise often reads as joining in.
• Tapping the nose. Same problem as above, plus it makes hands unpredictable.
• Waiting it out with no outlet. A puppy with nothing legal to chew will chew you.

When it is worth a phone call

Ring someone if the biting comes with a hard stare and a still body, if it happens specifically when you approach food or a toy, or if it is genuinely getting worse past about five months. Those are different problems with different answers — and all of them are easier at six months than at two years.