Dog Training4 min read

How to Stop a Puppy From Biting: What Works and What Makes It Worse

Puppy biting is normal and it does end. Make teeth on skin stop the fun, give the mouth a job with a toy, teach calm handling and fix the overtired evening crazies.

Pupupp Training Team

Reward-based dog training guides · Updated Nov 2026

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Why it happens and what works

Puppies explore with their mouths and are teething until around six months. Biting isn’t aggression at this age; it’s play, exploration and sore gums. What you can change is what biting gets them. If teeth on skin makes the game stop and teeth on a toy keeps it going, most puppies work out the rule quickly. The popular advice to yelp loudly, push the puppy away or hold their mouth shut often backfires, because to a lot of puppies that’s exciting play.

Stage 1: Teeth on skin ends the fun

Goal: Your puppy learns that biting people makes play stop. You need: a toy within reach.

Puppies explore with their mouths and teethe until about six months. The aim is a soft mouth first, then no mouth.
When teeth press on skin, go still and quiet. Take your hands away and look away for 10 to 20 seconds.
If your puppy keeps coming, calmly step over a baby gate or out of the room for 20 seconds.
Come back and offer a toy. Play again as long as teeth stay on the toy.
Everyone in the house does the same thing, every time.

Avoid

Yelping loudly, pushing the puppy away or holding the mouth shut. To many puppies that’s exciting play.
Rough hand-wrestling games. They teach that hands are toys.

Stage 2: Redirect to a toy

Goal: Your puppy grabs a toy instead of hands and clothes. You need: a long tug toy, a toy in every room.

Keep a toy in your pocket. Offer it before your puppy goes for you, not after.
Wiggle the toy along the floor away from your puppy, like prey. Let them catch it.
Play tug for 10 seconds, then go still. When they let go, say “Yes!” and start the game again.
If teeth touch skin during tug, the game stops for 20 seconds.
Use a long toy so your hands stay far from the teeth.

Avoid

Waving the toy in the puppy’s face. Movement away from them is what triggers the grab.
Only bringing toys out after a bite. That rewards the bite.

What comes after the first two stages

Those two stages are where everyone should start, and for a mild case they may be enough. Making it hold in real life takes more steps. In the Pupupp plan this topic continues with 8 more guided sessions, each with its own steps, voice guidance and a coach to ask when it goes wrong:

Calm handling. Your dog stays relaxed while you touch paws, ears and collar.
Chewing and the evening crazies. Your puppy chews their own things and settles in the evening.
Taking treats gently. Your dog takes food from fingers without teeth.
Ankles, sleeves and moving feet. Your puppy lets feet and clothes go past without grabbing.
Tug with rules. Tug becomes a game with a start, a stop and no teeth on skin.
An off switch after play. Your dog can go from excited to calm when the game ends.
Puppies and children. Play between your dog and children stays calm, and an adult is always in charge.
Brush, nails and teeth. Your dog stays relaxed for brushing, a nail trim and a look in the mouth.

How long it takes

Expect improvement over weeks, with the hardest stretch usually between three and five months while adult teeth come in. Biting that gets wilder in the evening is very often an overtired puppy. Consistency across everyone in the house matters more than any single technique.

When to get help

If an adult dog bites, or any dog bites with a stiff body, growling or broken skin, that is different from puppy mouthing. Get help from your vet or a qualified behaviorist. This guide is general education, not veterinary or behavioral advice for your individual dog. For aggression, biting that breaks skin, severe fear or panic when alone, please see your vet or a qualified behaviorist.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When do puppies stop biting?

Mouthing usually eases a lot once adult teeth are in, around six months, provided the puppy has been taught what to do instead. Without that teaching it can continue as a habit in adolescence.

Should I yelp when my puppy bites me?

It works for some puppies and winds others up. If a yelp makes your puppy come back harder, drop it. Going still and quiet, then stepping away for 20 seconds, is more reliable.

Why is my puppy worse in the evening?

Puppies need roughly 16 to 20 hours of sleep a day. A wild, bitey puppy at 7 p.m. is usually overtired, not under-exercised. Give a chew in a pen or crate in a quiet room and let them nap.

My puppy bites my kids’ ankles and clothes. What should we do?

Movement triggers it. Have children stand still like a tree with arms folded, and have an adult redirect the puppy to a long tug toy. Use gates so the puppy and children aren’t together unsupervised while this is being learned.

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