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Tried And True Methods For Training Your Dog Not To Bite

Author: LeeDobbins.
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With pet ownership comes responsibility. Unfortunately, many dog owners are still irresponsible with training their pets properly. In fact, an annual barrage of law suits, medical bills, and instances of dog euthanasia result from dog bites each year -- almost 5 million according to the Center for Disease Control. This often avoidable behavior can be taught to dogs from a young age, which is a good thing for both dogs and their owners.

There are common techniques that have been proven to be effective in suppressing biting behavior of dogs. However, the degree of difficulty of dog training varies with the breed of dog, age and individual temperament.

Like with any other training you should start training dogs not to bite while they are young. Puppies naturally nip and bite but this behavior should be discouraged by you from day 1. Owners that let their puppies bite because they think it is cute often end up with grown dogs who don't understand why this behavior is suddenly not allowed.

Once your dog is about four weeks old, you can start to teach him simple commands. If he tries to bite, tell him 'No!' in a calm but serious voice, and accompany it with a gentle squeeze of the muzzle.

Be careful not to squeeze the muzzle too hard or high enough to hurt his nose. Dogs have very sensitive and delicate odor receptors and you wouldn't want to damage this in any way.

Squeezing your dog's muzzle isn't intended to punish him, but to let him know that the behavior isn't acceptable. By squeezing, you associate the verbal command with something the dog can readily understand: discomfort. Regardless of their age, dogs find having their muzzle squeezed uncomfortable.

Other than verbally discouraging your dog or using soft physical restraint to remind your dog, socializing your dog may help to train him or her. Socialization can and should begin at as early an age as possible, and your dog should be around other animals and people as much as possible. Socialized dogs are tranquil and confident dogs. Timid dogs that are unused to unfamiliar people or dogs are much more likely to bite.

It's a good idea to let your dog get to know other dogs, as long as they're not aggressive themselves. This allows your pet to become aware of a variety of smells and appearances that might otherwise arouse his suspicions, and tends to negate his normal territorial reactions.

Although dogs have the tendency to mouth and nip, they naturally inhibit this behavior when they are playing with their mates. Train them to develop this behavior by expanding his playmates to include your family members, guests and other pets.

When introducing your dog to other household pets, restrain both your dog and your other pets. They will learn to gradually approach each other naturally.

Put your dog at ease by having the dog sit and stroke its back. Check your dog for signs of aggression like body tension, snarling, and erect ears. After stroking your dog touch the other animal to convey the smell of your pet to that animal. After checking to make sure there are no signs of aggression and the other dog got a scent of your dog then allow them to interact.

Many dogs can be trained to curb thier urge to bite by the time they are four and a half months old, but it may take your dog longer than that. It varies by breed, and each individual dog within a breed is different. And you know that saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"? It's not exactly true, but training an older dog to stop biting is much more difficult than it is to teach a puppy.

Some dogs are not fully trained to not to bite other people and animals. In this case, the owners need to take special care to insure the dog is never put in a situation where it can harm another person or animal.

If you apply these dog training techniques with patience and persistence, your dog should gradually let go of his tendency to bite. While it may take some patience on your part, it's well worth it in the long run.

About the Author

Training your dog to be the perfect pet all boils down to using the right dog training techniques - find out what those are at http://www.positivedogtrainingtechniques.com/.