Bite Inhibition
What is it?
Bite inhibition isn't just about stopping them from biting you completely, although that will be the result. If young puppies love one thing it's to bite the people around them- it is one of the only ways they know how to interact with the world after all. The skill of bite inhibition is about giving them the ability to control the pressure they apply when biting.
Think of a dog biting as an on/off switch. Without bite inhibition, they are either biting or not and they don't think about how hard they are biting.
With this element of puppy training you turn the on/off into a dimmer switch so that even in an emergency when they have lashed out in fear they can control the muscles in their jaw. This means that they can change how much force they can apply which makes them a much safer dog in general.
Things happen that we cant predict and it's up to us to make sure if they do they are as minimal as possible. An example would be a sleeping dog that has its tail stepped on. They might be scared and go to put their mouth on you- but as soon as they feel skin, all tension is released. In a dog that has had no bite inhibition training, they won't have the instinct built in to do that.
Bite Inhibition
How to train it?
This bit is no fun. We can't sugar coat it. You will be cursing us and them. We promise you that this is worth it a thousand times over for the safety of your dog and anyone who interacts with them.
As with most puppy training we are on a deadline. Bite inhibition needs to be taught before 18 weeks at most. After this point, the part of their brain that can learn the skill is fully developed and we can't turn back the clock. At the very least, the worst part of training is one of the shortest.
The process is an easy one to start. As we said early puppies LOVE biting, it's been one of their favorite games with their siblings. In another environment they would carry on to play this game with their siblings and naturally learn inhibition when they react to being bitten too hard. But because we take them away from the litter at 8 weeks old, we have to replace the feedback they would get otherwise.
They will bite you throughout the day, whether it be in a game or to try to start one. The natural instinct is to correct them. What we want to do instead is to react by showing that it hurts when they bite you. Loudly say ouch! for the first two times with the second one being louder. Then, on the third one get up and take yourself to another space, making sure they cant get into anything while you briefly leave. What you are showing them is that you don't enjoy being bitten that hard- it stops the game. They will learn to adjust.
At most you'll only have to do this for 10 weeks- from 8 to 18 weeks. Be patient and trust the process. Send us abuse in the comments of the video if it helps.
Bite Inhibition
Now to stop the biting
So you've made it to 18 weeks. That's the hardest part of your training journey done. Now it's time to let them know you are over the bitey game and it's not how they should behave.
As with all the training it's about clear communication and boundaries. We need to redirect them away from biting you to biting their chew toys.
So when they go to bite you vocally correct them. Next, offer them a chew toy, add some value to biting it by moving it around and making it fun. When they are chewing the bone we praise. It will take repeating it until they get it but the joy of puppy hood is that they learn very fast- it's all the sleep!
Correct - Redirect - Reward
