You brought home that adorable pug puppy, but now your hands look like you stuck them in a blender! Those razor-sharp teeth hurt when your new furball gets bitey. While it’s normal for pups to mouth and nip while teething, you want to curb full-on biting. The good news is that with positive reinforcement and consistency, you can train your pug not to bite in no time. Stick with me, and I’ll walk you through all the tips and tricks to stop your pug’s biting behavior for good. With a few simple steps, you can have a sweet snuggly pup who keeps those teeth to chew toys only. Let’s get started!
Understanding Normal Pug Puppy Biting Behavior
Teething Discomfort
Pug puppies start teething around 4 to 6 weeks of age, and their baby teeth fall out between 4 to 6 months as their adult teeth come in. The discomfort from teething leads pug puppies to gnaw and chomp on anything they can to relieve the pain, including your fingers, hands, and ankles. Provide your pug puppy with chew toys that you’ve soaked in water and frozen to soothe their gums.
Learning About the World
Pug puppies don’t have hands, so they explore the world with their mouths. Everything goes into their mouths—toys, plants, your fingers. Pug puppies bite and mouth objects to learn more about them, but this can lead to biting behavior that’s directed at you.
Wanting to Play
Innocent Pug puppies often bite and mouth as a way to play and interact. They see your hands, feet, and ankles as playthings, especially if you’re grabbing toys or treats from them. While play is important for pug puppies, teach them appropriate ways to play that don’t involve biting you. Provide chew toys and puzzle toys to keep them engaged, and avoid rough play that encourages biting.
With consistency, patience, and the right techniques, normal pug puppy biting behavior can be curbed. Pug puppies usually outgrow biting by 6 months of age, but training them not to bite early on will ensure a well-behaved adult pug. Focus on teething relief, teaching them human flesh is off-limits, and redirecting their biting to appropriate toys. Before you know it, those sharp puppy teeth will be gone, and so will the biting behavior.
Setting Your Pug Puppy Up for Bite Inhibition Success
As a puppy, your pug will explore the world largely through biting and chewing. While this behavior needs to be curbed, you want to do so in a way that teaches your pug proper bite inhibition. This means teaching him how much pressure from his jaws is too much. With consistency and patience, you can raise a pug that rarely bites at all.
Start Training Early
Begin bite inhibition training as soon as you bring your pug puppy home. At 8-12 weeks old, he is most receptive to learning proper behavior and boundaries. This teaches him that biting too hard ends playtime and attention.
Be Consistent
React the same way each time he bites too hard—a firm “No bite”, removing attention, and redirecting to a chew toy. Inconsistency will only confuse your pup and prolong the process. Set rules for what kinds of biting are allowed (chew toys) and what isn’t (skin, clothing, furniture).
Avoid Rough Play
While play is important for pug puppies, avoid very rough play that encourages biting. Tug-of-war, wrestling, and chase games can overstimulate your puppy and make him more prone to biting in excitement. Provide interactive dog toys for play instead, and teach your pug the “drop it” and “leave it” commands to use during play.
With regular training, your pug puppy will learn that gentle behavior and play get rewards, while hard biting causes play to end. Be patient through the process, as it can take several months of consistency. But by allowing your pug to learn proper bite inhibition at a young age, you’re setting the stage for a well-adjusted, friendly companion for life.
Positive Reinforcement Training Techniques to Stop Biting
Redirection
When your pug puppy bites, the best approach is to redirect them to an appropriate chew toy instead. Say “No bite”, then immediately offer them a chew toy to gnaw on. This helps teach them that it’s okay to chew on certain items, but not on human hands or skin.
Withdraw Attention
Puppies often bite simply to get attention, even if it’s negative attention. When your pug bites you, withdraw all attention immediately. Say “Too bad” and turn away from them, ignoring them for 30 to 60 seconds. This helps teach them that biting results in losing attention and playtime. Provide attention again once they’ve calmed down and are no longer biting.
Positive Reinforcement
Reward and praise your pug puppy when they play gently without biting. Provide treats, belly rubs, play, and verbal praise to positively reinforce the behavior you want to see. Make playing with you the most rewarding experience for your puppy.
Bite Inhibition
This helps teach them that hard bites are unacceptable, but soft mouths are okay. Once they’ve calmed down, provide them attention again. Over time, you can start only reacting when bites are hard but ignore softer bites and mouthing. The goal is to teach them the difference between too hard and an acceptable level of pressure.
With consistency, patience, and positive reinforcement, you can train your pug puppy out of biting and into being a playful and gentle companion. Before you know it, the biting will subside and you’ll have a well-behaved pug puppy that loves playing with you (without the biting!).
Managing Your Pug Puppy’s Energy to Reduce Nipping
Pug puppies are bundles of energy, and when they get overly excited or bored, they may resort to nipping to release pent-up energy or get your attention. It’s important to manage your pug puppy’s energy levels to prevent unwanted biting behavior.
Provide plenty of exercise
Take your pug puppy out for frequent walks, playtime, and potty breaks. Pugs are energetic dogs and need daily exercise and play to burn off energy. When your pug puppy’s energy levels are high, their excitement may lead to nipping. Giving them outlets to release energy in positive ways, such as walks, fetch, and tug-of-war, can help reduce excitement biting.
Engage your puppy with interactive toys
Puzzle toys and chew toys that keep your pug puppy engaged can help combat boredom and redirect their energy away from nipping. Rotate different toys to keep things interesting. Puzzle toys that dispense treats as your puppy plays can keep them entertained for hours. Chew toys also provide mental stimulation and help relieve teething pain for young pups.
Avoid rough play
While play is important for pugs, avoid rough play that encourages your puppy to nip and bite. Stick to gentle play and provide chew toys or treats to redirect your puppy if they start nipping during play. Never play by waving your hands or feet in your puppy’s face, as this teaches them that nipping at you is okay and fun.
Give your puppy time-outs
If your pug puppy does nip, stop all interaction and give them a time-out. Place them in a room alone for 30 to 60 seconds to help them calm down and understand that biting results in loss of attention and play. Once the time-out is over, you can re-engage your puppy in inappropriate play or exercise. Be consistent with time-outs each time they nip to effectively teach them better behavior.
With patience, and consistency, and by managing their energy levels, you can train your pug puppy not to nip and bite. Keep at it, and before you know it, the unwanted behavior will be replaced with positive play and interaction.
What to Do if Your Pug Puppy Won’t Stop Biting
Pug puppies explore the world with their mouths, so biting is normal behavior for them. However, it’s important to teach your pug not to bite at an early age before the habit becomes ingrained. Here are some tips to curb biting behavior in pug puppies:
Avoid rough play
Playing roughly with your pug puppy, even in jest, will only encourage biting behavior. Avoid wrestling, tug-of-war, or any other play that involves grabbing or biting. Only engage in gentle play by using toys your pug can chase and fetch.
Offer alternative chewing options
Give your pug puppy appropriate things to chew on, like bully sticks, rope toys, frozen Kongs filled with peanut butter, or chew bones. When your pug starts biting you, say “No bite,” and redirect them to an acceptable chew toy. This helps teach them that biting people is not okay.
Stay calm and consistent
Remain calm and patiently redirect them to a toy each time they bite. Ensure that all members of your household are consistent in this training. Yelling or scolding can frighten your puppy and damage your bond of trust.
Withdraw attention
If your pug puppy starts biting during play or interaction, immediately stop playing and ignore them. Stand up, cross your arms, and turn away from them. Only resume interacting with them once they’ve calmed down. This helps teach them that biting makes the fun stop, so they learn to control themselves.
With consistency and patience, biting behavior in puppies can be curbed. It will take time and practice, so stick with the training and avoid aggressive discipline. Your pug puppy will soon learn better ways to interact with their human companions.
Conclusion
So there you have it, folks. Training a pug puppy not to bite takes time and patience, but it’s doable. With a combination of redirection, saying “no,” and walking away when they get mouthy, you’ll get your piggie to kick the habit in no time. Just remember that they’re still babies figuring out how to puppy, so go easy on them! Keep at it with the positive reinforcement when they’re being gentle, and eventually, those needle-sharp teeth won’t be piercing your fingers anymore. Your pug wants to make you happy, so keep communicating what’s good and what’s not. You’ve got this! With a little work now, you and your pug will be snuggling and smooching your face in perfect harmony.