# Ep 127 Ouch! Why Puppies Bite & What to Do About It

An episode of [Help! My Dog: The Podcast. Dog Behaviour & Training Strategies that Work!](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1721245241), 6 May 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2287608/episodes/19054725-ep-127-ouch-why-puppies-bite-what-to-do-about-it.mp3

Do you start hearing the Jaws theme song every time your puppy gets a bit too excited!? If you’ve ever owned a puppy, you’ve probably found yourself on the receiving end of those tiny teeth at least once! This week, we’re discussing a listener’s question and thinking about some of the key reasons behind why puppies bite. This super common mouthy behaviour might actually have more to do with the natural development of their brains than you think, so we’ll explore how we can use this to our advantage and grow some useful skills early on to help our dogs throughout their lives! We’ll also consider a few ways that you can help your puppy make better choices in the moment when they start to go over the top. Your arms, legs, hands, sleeves and shoelaces will thank you! ................ Whether your dog is unpredictable with other dogs or predictably bad… Whether it looks like freezing, barking, lunging or running away… Whether you are just starting out on your dog-owning journey or your dog has been labelled as having a “behaviour problem”… … this episode is for you and is going to give you huge insights! Want to join the Help! My Dog Online HUB? Here's the link: www.helpmydog.com/hub Dr Tom Mitchell is a world-renowned veterinarian, behaviourist and dog trainer and director of the Behavet behaviour clinic (rated Excellent on Trustpilot), which sees over 400 pet behaviour consultations each and every month no matter where you are in the world. In 2023, he founded Help! My Dog, an online dog behaviour learning platform to help even more owners all over the world and show that dog behaviour transformation is not only possible but it's FUN, with the right know-how! Make sure to subscribe/follow the podcast for the free weekly episodes! Useful Links: Follow Help! My Dog on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helpmydogofficial/ Schedule a Consultation with Behavet: https://www.beha.vet/ Follow Behavet on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/behavet

## Transcript

[0:00] SPEAKER_00: He will intentionally drop the toy to bite at my hand or arm.
[0:04] SPEAKER_00: And the reason why this is happening, very common in puppies, is that before we dive in, a warning.
[0:12] SPEAKER_00: The content of this podcast may not be appropriate for some young listeners.
[0:17] SPEAKER_00: This is real life, and that means that sometimes it can be a little bit graphic.
[0:22] SPEAKER_00: So listen on at your own peril.
[0:25] SPEAKER_00: As a veterinarian, dog behaviourist, best-selling author and trainer over the past decade, I've had an obsession with transforming the behaviour of dogs.
[0:34] SPEAKER_00: Understanding their brains and creating practical strategies that you can implement easily at home.
[0:40] SPEAKER_00: I know all too well when the dream you imagined when you first got your dog is far from your daily reality.
[0:46] SPEAKER_00: In fact, out of the blue, a few months ago, my little dog Gorse was bitten by a dog 20 times her size.
[0:53] SPEAKER_00: And suddenly our life of stress-free walks, a calm and cuddly household, and being teammates was replaced with reactivity, anxiety, and worrying about what's around the next corner.
[1:04] SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
[1:05] SPEAKER_00: Tom.
[1:05] SPEAKER_00: This is the Help My Dog Podcast, and this is me documenting that journey of transformation, sharing my knowledge and experience with you and having a few laughs along the way.
[1:16] SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to this episode of the Help My Dog Podcast.
[1:21] SPEAKER_00: And today we're going to be doing a listener's question because you guys are loving these, and actually I'm loving them.
[1:26] SPEAKER_00: So let's do more of them.
[1:28] SPEAKER_00: So this is from a listener who says any tips for a 15-week-old miniature poodle puppy that seems to only want to bite my hand or arm when playing, or shoes or pants when outside for potty.
[1:44] SPEAKER_00: I'm guessing this is a US listener, um hence the pants.
[1:49] SPEAKER_00: He will intentionally drop the toy to bite at my hand or arm.
[1:54] SPEAKER_00: When outside, he will constantly bite at my shoes or pants, pants again.
[1:59] SPEAKER_00: Does not matter if the pants, pants again, are loose or tight at the ankle.
[2:03] SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're definitely talking trousers.
[2:05] SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
[2:06] SPEAKER_00: He will try to grab and tug every time.
[2:09] SPEAKER_00: Okay, so, so, so, so, what I guess, I guess the first thing that we have to do is think about why this is happening.
[2:17] SPEAKER_00: And the reason why this is happening, very common in puppies, is that they they come into the world and they've got to develop their this fan sounds fancy, it's not, internal arousal regulation system.
[2:30] SPEAKER_00: In other words, they've got to be able to fine-tune their arousal systems in their brain so that they can experience a variety of different arousal levels from, you know, level 10 to level 20 to level 30 to level 40.
[2:46] SPEAKER_00: Um, and unfortunately, until they get that fine-tuning, what tends to happen is they have a bit more of a light switch type effect of zero or a hundred, on, off or on, right?
[2:56] SPEAKER_00: Whereas what we want them to develop is a dimmer switch where we can have levels of up and down and slight increases and slight decreases.
[3:04] SPEAKER_00: And so what this is a symptom that your puppy has currently has a bit of a light switch, yeah?
[3:10] SPEAKER_00: Um and that light switch is causing them to go to level 100.
[3:14] SPEAKER_00: And when they go to level 100, their their behavior of choice, let's say, is to grab, you know, mouth and and snapper and bite your arms and your legs and whatever else, yeah?
[3:26] SPEAKER_00: So first things first that we need to consider here is the way to, rather than thinking, and I'll give you some tips for in the moment, but rather than thinking solely about what to do in response to your puppy doing that, what I instead want you to think about is what skill could we teach them that would mean that they would never do that because they have this they're they're so skilled at a dimmer switch that actually they're just never gonna go to level 100 and bite you.
[3:54] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[3:54] SPEAKER_00: And and and so we absolutely do need to be building a dimmer switch in this puppy.
[4:00] SPEAKER_00: Now, this is where it gets a little bit um a little bit interesting.
[4:06] SPEAKER_00: Because the way to build a dimmer switch in puppies is to try and get them to practice going slightly up an arousal and then back down in arousal and slightly up an arousal and then back down in arousal.
[4:19] SPEAKER_00: And so an example of what that might look like might be, for example, we might um give them a little stroke on the side, but then we might stroke them a little bit faster, yeah?
[4:31] SPEAKER_00: So that they're like, it's it's a little bit more exciting.
[4:34] SPEAKER_00: But what we want to do is we don't want to make them too excited, we want to just make them a tiny bit excited and then see that they can calm back down as you slow your stroking back down, right?
[4:44] SPEAKER_00: So that would be one example.
[4:45] SPEAKER_00: It's it's like effectively like a massage method of teaching a dimmer switch.
[4:50] SPEAKER_00: And you'll know when you get it wrong, yeah, and you get in and you push their arousal level higher than they can cope with.
[4:56] SPEAKER_00: Why?
[4:56] SPEAKER_00: Well, because it's gonna be biting your pants, yeah?
[4:59] SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna know um that that was too much, and we just need to do it in a much more subtle way the next time.
[5:05] SPEAKER_00: And the more your puppy flexes that muscle of going up and down in arousal ever so slightly, the better they will get at it, and the more challenge you can apply to them in that situation.
[5:16] SPEAKER_00: The second way that we can build that is by um animating their food, using their food.
[5:21] SPEAKER_00: So effectively playing games with their food.
[5:24] SPEAKER_00: But what you want to do is you want to think about how we deliver that food to them.
[5:29] SPEAKER_00: So, for example, if I if I gradually and slowly deliver the food to their mouth or to the floor and let them gently go and get the food, that's very low arousal, isn't it?
[5:40] SPEAKER_00: That's maybe a level 10.
[5:42] SPEAKER_00: Whereas if I pop the piece of food on the floor and flick it with my finger so that they get to chase it, that's maybe like a level 70, yeah?
[5:50] SPEAKER_00: Um, and what we want to play around with is little tiny fluctuations in arousal level, up and down, up and down in the way that we deliver that food, so that they can practice going, okay, I'm gonna go slightly up in arousal to get that piece of food, but now I'm gonna go slightly down in arousal to get the next piece of food, so that we're again getting them flexing that muscle and getting better at that internal dimmer switch.
[6:12] SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, same same applies as the as the massage method, whereby if you ask too much of them in terms of an increase in arousal, and what might happen is you might flick the piece of food, your puppy might chase the piece of food, get the piece of food, and then you try and calmly deliver a piece of food to their mouth the next time or to the ground, and if they're just biting at your clothes and mouthing your arm, we know that that was too much of a challenge for them, and instead, maybe next time we just need to gently roll the piece of food, and that might create an arousal level that they can come back down from.
[6:49] SPEAKER_00: Does this make sense?
[6:51] SPEAKER_00: So effectively, what we're getting them to do is practice the skills that that would get them to make the right choice in the situation you're struggling in, but we're getting them to practice the skills outside of that situation so that they've got a bit of a head start, right?
[7:08] SPEAKER_00: And so those would be just two methods.
[7:11] SPEAKER_00: There are a number of methods, and I would I would recommend if you've got a 15-week-old miniature poodle puppy and they're they're struggling with a dimmer switch and they're probably struggling with lots of other skills as well.
[7:20] SPEAKER_00: I'd recommend you get into the help my dog hub, which is like the members area of help my dog where all the um video lessons are and live teaching and everything, and and I can practically show you with a dog there, yeah.
[7:32] SPEAKER_00: So um definitely um check out the help my dog hub and get involved in that because there's there's a whole dimmer switch section of you know 30 plus games and strategies that will um that will teach your miniature poodle to have literally the best dimmer switch in the world, so that even a knock at the door and a visitor come into the house, you know, they're still horizontal, right?
[7:51] SPEAKER_00: Which will be the dream.
[7:52] SPEAKER_00: Um so definitely check that out.
[7:54] SPEAKER_00: So that but there are two methods to be playing around with um in the meantime.
[7:58] SPEAKER_00: Now, second thing that we've then got to think about is hey guys, I just want to take a moment to answer a question that has been coming in in literally 10 emails today, and that is how can we help you with your dog's behavior struggle, whether that be reactivity, separation, anxiety, resource guarding, maybe you've got a multi-dog household struggle right now, maybe your dog's just so overaroused on a walk that they just can't listen to you and they're chasing everything inside.
[8:24] SPEAKER_00: Like, can I get Tom's help?
[8:26] SPEAKER_00: Um, and the answer is that actually you can, and you can do that by booking a behavet behavior consultation.
[8:34] SPEAKER_00: That's where literally my team give you the plan on how to transform your struggle and get you to that dream that that made you get a dog in the first place, right?
[8:44] SPEAKER_00: Your world's got smaller and smaller and smaller, and actually it doesn't need to be that way.
[8:48] SPEAKER_00: You just need to reach out for help.
[8:50] SPEAKER_00: Now, a couple of things to say on that.
[8:52] SPEAKER_00: First of all, if you're insured, if your dog's insured with Pet Plan, Kennel Club, Agria, or many pets, we actually do direct claims with them, which means that that's covered by your insurance.
[9:02] SPEAKER_00: So you don't pay out of your pocket, your insurance covers that.
[9:06] SPEAKER_00: And the second thing to say is that we have loads of options if you're insured with another provider, or if your dog's not insured at all, that's also totally fine.
[9:14] SPEAKER_00: We have loads of options that we've developed to make this so accessible for you.
[9:19] SPEAKER_00: And because we're aware that you've already invested a load of time and a load of money in getting your dog, looking after your dog, caring for your dog.
[9:26] SPEAKER_00: But the last thing we want is for you to have done all that and still not be living the life that you deserve with your dog.
[9:31] SPEAKER_00: And we know we can get you there.
[9:32] SPEAKER_00: So all you need to do is go to the Behave Vet website, and the way to do that is go B-E-H-A.V-E-T.
[9:42] SPEAKER_00: That's behotvet, and it will take you there.
[9:46] SPEAKER_00: Or just Google Behave Vet, right?
[9:48] SPEAKER_00: Um, and you can get scheduled in and we can literally get you booked in for a consultation as soon as possible.
[9:54] SPEAKER_00: We normally can accommodate it within a week, right?
[9:57] SPEAKER_00: So that you can be getting to your dream ASAP.
[10:00] SPEAKER_00: Now, second thing that we've then got to think about is why are they way more interested in biting your arms and your pants and your shoes than the toy?
[10:12] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[10:13] SPEAKER_00: Because really they they're just um substrates.
[10:18] SPEAKER_00: Hate to refer to you as a substrate, okay, but they're just they're they're they're just objects.
[10:24] SPEAKER_00: I imagine there'll be difference in those objects though, in how they are being animated in that situation.
[10:30] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[10:31] SPEAKER_00: So for example, when we're when we're mouthing arms and hands, we're probably moving arms and hands and going, oh, that really hurts, and puppy teeth are so sharp.
[10:41] SPEAKER_00: And I've had some of like the most painful like little puppy bites, especially when like a puppy tooth gets like in your fingernail, oh, it's like the most on a cold day, it's like the worst pain ever.
[10:53] SPEAKER_00: Um and um and so instead, what we need to do is we need to be really intentional about how we're responding to your puppy doing that in those moments, right?
[11:02] SPEAKER_00: So if they're dropping the toy and biting you instead, well, I'd be thinking in those situations, I'd potentially have a harness on them.
[11:11] SPEAKER_00: And if they're biting my hands or my arms or shoes or pants or whatever, then I would just gently pop a finger through their harness, okay?
[11:20] SPEAKER_00: Just to kind of manage their movement.
[11:22] SPEAKER_00: Rather than me trying to move myself out the way, which is probably gonna be more stimulating, I'm just gonna pop a finger through their harness and just try and anchor them that little bit just very gently and very calmly.
[11:33] SPEAKER_00: And what I might do instead is I might try and use this as a dimmer switch growing opportunity.
[11:39] SPEAKER_00: And I might have some food in my pocket and I might gently start to play around with that food in front of them and see if they will, you know, start to engage with the food.
[11:48] SPEAKER_00: And initially I might have to roll that food and animate that food and flick that food a little bit, but then what I'm looking to do is actually transition them into karma and a karma arousal level by then gently maybe placing the food on the floor for them to sniff it out.
[12:05] SPEAKER_00: And at this point, once they've got to that level of arousal, I've probably removed my fingers from their harness, yeah?
[12:11] SPEAKER_00: And I'm placing food and delivering it to their mouth.
[12:14] SPEAKER_00: And then what I might do is I might direct them onto something more appropriate to interact with, like a toy, and get them re-engaging with the toy, okay?
[12:24] SPEAKER_00: But the key is that whenever you whenever you get those instances of your puppy mouthing and biting at you, aside from the fact that they might be teething and they, you know, they might that might be comforting to them, it'd probably be more comforting, you know.
[12:37] SPEAKER_00: I don't think like human flesh is especially comforting.
[12:40] SPEAKER_00: I think all objects are probably just as comforting, right?
[12:44] SPEAKER_00: Um but you've got to think what's happened is they've gone into light switch rather than dimmer switch.
[12:49] SPEAKER_00: And so what we need to do is guide them and help them to experience a dimmer switch in that situation, medium level arousal levels going down into lower level of arousal.
[13:02] SPEAKER_00: And so actually, those are those are skill building opportunities when they do happen, yeah.
[13:07] SPEAKER_00: Now, third thing that I would say is what happens prior to the light switch switching on and then biting your arms, yeah?
[13:17] SPEAKER_00: And and what I want you to think about is it could be something in the moment.
[13:21] SPEAKER_00: For example, it could be the way you're moving, it could be that they're very, very stimulated by your movement, and therefore you might want to support them more when you're moving by, I don't know, dropping bits of food on the ground or in the grass to give them something to engage with to allow them to better disengage from your movement.
[13:37] SPEAKER_00: And so it could be something in the moment, but equally it could be something that happened, you know, in the 24 hours prior to that moment.
[13:45] SPEAKER_00: This could be a sign that your poodle's little stress bucket that fills with exciting things and scary things throughout the day is filling and filling and filling, and this is an overflow of the bucket moment, right?
[13:58] SPEAKER_00: Um and it's not something that you do in that moment, but rather all the craziness that happened in the 24-48 hours prior.
[14:05] SPEAKER_00: And this might be a sign that actually your poodle puppy needs more downtime, maybe needs more time with less stimulation.
[14:14] SPEAKER_00: Um, and the worst thing that we could do for this little puppy right now is see this as a symptom of them having too much energy and try and um try and exercise them more and stimulate them more.
[14:26] SPEAKER_00: Because what's that gonna do?
[14:28] SPEAKER_00: It's probably gonna create more of a light switch and it's gonna fill their stress bucket more.
[14:32] SPEAKER_00: So the problem's gonna get worse and worse.
[14:34] SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
[14:34] SPEAKER_00: As it's getting worse and worse, they're getting fitter and fitter because you're exercising them so much, right?
[14:39] SPEAKER_00: So they get better at biting and they get quicker at biting, yeah?
[14:42] SPEAKER_00: And so instead, see this as a sign of actually, oh, I I I hear you might need a bit more downtime in the next 24 hours, right?
[14:51] SPEAKER_00: See it, see it like that.
[14:53] SPEAKER_00: Um, especially if there's like witching hours going on where this where this happens maybe towards the end of the day when the bucket is really, really full.
[15:01] SPEAKER_00: Maybe they need more um time away from you in the day or just you know, time with you, but you're you're sat reading a book and they're you know having a long-lasting chew or spending time in a puppy pen or a crate.
[15:12] SPEAKER_00: Um those three things combined, those three focuses combined, will not only fix this struggle, but they're actually exactly what you need to be doing to prepare it, to prepare your dog for the your puppy for the you know the big wide world and them being a really enjoyable addition to your life and teammate rather than feeling like your world is shrinking because you're having to you know say no to more and more experiences because they don't have the dimmer switch that is needed for this world, that this world really, really requires.
[15:43] SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm aware that I was talking about a 15-week-old miniature poodle puppy from a listener who has um who has messaged in.
[15:50] SPEAKER_00: The reality is, is everything that I've just talked about, there's probably takeaways for each and every dog owner, regardless of that dog's age, regardless of that dog's breed, regardless of what struggle that dog has right now, right?
[16:03] SPEAKER_00: And so this might be a great opportunity for all of us just to reflect on how good is our dog's dimmer switch right now?
[16:09] SPEAKER_00: Is this an area that we could be growing and putting a bit of, you know, just maybe a session a day into growing their dimmer switch?
[16:16] SPEAKER_00: Um how how well managed is their stress bucket right now?
[16:21] SPEAKER_00: Are they getting enough downtime?
[16:23] SPEAKER_00: Would they benefit from more downtime?
[16:24] SPEAKER_00: You can never really have too much downtime, right?
[16:26] SPEAKER_00: Has anybody realized that?
[16:28] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you actually never have enough.
[16:30] SPEAKER_00: Um and so take this moment, regardless of whether you're this listener or other another listener, um, just to reflect on those two things because they are incredibly powerful and influential on how your dog behaves just day to day, week by week, in their interactions with people, visitors to the house, you, other dogs, and ultimately it's how our dogs interact with and engage with those that influence how much freedom they get.
[16:56] SPEAKER_00: And we all want our dogs to have loads and loads of freedom.
[16:59] SPEAKER_00: So, with that, guys, that was this episode, and we'll see you next week.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.