How to decrease the likelihood of your new puppy biting when it reaches adulthood.

How to decrease the likelihood of your new puppy biting when its reaches adulthood.
Rosie Barclay MPhil CCAB.
1: Research all you can about dog breeds and dog behaviour/training and decide what sort of breed type is suitable for your home environment. Take your time and be prepared to wait for the right match.
2: Buy your new puppy from a reputable registered breeder who brings up the puppies within a home environment and who doesn’t breed for profit. Puppies’ needs a home environment so they become used to everyday items such as washing machines, children and vacuum cleaners.
3: NEVER buy a dog unseen as it may be from a puppy farm.
NEVER buy from a pet shop, as your puppy will not have received crucial early socialising experience and may have come from a puppy farm. Early socialisation to lots of new situations, people and objects is very important in how it may respond to new things later on in life.
NEVER buy a puppy where you can’t go and visit to check out the claims made by the breeder.
BEWARE of cute pictures and cheap prices on local advertising sites as these are often scams or puppy farmed dogs.
4: Once you have found a suitable breeder visit your new puppy as soon as you can so you can meet its mum and dad and check out how friendly and healthy they are. Look around you are you happy to be there?
4: Visit often, so your new puppy gets to know you and your family so you all begin to form a firm relationship. This way you can leave your puppy a bit longer with its mum so she can help teach it not to bite. Around 9-10 weeks seem the general rule of thumb at present.
5: Introduce your new puppy to everyone as soon as you can even if you have to carry it out to greet the postman. Biting and grabbing at posted letters is a very common problem and postmen often get bitten. Don’t wait to solve the problem start training now. When letters appear so do treats and games and the letters will get ignored.
6: Enrol onto a good registered and recommended puppy class. Go along first to check out that they are using modern training methods and if you spot a choke chain or any methods that punish your puppy do not go back. On the hand make sure it’s not just a free for all session where the puppies are just running madly about. Think of it as a school environment, short lessons with a few play breaks.
7: Allow your puppy to meet other dogs of different ages when out walking. Allow them to interact for a short while but keep moving calling your puppy to you in a fun voice and rewarding when they come running.
8: When playing games with your puppy do not allow mouthing. if puppy mouths just say “no” firmly whilst removing your hand and walk away. Come straight back in and resume play but only if the mouthing stops. If puppy mouths again keep repeating this action, however, allow it to have other toys around so it can still have some fun. You do not want your puppy becoming frustrated and learning that if it grabs harder you cannot get away.
9: Play fun training games that require some self-control, for instance sit and wait before being told to chase and play hide and seek. Do not run madly after your puppy if they have a toy and do not allow your puppy to play biting games. Play fun training games in lots of different environments not just in the home or garden.
10: Don’t just take puppy to your vet when it needs something done. Pop in, have a chat, give a treat, allow the vet nurse to have a look at ears and nails, give another treat and go home.
11: When training to sit and to wait take a quick look at nails, pick up the tail and poke around the paws. Then reward.
12: Allow your puppy to sleep undisturbed and keep on eye on the children. Never leave young children alone with dogs you just never know what they get up to.
13: If after all this your puppy starts to bite and show unnecessary aggressive behaviour ask your vet to refer you to a qualified clinical companion animal behaviourist.
http://www.apbc.org.uk/
http://asab.nottingham.ac.uk/accred/reg.php