Help! My Baby Bites!

Play biting can be a real problem for many people, especially when their animals are too rough. There are posts all over FB of people wanting to know how to stop their pets from biting, and most of the responses list methods ranging from telling the animal “No” in a stern voice, to smacking or “pinning” the animal when they bite.

These solutions are often ineffective, only effective in the short-term, can be detrimental to the human/pet relationship, or worse, may end up causing more aggressive behaviors from the animal later on. 

Preventing Play Biting in Pets

So how can you discourage play biting?

The following is a list of what you can do to discourage play biting without damaging the relationship between you and your pet:

🐒 Prevent

Learn your animal’s play habits and avoid play that results in biting behaviors, such as hand wrestling. Avoid rough play when your pet is overtired or frustrated.

🐈 Address boredom

Provide your animal with plenty of enrichment activities so that when you do play with them, they aren’t overly excited and looking for relief from boredom. 

🦜 Redirect

Keep favorite toys and treats on hand during play and encourage your pet to focus on them instead of your hands or feet. 

🦉 Stay calm

Yelling at, pushing, or hitting your animal can escalate a situation quickly and turn play into aggression. 

🐆 Disengage

If your pet does bite, immediately stop play and withdraw your attention, completely disengaging from your animal for a few seconds. With a young animal, you can try exclaiming “Ouch!” and then disengaging. With older animals, this can backfire, however, and cause more intense focus and aggressive behavior. 

🦔 Time out

If your pet is still trying to bite even though you’ve redirected and/or disengaged, calmly put them in their pen and leave them there for a few minutes, giving them (and yourself) a chance to calm down. This is not meant to be a punishment for your animal. This is just an opportunity to diffuse the situation and regain composure for both of you.

🐾 As with all things, behavior change takes time and consistency. Although one technique or another may prove effective, the suggestions above are meant to be used together for the greatest success.