First of all, if you’re currently engaged in a battle to save your fingers from the needle-sharp teeth of a little corgi puppy, you should know you’re not alone. This is one of the most common problems people get stuck on when it comes to any puppy really, but especially, it seems, with corgi puppies. It’s one thing to have a golden retriever puppy gently gnawing on your finger with an already quite inhibited bite. It is quite another thing to take an alligator-snap to the back of your ankle when you’re not expecting it. Ouch!
The truth is, dealing with biting is not just an in-the-moment, quick-fix kind of thing. So in this post, I’m going to come at biting from a few different angles so that you can address all the factors contributing to why your puppy is biting, as well as know how to react when the puppy actually bites. That said, this is not going to be completely exhaustive. It’s a good idea to consult a trainer who can give you advice specific to what’s happening with your pup. Also do check my Resources page for more detailed information from people with better qualifications than me.
Puppies Are Supposed to Bite
First of all, it’s important to understand that puppies need to bite. They need to bite quite a bit. Through biting, they receive feedback about the strength of their own bite and learn to inhibit it. It may sound counterintuitive, but I would much rather have a mouthy puppy than one who never bites. By the time the mouthy puppy grows up, they have received a lot of feedback from both humans and other dogs about how much force they should or shouldn’t use. It becomes a muscle memory, and should that dog be in a situation in the future where he reacts by biting, it will likely not be as severe. Whereas the latter—the puppy who doesn’t really bite—has no point of reference for the force of his own bite. If that dog as an adult is put in a situation where he bites, it can be really ugly.
The problem is that many puppies live in households where it is not acceptable for them ever to bite. For example, being the only dog in a family with children. If you don’t have other dogs in the home, definitely seek out opportunities for your puppy to interact with other dogs. No, don’t take her to the dog park just yet. Find some older dogs with excellent social skills if you possibly can. Think about your family, friends, and neighbours with dogs. It’s great if the puppy can play with a variety of other dogs—including ones who will just ignore them and teach them that not everyone wants to play. Other puppies are good too, but they will learn much more from older dogs.
But it’s not only about feedback. Puppies also need to bite and wrestle and tumble around because it’s just a normal part of their development, and it feels good. Some puppy biting stems from frustration over the fact that they don’t have an outlet for this important behaviour. Puppies are going to need to engage in this type of play more often than you can arrange for playdates. So if you don’t have other dogs, or your only other dog is a small or elderly dog that doesn’t want to or can’t play with the puppy, you’re going to need a different solution. And thankfully, I just recently learned about a really cool one!
Imaginary Friends
I first learned about this ingenious solution when I took the L.E.G.S.® course. And then this month, Psychology Today did an article about it. If you search online, can find toy life-sized stuffed dogs, like the ones sold by the company Melissa & Doug, for example. The standing-up ones seem to be better for this than the ones that are sitting down. And it’s good if you can find one that is the puppy’s size or a bit larger.
And guess what? You can even find corgi ones!
Since these aren’t really made for dogs, you will want to supervise the play just to make sure they don’t ingest or choke on anything. This stuffed companion shouldn’t be left out all the time, but brought out around the time when your puppy tends to want to wrestle—often in the evening. While you want to supervise for the reason I just mentioned, don’t worry about interrupting if the puppy is playing rough. As Kim Brophey mentions in the Psychology Today interview, little girls can be quite rough on their baby dolls and still know they can’t do that with a real infant. Dogs seem to similarly know the difference—especially if they’re getting to play with real dogs as well. So let the pup be as rough as they want. It’s a good way to get out all their pent-up energy and frustrations. I wish I had known about this “hack” when I brought Delia home! I think it’s spectacular.
One more note: for this application, you do really want a life-sized, dog-shaped toy. While small stuffed toys actually meant for dogs are great, the behaviours that they produce seem to be more prey-focused. For example, chasing them, shaking them, playing tug like they’re cooperatively pulling apart a kill, dissecting them and pulling out the stuffing… All of those behaviours are great to give an outlet to as well, but it’s a different thing. In contrast, dogs tend to display social behaviours with these make-believe companions. So it just engages a different part of their repertoire.
As far as the dog-shape: A giant teddy bear as big or bigger than the puppy may be just as satisfying, but there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that the canine form does register to them, further encouraging social play, even though they know it’s not real. Just as a child may rock a plush animal as though it were a baby and pretend to give it a bottle, etc., but they’re more likely to engage in this type of play with a human doll.
So, now we have understood that puppies do need to bite, and we’ve provided suitable outlets: the opportunity to play with other dogs, who can teach them what is appropriate, and a companion they can beat the tar out of when they need to. It is crucial to lay that groundwork first, because the very first step of training a dog is checking that all needs are being met.
Now, let’s talk about some things you can do when your puppy nips.
Is It Naptime?
Have you ever been playing with a human toddler and everything is going great but suddenly they’re throwing blocks at you, and you tell them to stop, that’s not nice, but they just escalate their violence, so you say: “Okay, I think it’s naptime,” and they start screaming that they’re not tired? Oh yeah—it’s definitely naptime all right!
That same thing happens with puppies. They will suddenly seem to lose all self-control and turn into little snapping turtles. The biting feels frenzied and impersonal, like the puppy has been replaced by a mindless little biting machine. When this happens, your first question should be, “Is it naptime?” And because puppies sleep 18-20 hours a day on average, the answer is probably yes.
This is not a teachable moment. Don’t get angry with the puppy, and don’t try to train the puppy. Just say something like “Naptime!” and whisk the puppy off to their crate. There might be a bit of protesting (like the human toddler insisting they aren’t tired) but it is often only moments until the puppy crashes.
You can try to avoid these little rampages by keeping the puppy on a good schedule. When you consider that little 18-20 hours a day fact, that helps you appreciate just how frequent these naps should be. Try to keep play sessions short, recognise when his excitement level is starting to get a little high, take him outside to potty and quietly sniff a bit, and then put him in a quiet place to nap.
So remember to ask yourself: Is it naptime?
Now let’s say the answer is no. The puppy isn’t particularly overstimulated or overtired. How do you handle it then?
Things To Be Careful Of
Be careful about immediately presenting a toy if the puppy bit you to solicit play. I have seen this advice many times, and it creates an unfortunate behaviour chain. You are confirming to the puppy that yes, biting is a very effective way to ask the human to play. You can prevent this by paying attention when your puppy might be feeling playful, and preemptively offering a toy. In fact, it’s a good idea that your puppy learn to play only with toys, never hands—particularly when there are children in the home. By forming the connection for the puppy that toys facilitate play between puppies and humans without the bite coming into it as step one, you will find that she naturally starts to bring you a toy as a means of soliciting play.
In fact, I think Delia became convinced early on and still to this day believes that humans just find dog toys completely irresistible. I base this off of the way she flaunts them, or sits in front of you staring into your face as she plays a little diddy with the squeaker.
Other common advice is to yip or cry out in pain, to let the puppy know it hurt. Some people swear by this, others say it doesn’t work. It seems the effectiveness depends a lot on the personality of the puppy, and perhaps also on your convincingness as an actor. It may also be age-specific. What I do know is that for many puppies, it seems to only excite them. You become essentially a giant squeaky toy! The other thing is, in my observations, I’ve yet to see an adult dog do this in response to a puppy biting too hard. It’s possible that some do. But some responses I’ve seen include a sharp bark, a momentary cold shoulder until the puppy offers appeasement, holding the puppy down with a paw until they offer appeasement (the method Trigger favoured with Delia), and where the bite is particularly hard, even a complete end to the game.
So, if you’re doing the yelping thing and it’s working for you, great! It obviously works for some people. But I don’t think it is necessarily the absolute most effective method.
Oh, and definitely don’t do something wacky and incomprehensible from the puppy’s perspective like asking for a sit and then giving them a treat! What a weird signal that sends. “I bite human…human asks me to sit? And then I got a treat? Okay. Thanks for the treat.” They’re social creatures engaging in inappropriate social behaviour. The obvious solution is some sort of clear communication from us that the behaviour was inappropriate. Let’s not complicate it!
So What Should I Do When She Bites?
I gave you a hint when I talked about how I’ve seen older dogs react. In short: biting ends the fun. I like to say something to mark exactly what the mistake was. In your best calm, matter-of-fact preschool teacher voice, something like, “Oops! Wrong choice.” Then you can simply turn away slightly and disengage from the puppy. If you were playing tug, drop the toy. Fold your arms and look away.
Some people like to leave the room and come back in a few minutes. I don’t like that as a first resort, just because it doesn’t give the puppy an opportunity to make a different choice. Remember, we’re teaching appropriate social behaviour. So if your disengaging and turning away results in appeasement, “I’m sorry” behaviours (low, wriggly body language, kisses, that “guilty” look, etc.), that’s fantastic! That means the puppy received the message. You can go right back to play.
If you have a little butthead of a corgi (a lot of them are) who starts barking at you, poking you with the toy, continuing to nip, pull at your clothes, etc., then I would get up and leave. You have to escalate because the first message was not received. Alternatively, you can calmly plop the puppy into their puppy pen and ignore them. Whether you leave the room or you put the puppy in time out, about a minute should be sufficient to get the point across. Then you can let the puppy out and give them the opportunity to try again. If they bite again, once more use your preschool teacher voice to let them know that was a poor choice, and immediately leave/put them in time out for another minute.
If you are clear and consistent (and have done all the other steps we talked about first) the puppy will eventually get the message. It takes time and patience, as they’re still growing and maturing, and they don’t learn these social skills overnight.
That’s another thing to remember: while adult dogs will clearly communicate to let the puppy know when a line has been crossed, they are actually quite tolerant. Puppies get away with things that an adolescent or adult dog would never get away with. For a certain amount of time, they get to play the puppy card, which entitles them to a reasonable amount of indulgence. So, while you teach your puppy clear expectations, be sure to give them that grace, and remind yourself to keep expectations reasonable. They will grow out of this phase!
To Recap
Okay, so these are the key takeaways:
- Make sure your puppy has opportunity to play with other dogs, especially appropriate adult dogs.
- Provide an outlet in the form of a make-believe playmate for when they truly just need to beat the tar out of something.
- Your number one question is always: “Is it naptime?”
- Set the precedent that play with humans always involves toys, so that the puppy will be more likely to bring you a toy than to bite you as a way of asking to play.
- Biting puts a pause on the fun. Appeasement behaviours are a way to “press play” again. Continuing to make poor choices instead brings the fun to a screeching halt in the form of time out or the human leaving the room, with the opportunity to make a better choice in about a minute.
I hope this made sense. This is just how I handle it, and what I think makes the most sense from the dog point of view. It doesn’t mean it’s the only way or even the best way. I cannot stress the importance enough of first meeting the puppy’s needs for adequate rest as well as social learning from other dogs. It’s good to always examine too what message the puppy might be getting from our actions. And we need to be always capturing and rewarding good choices, even if they seem like very small things.
I was going to also talk about heel-nipping in this post, but that does feel like a different topic really, so I will leave this post to being about biting in play, and come back to that another time.
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