How to Stop Puppy Biting, Nipping & Mouthing
Your puppy is biting you because puppies use their mouths. That does not mean your hands, ankles, pants, children and furniture need to remain fair game until he magically grows out of it.
Puppy biting, nipping and mouthing are incredibly common. Puppies explore with their mouths, play with their mouths, chew while teething and become considerably mouthier when they are overexcited, frustrated or flat-out tired.
So yes, some biting comes with having a puppy.
But “normal” does not mean “do nothing.”
What your puppy practices today becomes part of the dog you live with tomorrow, which means puppyhood is exactly when I want to start teaching what teeth are allowed to touch, what makes play continue and what immediately ends the fun.
Puppies play — and play is practice. Every game is teaching something. If biting hands, chasing ankles and grabbing clothes makes humans squeal, run, wrestle and become more exciting, don't be surprised when your puppy wants to play that game again tomorrow.
Puppy Biting Is Normal. Being Your Puppy's Chew Toy Is Optional.
I don't panic because a twelve-week-old puppy puts teeth on somebody. I also don't shrug my shoulders and say, “He's a puppy,” while allowing him to spend the next six months practicing increasingly intense biting.
The puppy needs information.
There are things he may put his mouth on: appropriate toys, chews, tug toys and other things you intentionally provide.
There are things he may not put his mouth on: your hands, your ankles, your clothes, the kids, Grandma, the leash and whatever else happens to move past his face.
Our job is to make that distinction clear without turning every biting episode into another exciting wrestling match.
Why Is My Puppy Biting So Much?
There isn't one answer, and understanding what is happening in the moment will help you respond more intelligently.
- Play: puppies naturally use their mouths when interacting.
- Exploration: mouths are one of the ways puppies investigate objects and environments.
- Teething and chewing: puppies have a very real need to chew and need appropriate outlets for it.
- Attention: if biting makes humans immediately interact, the behavior can become an excellent attention-getter.
- Movement: feet, pant legs, robe belts and children running through the house can become extremely interesting moving targets.
- Over-arousal: excited puppies often lose precision and impulse control as play becomes more intense.
- Fatigue: an exhausted puppy can look remarkably like a puppy who needs more exercise when what he actually needs is to shut it down and sleep.
- Frustration: puppies may grab, mouth or bite when they aren't getting access to something they want or don't yet know how to regulate themselves.
Those reasons can overlap. A tired puppy can become over-aroused, start chasing a child, grab a pant leg and discover that the entire family becomes very interesting when puppy teeth appear.
Now we have a party.
Just not a particularly good one.
Stop Playing With Your Puppy With Your Hands
This is where I start because humans are often accidentally helping create the problem.
Don't wrestle with your puppy using bare hands and then become offended when he believes hands are part of the wrestling equipment. Don't wiggle your fingers in his face, push him away repeatedly while he's grabbing at you, shove your hands into his mouth during play and then decide the game is suddenly inappropriate because he bit harder than you expected.
Use a toy.
A tug toy gives the puppy something appropriate to grab while still allowing you to play together. A longer toy can also keep your hands farther away from those ridiculous little needles while the puppy is learning where his mouth belongs.
This does not mean we never touch our puppies. Of course we do. I want puppies comfortable with handling, grooming, feet, ears, mouths, collars and normal human contact.
But handling and hand-wrestling are not the same thing.
Here's the Basic Rule
Teeth on an appropriate toy make play continue. Teeth repeatedly on a human make play stop.
That is the lesson I want the puppy solving.
Not, “Humans become louder when I bite them.”
Not, “If I bite harder, they push me harder and the wrestling gets better.”
Not, “If I chase Mom's ankles long enough, she runs across the kitchen and I win.”
The puppy needs a predictable outcome.
How to Stop Puppy Biting During Play
Step 1: Have an Appropriate Toy Ready
Do not wait until your puppy is attached to your forearm before beginning a frantic search for something he's allowed to bite.
Keep toys where puppy activity happens. If you know your puppy gets wild in the living room every evening, have a tug toy there. If ankles become interesting while you're cooking, have something appropriate within reach before the puppy starts hunting your feet.
Good management makes good training much easier.
Step 2: If Teeth Hit Skin or Clothes, Mark It and Stop
If the puppy puts his teeth on you, give a simple verbal marker such as “No” or “Ah-ah.”
I don't need screaming, shrieking or a twenty-second lecture about why biting hurts Mommy.
Stop the movement and stop making the game exciting.
For some puppies, a dramatic squeal only makes the human sound more like a fantastic squeaky toy, so pay attention to the puppy in front of you. If your big “OUCH!” makes your puppy bounce back in even harder, stop doing that.
Step 3: Redirect the Mouth to the Right Thing
Once the puppy has released you, offer the appropriate toy and restart the interaction there.
If he grabs the tug instead of your wrist, great. Play with him.
Make the correct choice fun.
This is an important piece that gets missed when people simply spend all day telling a puppy “No.” The puppy needs to know what yes looks like too.
Step 4: If He Immediately Comes Back to Bite You, the Game Ends
This is where I stop redirecting endlessly.
You offered the toy. The puppy abandoned it and immediately came back for your arm, pants or hands.
Play ends.
Stand up. Remove your hands. Calmly step away or use your supervised indoor leash to prevent the puppy from continuing to chase and grab you.
There is no anger required.
The consequence simply makes sense: you couldn't play without putting your teeth on me, so the game is over.
Step 5: If the Puppy Is Completely Wild, Stop Trying to Play Through It
If you are redirecting, stopping, restarting and getting bitten again every fifteen seconds, take a look at the entire puppy.
Is he racing around the room? Grabbing clothes? Jumping? Barking? Biting harder? Unable to stay with a toy? Getting increasingly frantic instead of settling into appropriate play?
You may not have a toy-selection problem anymore.
You may have an exhausted, overstimulated little animal who needs a potty trip, something calm and then a nap.
More activity is not always the answer to wild puppy behavior.
The Puppy “Witching Hour” Is Real Life
A lot of puppy parents tell me their puppy is lovely most of the day and becomes possessed sometime in the evening.
Suddenly the puppy is racing through the house, biting feet, grabbing clothes, jumping on the furniture, barking, attacking the leash and appearing to have forgotten every useful thing he learned that morning.
Before deciding your puppy needs another mile-long walk, another thirty minutes of fetch or some elaborate scheme to “wear him out,” look at how much stimulation he has already had and how much rest he has actually gotten.
Puppies need a tremendous amount of downtime. They do not always volunteer for it.
Sometimes the best answer to increasingly frantic mouthiness is:
- a potty trip;
- a calm transition instead of another wrestling session;
- an appropriate chew or quiet enrichment activity;
- the crate or another familiar resting area; and
- sleep.
Do not make the crate an angry punishment because the puppy annoyed you. I want the puppy comfortable resting there. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with recognizing that a tired puppy needs help turning himself off.
Struggling With the Crate Too?
Use an Indoor Leash Before You're Chasing the Puppy
I use supervised indoor leashes with puppies for exactly this kind of nonsense.
If your puppy repeatedly attacks ankles, chases children, grabs clothes or becomes difficult to interrupt once he is excited, a lightweight leash gives you a way to calmly stop movement and regain control without reaching into the puppy's mouth or chasing him around furniture.
The leash can drag while you actively supervise, or you can tether the puppy to you during appropriate periods so you know where he is and can interrupt behavior before it becomes a full production.
This is particularly helpful because movement often feeds puppy biting. If the puppy grabs your pant leg and you begin hopping around trying to escape, you may have just made yourself considerably more interesting.
What About the Puppy Who Attacks Your Ankles?
Feet, Pants and Moving Humans
This is incredibly common because humans spend a lot of time walking around with interesting things attached to the bottoms of their bodies.
Pant legs move. Robes move. Shoelaces move. Bare feet move. And when puppy teeth make contact, the human often starts moving even faster.
If your puppy targets ankles, don't turn yourself into fleeing prey.
Stop moving. Use your verbal marker. Get control of the supervised leash if necessary and redirect the puppy to an appropriate toy or activity.
If he comes right back for the ankles, the interaction ends. He does not get another five minutes of chasing feet around the kitchen because you are hoping he becomes bored eventually.
Make the wrong game stop working.
Children and Puppy Biting Need Their Own Rules
This was an important point in the original article, and I am keeping it because children and puppies can wind each other up remarkably quickly.
Children run.
They squeal.
They wave their arms.
They fall down.
Then the puppy chases, grabs clothing or nips at legs. The child becomes louder and moves faster, which makes the puppy even more excited.
Everybody may genuinely believe they are playing until puppy teeth land somewhere that hurts.
I don't want “mindless play” becoming the primary relationship between children and puppies.
Do Not Expect a Child to Train an Over-Aroused Puppy
If the puppy is chasing, grabbing, nipping or knocking the child down, an adult needs to step in.
The solution is not repeatedly telling the child to “stand still” while the puppy continues biting them. Separate them, get control of the puppy and reset the situation.
Children should not be used as training equipment while the puppy learns not to put teeth on people.
Give Kids Better Games to Play
I want children and puppies having fun together. I just want the fun to teach something useful instead of creating a puppy who believes screaming children are chew toys.
Depending on the child's age and the individual puppy, supervised games can include:
- hide-and-seek with a recall when the puppy finds the child;
- simple scent searches for hidden food or toys;
- supervised tug with clear start and stop rules;
- short Sit, Touch, Watch Me or trick-training games;
- Red Light / Green Light to practice turning excitement on and off;
- rolling or tossing a toy instead of running while the puppy chases their legs; and
- helping prepare safe enrichment activities.
Now the puppy and child are still interacting, but the interaction has a little structure around it.
Teach the Puppy How to Turn Play Off
This is one of the most useful things you can build during puppyhood.
I don't only want a puppy who knows how to get excited. Puppies are spectacular at that all by themselves.
I want a puppy who can play and then hear that the game is over.
Use a clear start and stop to interactive games. For tug, that may eventually include a cue to take the toy, an Out or Drop cue, a short pause and then permission to begin again.
You can also interrupt exciting play with something simple the puppy already knows:
- Sit;
- Watch Me;
- Touch;
- Down; or
- a brief calm pause.
Then restart the game.
Now the puppy begins learning something much more valuable than “don't bite”: you can be excited and still listen.
Your Puppy Needs Things He Is Allowed to Chew
If you remove every inappropriate chewing and biting opportunity without giving your puppy appropriate outlets, you are making this unnecessarily difficult.
Have a rotation of puppy-appropriate toys and chews that fit the puppy's size, chewing style and level of supervision. Some puppies want something they can gnaw quietly. Others need interactive tug or a toy that moves. Teething puppies may particularly appreciate appropriate textures to chew.
Use common sense with anything your puppy can break apart or swallow. No toy is automatically safe for every dog simply because the package has a picture of a puppy on it.
And don't leave your best options lying on the floor twenty-four hours a day until they become wallpaper. Rotation can help keep toys more interesting.
Don't Confuse Redirection With Negotiation
This is where puppy parents can accidentally spend their entire evening offering increasingly interesting objects while the puppy continues attacking them.
Puppy bites your hand.
You offer toy number one.
He ignores it and bites your pants.
You offer toy number two.
He grabs your sleeve.
You produce a chew, a squeaky toy, a tug and possibly the deed to your house.
At some point, stop negotiating.
You gave the puppy the correct answer. If he is too wound up to take it and repeatedly chooses human flesh and clothing instead, end the interaction and help him calm down.
Should I Hold My Puppy's Mouth Closed?
No. That is not my teaching plan.
I also don't need to pin puppies down, alpha roll them, hit their muzzle or turn normal puppy mouthing into a physical confrontation.
You can absolutely remove a puppy from your body if he is hurting you. Nobody is required to stand perfectly still while puppy teeth puncture their hand in the name of positive training.
But once you are safe, return to clear teaching rather than escalating the physical fight.
Stop the interaction. Use the leash when needed. Redirect appropriately. End play when the puppy cannot keep his teeth off humans.
That is something the puppy can actually understand.
Jumping and Biting Often Travel Together
Some puppies don't politely stand on the floor and nibble your hand. They launch upward, grab sleeves, mouth hands and generally turn themselves into airborne piranhas.
Now we are working on both arousal and access to people.
Use the leash before the puppy reaches full launch mode. Reward four feet on the floor. Ask for Sit when appropriate. If jumping and biting make the interaction continue, both behaviors are being rewarded by the same thing: access to the human.
Calm behavior keeps people available.
Teeth and flying puppy feet make people temporarily unavailable.
Socialization Does Not Mean Letting Everyone Wind Up Your Puppy
This matters because puppy owners are often trying so hard to socialize correctly that they allow every person they meet to turn the puppy into a tiny lunatic.
Someone crouches down, squeals, slaps their hands against their legs and calls the puppy repeatedly. Puppy launches onto them and starts mouthing. Everybody laughs because he's cute.
That was a social experience.
It was not necessarily a useful one.
I want puppies learning that people can be exciting sometimes, but they can also greet calmly, observe, move through the world without interacting and remain capable of listening while other people are present.
What About an Adult Dog Correcting the Puppy?
A stable adult dog may appropriately communicate that a puppy has crossed a social boundary. That does not mean I dump all responsibility for raising the puppy onto another dog.
Some adult dogs are remarkably patient. Some aren't. Some puppies listen beautifully to a warning and others come bouncing right back for more until the adult dog's patience is gone.
Supervise.
If the adult dog is repeatedly trying to get away from the puppy, give them space. If the puppy is relentlessly biting ears, tails and faces while the adult dog keeps asking for the interaction to stop, step in before the adult has to escalate the message.
Your older dog should not have to spend puppyhood working as unpaid daycare staff.
When Puppy Biting Is Not Just Puppy Nipping
This distinction matters.
A playful puppy grabbing a sleeve while wiggling around in an overexcited state is not the same behavioral picture as a puppy becoming stiff over a food bowl and biting a hand that approaches.
A puppy who gets mouthy during evening zoomies is different from a puppy who freezes when touched, growls, hard-stares and bites during handling.
I pay attention when biting is associated with:
- stiffness or freezing before the bite;
- resource guarding around food, chews or objects;
- fearful behavior and biting when cornered or approached;
- handling sensitivity that consistently triggers growling, snapping or biting;
- repeated hard bites that seem disconnected from normal play;
- a puppy who cannot safely interact with children;
- significant injury; or
- behavior that is becoming more intense rather than improving with clear, consistent teaching.
Do Not Dismiss Concerning Biting Because “He's Only a Puppy”
If you are seeing fear, guarding, repeated hard biting, serious handling aggression or a puppy whose behavior already makes you concerned about somebody getting hurt, deal with it now.
Puppyhood is not a reason to panic, but it is also not a reason to ignore information the dog is giving you.
A Puppy Bite Can Still Hurt
Calling puppy mouthing developmentally normal does not mean the injuries don't matter.
Puppy teeth are sharp. Children and older adults have more vulnerable skin. A puppy grabbing a face is not cute because the puppy happens to weigh twelve pounds.
Use management while the skill is being learned.
If the puppy cannot safely interact with a child without repeatedly biting, they need separation and structured interaction for now. If the puppy repeatedly jumps toward faces, keep enough physical control that faces aren't available.
Training takes repetitions. Safety applies during all of those repetitions.
Consistency Changes Puppy Biting Faster Than Constant Corrections
The puppy doesn't need a different consequence every time he uses his teeth.
He needs a predictable rule.
If Mom redirects biting to a toy, Dad wrestles with the puppy using his hands, one child runs screaming when nipped and another family member lets the puppy chew on their fingers because “it doesn't hurt me,” the puppy has no reason to conclude that human body parts are off limits.
Make the household rule clear:
- We don't invite the puppy to bite hands.
- We provide appropriate toys and chewing outlets.
- Teeth on humans interrupt the interaction.
- The puppy gets another chance with the appropriate toy.
- Repeated biting ends the game.
- Wild, frantic mouthiness means we look at arousal and fatigue instead of simply escalating play.
- Children and puppies are actively supervised.
You will still have mistakes. He's a puppy.
What matters is that the answer becomes predictable enough that he can learn from those mistakes.
What Progress Looks Like
Progress does not necessarily mean the puppy wakes up Tuesday morning and never touches skin again.
At first, you may redirect him twenty times a day. Then he starts reaching for the tug you've been using instead of your sleeve. He still gets mouthy in the evening, but the episodes are shorter. He lets go faster when you stop the game. He begins carrying toys toward you when he wants to play.
You start noticing that his mouth is softer and his choices are better even though he is still very much a puppy.
That's progress.
And as his impulse control, sleep patterns, communication and understanding improve, the land-shark phase becomes considerably easier to live through.
Your goal is not to convince a puppy never to use his mouth. Your goal is to teach him where that mouth belongs. Give him appropriate things to bite and chew, make human skin and clothing consistently unproductive, end play when he cannot control himself, and recognize when the puppy needs rest more than another round of excitement.
Want the Bigger Puppy Picture?
Puppy biting rarely exists all by itself. You're also working on house training, crate training, socialization, jumping, leash skills, chewing, feeding, sleep, boundaries and about fifteen other things while wondering why nobody warned you how much work something this cute could create.
That's exactly why I built the New Puppy Guide.
New Puppy Guide With Training in Mind
The guide brings the puppy foundations together in one place, including developmental stages, socialization, supervision, tethering, bite prevention, common puppy nonsense, basic skills, enrichment, nutrition, wellness and household safety.
More Puppy Skills to Build
Socialize Your Puppy Thoughtfully →
A Special Note for Seniors, Fragile Skin & People Taking Blood Thinners
I understand why puppies are appealing at every age. Dogs offer companionship, routine, purpose, laughter and an enormous amount of joy, and there is something especially hard to resist about bringing home a puppy.
But I also want to say something that may not be as fun to hear: a puppy is not automatically the right dog for every person simply because you love dogs and want the companionship.
Puppies bite. They scratch. They jump. They grab clothing. They dart under feet. They pull on leashes. They have very little impulse control when they first come home, and even a perfectly normal, sweet puppy can unintentionally hurt someone during that stage.
This deserves extra consideration if you are an older adult, bruise or tear easily, have thin or fragile skin, have balance or mobility concerns, take anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication, or have another reason that a small puncture, scratch or fall could become a much bigger problem for you.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with deciding that you want a dog but do not want the physical chaos of puppyhood. An adult or senior dog with a known temperament may give you all of the companionship you are looking for without asking you to survive the land-shark phase first.
If you have considered all of that and you're still saying, “Dana, I want the puppy,” then protect yourself while you train.
- Wear long sleeves during the mouthiest part of puppyhood if exposed arms are getting scratched or punctured.
- Consider protective gloves when you know you will be handling an especially mouthy puppy, particularly during the early teaching phase.
- Avoid loose sleeves, dangling clothing or gloves that turn into even more exciting things for the puppy to grab.
- Use the supervised indoor leash so you can control the puppy without repeatedly reaching into the mouth or grabbing at a wildly excited puppy.
- Keep appropriate toys within reach so you can redirect before hands and clothing become the target.
- Use gates, pens, crates and planned downtime instead of trying to physically manage the puppy every minute of the day.
- Wear stable footwear and pay attention to the puppy around your feet. A puppy darting between your legs can create a fall risk long before biting is the biggest concern.
- Do not allow repeated scratches and bites to become the cost of “waiting for him to grow out of it.” Train the behavior now.
Protective clothing is not the training plan. It is simply another layer of protection while the puppy is learning.
If a bite or scratch breaks your skin, take it seriously. Clean the wound appropriately, and if you take blood-thinning medication, have difficulty stopping the bleeding, develop significant bruising, or have concerns about the wound, contact your healthcare provider.
You can love puppies and still acknowledge that puppyhood is physically demanding. Choose the dog that fits your life now — and if that dog is a puppy, protect yourself while you teach him how to live safely with you.
And while you're preparing for puppyhood, you may want some Helichrysum essential oil in your first-aid collection too. If you know Helichrysum, you probably know exactly why I'm mentioning it in a section about puppy teeth, fragile skin and bruising. It is one of my favorite oils to have nearby for skin support when life's little bumps, scrapes and bruises happen.
That doesn't replace proper wound care — especially if you take blood thinners or a bite breaks the skin — but puppy parents with easily bruised skin may understand very quickly why I keep Helichrysum around.
When It Feels Like More Than Normal Puppy Nonsense
If your puppy is guarding, biting from fear, becoming difficult to handle safely, repeatedly injuring someone or showing behavior that simply does not look like loose, overexcited puppy play, don't wait six months hoping maturity fixes it.
Look at the behavior now and decide what the puppy actually needs.