How to Train a Corgi Puppy to Not Bite
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Introduction
You love playing with your Corgi puppy. You let him nibble on your fingers as you scratch his ears. You encourage him to pounce on you hands during play time. Then one day, "ouch!" He bites down on your hand and this time, it hurts! Your puppy looks at you, confused, wondering why you stopped the fun game all of the sudden. As far as they know, this is what playtime should be like.
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Defining Tasks
Nibbling and mouthing are normal behaviors for all puppies, especially for a herding animal like Corgis. However, as your Corgi puppy's adult teeth begin to grow in, a nip stops being so cute. It is important to train your Corgi puppy not to bite at an early age to prevent issues as they grow. You can't expect your pup to understand overnight that he shouldn't bite. After all, biting things is the way puppies naturally understand their world and play fighting is the way they learn to become grown-up dogs. But, with consistent training, you can help your puppy distinguish between what they are and aren't allowed to bite.
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Getting Started
Set aside time each day to train your Corgi puppy not to bite. You can use training treats to reward the behaviors you like, but do not use physical punishment to reprimand the behaviors you don't. Punishing your puppy physically will only teach him to be more aggressive. Instead, invest in a variety of toys that your puppy can bite instead, such as tug toys. If biting is very bad, you can try putting a product like Bitter Apple or Vick's VapoRub on your hands during training sessions.
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The Yelping Method
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Start playing with your Corgi
Use a toy, not your hands, to encourage your puppy to start playing with you. Allow him to nibble on your fingers as you play.
React when the bite is uncomfortable
As soon as your Corgi puppy bites down on your hand to the point where it causes discomfort, yelp loudly. A high-pitched noise is good because it mimics the sounds your pup's brothers and sisters would make during play fighting.
Let your hand go limp
Don't try to pull your hand out of your puppy's mouth as this action will only encourage him to chase it down. Instead, let your hand go still or limp, so it is no longer fun to play with. Your puppy should let go when you yelp or once your hand is "boring."
Reward him for letting go
When your puppy lets go of your hand, or even better, licks you as an apology, give him a treat. With puppies, you always want to reward good behaviors rather than punish bad ones.
Start from the beginning
It will take several training sessions for your Corgi to realize what you are trying to teach him. Repeat this process three or four times during a session. Practicing every day will help your puppy understand that biting is not okay.
The Time Out Method
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Play with your pup
Start a game with your puppy using a toy and let him nibble or bite your fingers. Don't react until your puppy bites too hard.
Yelp and walk away
When your Corgi puppy gets too excited and really bites down on your hand, say "ouch" or yelp and then walk away. If your puppy follows you and tries to keep biting your ankles, leave him alone in a puppy-proofed room.
Put your puppy in time out
Don't start playing with your puppy again for at least 20 to 30 seconds. You want to teach him that biting ends the fun. His desire to keep playing will drive him to learn the rules to the game.
Calmly return to the game and repeat
Without making a big fuss, start what you were doing again. Encourage your Corgi puppy to return to the game. When your puppy bites too hard, repeat the time-out process again.
Add rules as needed
Once your puppy gets the hang of being gentle during play time, you can keep using this technique to stop him from even nibbling on you. Yelping and putting your puppy in time out any time his teeth touch your skin can encourage him to only bite his toys rather than you.
The Replacement Method
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Choose a toy you know your puppy loves
Start carrying around your puppy's favorite toy, or if not possible, have a sense of where it is in the house most of the time. For this method, you will need to be able to quickly offer an alternative to your pup's biting habits.
Give your puppy something to bite
Some Corgis are more likely to nip at your heels than your fingers. Figure out what actions encourage your puppy to nip or bite and then create a controlled situation using those actions.
Freeze!
As soon as your puppy starts to nip at your hands or feet, stop moving. In general, puppies grab at things that look like something worth chasing. This can be a pant leg or your fingers. By stopping the movement, the allure of whatever your puppy is chasing wears off.
Offer an enticing replacement
Wave your puppy's favorite toy to encourage him to let go of whatever part of you he is biting. If you don't have the toy on you, just stay still until your puppy lets go on his own.
Reward him for good behavior
If you were carrying the toy, let your puppy have it. If you weren't, go get it quickly and give it to him. You may also want to give him a treat when he lets go of you quickly. However, be careful with your rewards. Dogs, and puppies especially, don't have long memories. The reward should come as close to the action you want to encourage as possible so your Corgi puppy understands what behavior you want to see more of.
Written by Christina Gunning
Veterinary reviewed by:
Published: 03/12/2018, edited: 01/08/2021
More articles by Christina Gunning
Training Questions and Answers
Lucy
Pembroke Corgi
Ten Weeks
Question
0 found this helpful
0 found this helpful
does not let us know when she has to go out to potty. She will potty when we take her out but not let us know. At night she sleeps in her pen and will hold it and go potty in the morning when we let her out but during the day we have to take her out. She will potty inside if we don't take her out frequently.
Jan. 15, 2023
Lucy's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1133 Dog owners recommended
Hello, First, know that from what you have described she is actually going incredible well. She is about a month and a half ahead of many puppies her age. Second, its important to realize that its normal for a puppy not to let you know when they go outside until they have been accident free for about four months. To become accident free, you will need to maintain that strict potty schedule. The initial goal with potty training is for pup to learn to hold their bladder for up to two hours until the scheduled potty trip. At night puppies will often go twice that long. If she is holding it overnight, that's actually exceptional at this age. Generally, puppies have a natural desire to keep a confined space clean. By confining her when you can't supervise, taking her out frequently during the day, and effectively helping her prevent accidents inside, you encourage that natural desire to keep a space clean, and help her consider your home as somewhere that's supposed to stay clean. Once she has been keeping it clean for long enough for that to turn into a long term habit -about 2-4 months, then most puppies will desire to keep it clean enough on their own that they will look for a way to ask you to go outside. Many run to the door, go find you, bark at you, paw at you, or run back and forth to alert. If a puppy doesn't eventually find their own way to ask, you can teach them to ring a bell placed by the door, but even bell training won't be effective until they get to the point where they have built that cleanliness habit overtime and are self-motivated to want to go outside to potty. Give it time. You are on the right track and actually doing really well at this stage. Commit to a strict potty schedule for a while to keep things progressing so you can reach the alerting phase as soon as possible. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
Jan. 16, 2023
Hobbes
Corgi
4 Months
Question
0 found this helpful
0 found this helpful
My corgi puppy wont stop biting. I've tried all the methods and nothing seems to be helping.
May 6, 2022
Hobbes's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1133 Dog owners recommended
Hello Kellie, I would work on the Leave It method from the article I have linked below, as well as Out. Once pup has learned what Out means, then also practice the section on How to Use Out to Deal with Pushiness. Out - which means leave the area: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-the-out-command/ Leave It method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite If pup isn't already crate trained, I would crate train and teach Place as well, then give pup breaks in either of those locations with a dog food stuffed chew toy to keep them entertained, when they are having an especially hard time stopping the biting. Some puppies get worse when tired and need a "nap" time to help them calm back down. Place command: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Crate Introduction - the Surprise method: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
May 9, 2022