Last Updated on January 12, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
I learned how to stop puppy biting the hard way — from my own experience raising a super-mouthy Great Dane puppy. Here I share the secrets of what works and doesn’t work.
(This is an updated version of my most popular post. Q Spirit is hosting this article as a way to support dogs and dog lovers.)
Our biggest challenge with our Great Dane pup Princeton is that he lunges and bites when he wants to play.
He just wants to play and is too young to know better, but it HURTS! He’s also ripping holes in our pants and sleeves with his sharp little puppy teeth. And he’s getting bigger every day! Trying to escape his jaws or block him just seems like a game to him.
Here are some tactics that we’ve tried and the results:
13. Distract him with a toy. (Doesn’t work. A human target is much more interesting.)
12. Shake a jar full of coins to distract him. (Doesn’t work. This gets him more excited and makes him bark at me between bites.)
11.Gently hold his little mouth shut and say “No bite.” (Works sometimes. But this also resulted in me getting the worst bite on my wrist. His “little” mouth is already as big as the mouths of many full-grown dogs.)
10. Carry a cane to block (not hit) him and assert your authority. (Surprisingly effective. He’s more respectful as soon as I pick up the cane. But he still thinks it’s a fun game when I try to block him.)
9. Ignore him. (Doesn’t work. Ouch! He just keeps biting my skin or tearing my clothes.)
8. Remain calm. (Ha! Stay calm while a shark draws blood biting and circling you? Easier said than done!)
7. Yelp like a puppy to let him know that it hurts. (Satisfying to me, but doesn’t stop him at all.)
6. Bark at your dog with one deep, growly “WOOF” sound. Princeton seemed to instinctively understand this “dog language.” The woof can make him stop and think, no matter what he is doing.
5. Spray mint mouthwash into his mouth when he opens it to bite. I carried a pocket-size mouthwash spray with me at all times for weeks. (This worked for a while, but he gradually got used to the taste.)
4. Nip it in the bud as soon as he starts to act up by removing sources of excitement, such as food or the cat. (Works sometimes.)
3. Poke your finger in his cheek so he bites his own mouth and he knows how it feels. (I never tried this. Princeton already had sores that took months to heal from biting his own lips.)
2. Give him a “time-out” by putting him in his crate or other isolated space. (This really works!!! When I tried this, Princeton spent most of the first day alone in time-out, but the next day he started biting us a lot less!)
1. What really worked best: When the biting starts, hold your dog down with “calm, assertive energy” (based on the ideas of the “Dog Whisperer” Cesar Millan” ) and DON’T LET GO until the dog sighs. This turned out to be the key to solving our dog’s mouthiness!
The secret to stop puppy biting: Calm assertive energy
The method of discipline that still works best is calm assertive energy. I hold both palms up facing Princeton and say, “Calm down, head down.” If he doesn’t lay down right away, I put both hands on his neck and squeeze, like a mother dog “biting” him with my fingers. This always makes him lay down. Then I don’t let go until he puts his head down, relaxes and sighs. DO NOT RELEASE until your dog stops resisting. Do it with a calm assertive attitude. It could take two minutes — which will feel like two hours! But eventually he will stop struggling and sigh. When you hear the sigh, you know it is OK to release the dog.
I saw this technique on the “Dog Whisperer” and it was a real light-bulb moment for me. We had been forcing Princeton into a down position as discipline, but it wasn’t working because we always let him go before he had really submitted. In Princeton’s case, he didn’t seem to know how to calm himself down until we used this technique. I’ll never forget the first time that I held him down until he sighed. It was a real turning point and after that he got better and better at calming himself.
Watch “The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan” to learn how to be a calm, assertive pack leader.
A less hands-on approach also works, but it takes more time: Stand your ground and quietly face your dog with both hands open, sending “calm, assertive energy.” The most important thing is not giving up before your dog surrenders. Just keep standing there until the dog lies down and looks away in surrender. It’s really about mental power, not physical strength. At first it took 10 minutes as Princeton barked in protest and lunged to mouth our arms. Now he gives up much more quickly — although he’s still testing us. It’s really surprising how well this works. The best part is that I don’t feel stressed out, injured or exhausted by the process. In fact, we all end up feeling better and calmer.
You will have to do it again when he gets too wild and bite-y. But once you have successfully calmed your dog, it will get easier every time.
I must have seen Cesar Millan do these techniques on TV more than 100 times before I understood it and got it to work. I’m not sure how well this would have worked on Princeton when he still had his baby teeth — because it was impossible for me to remain calm when those needle-sharp teeth sank into my flesh. But it worked once his adult teeth came in.
All this is easier said than done, I know. But it’s only going to get harder as your Dane keeps getting bigger and BIGGER.
The book “Chewing, Tugging, Nipping and Biting: Detailed Step-by-Step Training for Puppies” and Dogs” by Faye Dunningham came out after Princeton outgrew the puppy biting stage, so I haven’t read it. But it looks helpful too.
Be patient: Dogs do outgrow the puppy biting stage
For all you new puppy owners out there, don’t give up. Even the pups who are most like sharks will someday grow up, learn to stop biting and become love bugs.
Many people asked me if Princeton ever stopped biting. Yes, it was about 95 percent gone by the time he reached one year old. He still occasionally got mouthy when he was excited, but even then he didn’t bite down hard enough to hurt anyone. He still scared foolish strangers by mouthing those who TRIED to get him excited at the dog park. Great Danes mature slowly, and Princeton gradually became less and less mouthy until he was about three years old. Danes act like puppies for the first two years of their lives, but eventually they do settle down. Now I sometimes miss that puppy energy.
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