How to Train Your Dog to Not Bite

Take a few minutes each day to reinforce the basic commands your dog learned at obedience class. A dog that knows sit, stay, come, down, leave it, and heel has a lot of knowledge that can be used to deter unwanted behavior.

Sign up for obedience classes where fun and learning are combined. Your dog will learn socialization skills that will serve him in any situation. His bond with you will be strengthened and he'll know that you are there to be respected and trusted.

Your furry companion can only benefit from structured classes and play. Join the next level of obedience and consider taking your dog to agility, flyball, or tracking classes. A dog with physical and mental stimulation will be too tired to think about biting.

It is important you don’t just show your pooch how not to react, but that you also hammer home how you do want him to behave. So when he plays gently, give him the odd treat and praise.

Biting will have become an ingrained behavior, so it is vital you are persistent with the above measures if you want to cut it out. As soon as you stop reacting to any signs of aggression it may seep back in. So keep up the behavior for a few weeks even after the biting seems to have stopped.

Many dogs bite because they have too much energy and because they don’t understand what they can and can’t bite. By playing tug of war for a few minutes each day, he will get the biting temptation out of him there.

If you are approaching a dog and you think your pooch will get aggressive, firmly pull him away and cross the road. By removing him from a situation that is likely to trigger biting, over time he will break the habit through lack of choice.

As soon as your dog starts to display aggressive behavior during playing, get the tug of war toy out. If you do this each time, he will start to associate biting only with the toy and game. When you are playing with the tug of war toy, be sure to keep it upbeat and playful, dogs respond best when they think they are playing a game.

If you scare him, next time he may bite out of fear. Dogs that are terrified are often unpredictable so it’s important you react calmly. Simply remove him from the situation and give him some time to calm down.

If your dog bites because he’s full of energy and excited, then tiring him out may help stem his desire to bite. If you can’t give him more walks, then play fetch during walks to keep him sprinting, and encourage him to swim in ponds you pass. Both will knacker him out and leave him napping in the afternoon rather than terrorizing everyone in the house.

When your dog does bite, it’s important you give him a quick verbal sign to tell him he’s behaved badly. Saying ‘NO’ or ‘STOP’ in a clear, firm voice will help reinforce this. You don’t want to terrify him, but he needs to know you’re not playing around.

If your dog is biting when you play, it’s important you play gently and don’t get him too excited. It is often a heightened state of excitement that triggers biting and dogs mirror their owner's behavior, so keep it relatively calm.

Throughout any training session, or even when your dog is playing and it leads to your dog getting rambunctious, keep your cool. If your dog becomes afraid of you, it may lead to fear biting.

When you are playing, reward him consistently for good behavior. While he’s playing gently and not trying to bite, reinforce the behavior with rewards. The combination of positive and negative reinforcement will quickly get the message across about what behavior is, and isn’t, acceptable.

Practice all of these steps every day for several weeks. Breaking a biting habit will take time, so you must be consistent with each measure, otherwise he may get confused and return to biting. After many weeks of no biting you can cut down the frequency of treats during play until they are no longer needed.