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hi, i'm kathy santo foriams with howdini. and today we're going todiscuss the dangers of allowing puppy biting, theimportance of playing correctly, and how to stop theunwanted biting behavior. it's normal and even cute whenyour puppy nibbles and lunges at your hands. since your puppy has beenexposed only other puppies in the litter who naturally playwith biting and mouthing, it would make perfect sense why hewould assume that playing

with you wouldn'tbe different. but as puppies' teeth grow andtheir bodies become stronger, what was once cute nibblingeventually turns into uncomfortable or even dangerous rough play and bites. since biting is an unacceptabletype of play, it's important to teach your puphow to enjoy playing games with toys insteadof your hand. playing is a healthy, naturalactivity that helps build the

bond between youand your puppy. this also affects your puppy'strainability-- sitting, waiting, learningtricks, not pulling on the leash, even to stop biting. before teaching your puppy notto bite, it's important to train your puppy to decreasebite pressure. allow your puppy tobegin mouthing and nibbling at your hand. when he bites down hard yell"ouch!" so he's startled and

stops for a second. continue allowing him to mouthyour hand, making sure to speak up every time he bitestoo hard, so your puppy can learn your threshold for what isacceptable and what isn't. once your puppy understandyour feedback about the strength of his bite, you canbegin to reduce biting. the best way to teach yourpuppy not to bite is to redirect him to a toyor a chew bone. simply give your dog a firm noand replace whatever he was

biting with something heis allowed to chew. if your puppy is three to sixmonths old, there's a good chance he may be teething. so he might be trying to reducediscomfort by chewing. try giving him an icecube to chew on. it'll numb his gums and helpalleviate the pain. my favorite trick is to getpuppies to stop biting is to exaggerate and pretend they'veinjured me, their friend. by pretending their nip actuallyhurt you by putting

your hand away, yelling ouch,and stop playing, you're replicating what other littermates would do if another puppy were to cause them pain. managing and controlling puppybiting problems can be a major challenge for dog lovers. puppy biting or nipping startsout as a bit of fun but needs to be controlled quickly toavoid ongoing problems. training your dog depends on agood relationship built on love and trust. it takestime to build a working

partnership. and the more time and patienceyou have with your puppy from day one, the more obedienthe'll be. dogs want to please. i'm kathy santo for iams withhowdini, and i hope that you found this helpful as youwelcome your new addition to your family. for more information aboutpuppy training, visit iams.com/puppy.