It is a very stressful time when your new Puppy constantly bites at hands and feet, our usual reaction is to sharply pull the hands away which is a welcome gesture to the puppy as it’s a great game and he/she is winning. You may have been advised to yelp and scream to let the Puppy know It hurts and is not welcome, In my experience this just adds to the excitement.
When Puppy begins to bite the best course of action is to stand, remove eye contact and look away, fold your arms and ignore them keeping your feet stationary, admittedly this can be painful as pups teeth are like little needles, a good pair of boots over the ankles will repel any painful bites. This is a clear message to the dog in a language he understands “Body Language”, if ever you have observed dogs at play when one dog has had enough he will give faceoffs, remove eye contact and present the side of the body, dogs being expert at body language should read the signals and stop the behaviour. If the Puppy is receiving reinforcement from biting he will repeat because they are stimulated by the positive result to the behaviour so negative result wins the day. So stand stoic, fold arms, face off look at the ceiling, show the side of the body. By becoming the dog that’s had enough! we can give a clear message NO I DO NOT WANT THIS.
to deal with the biting a very good way is to take a collar hold, place the palm of your hand on top of the collar and take a grip, use the heel of your palm or the thumb to press against the puppies muzzle,wait for the puppies body to relax, now take a chewy object and place it into the puppies mouth, thus redirecting the interest. If this is unsuccessful then give the puppy a time out in a playpen or crate to calm down, if the pup repeats the behaviour when released then return them to the confines of the pen.
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