How Do You Stop A Beagle From Biting?

Do you own a land shark…I mean a cute, adorable, cuddly yet sharp-toothed Beagle puppy?

Keep in mind that your puppy wasn’t born speaking your language and they don’t understand the rules of your home just yet.

All these things have to be taught to your Beagle. This is why saying “no bite” or “stop biting” really isn’t going to work.

The more consistent you are with what I’m about to teach you, the faster you can stop your puppy from biting you, others or your belongings but even more importantly we also need to teach your puppy that if they do bite they can’t chomp down till it hurts us.

Just note that even though you’re going to be equipped with all these really great tips… none of them will stop your puppy from biting, in one day.

Don’t worry there’s still hope! All is not lost! Puppies need to learn what’s called bite inhibition. This means they need to learn how soft or hard they can bite before it’s too much.

This is a useful skill when playing with other dogs or even us as we play games like fetch and tug with our Beagle puppy.

If your puppy grabs your hand by mistake, we don’t want them to continue to chomp down, we do want them to use a softer mouth and then move over to the toy you guys are playing with instead.

If we can’t just tell our puppy to stop biting, what can we do?
I’m going to share 10 tips to help your puppy with all this biting… and help you save what’s left of your hands, feet or whatever else Beagle puppy is biting on!

Why Do Puppies Bite?

Now puppies bite for a few different reasons, it’s important to take note of why they are biting because this can really help solve this problem…

Here go the top 5 reasons.

Exploring: Puppies explore the world with their mouth, after all
they don’t have thumbs to pick things up and investigate new and interesting objects…instead they use their nose and mouth (and teeth) to check things out.

So if your hand is sweaty, has lotions on it or smells like food… your puppy is going to nip and bite.

Natural Urge: Puppies have a natural urge to chew and bite.
If you do not give them the right things to chew on they will chew on you and your furniture.

This is why it’s important to have just the right toys on hand when you have a puppy, to ‘Keep Them Busy’ not attacking your hands arms or legs!

Teething: Puppies who are teething (3-6 months) will want to chew and bite even more because they have sore gums and their adult teeth are trying to pop through their gums…and push out the baby teeth.

Your going to want to help them soothe those sore gums by providing not only good chew toys but frozen filled Kongs.
to keep them busy and aid those sore gums.

Movement: Puppies are naturally drawn to movement which is why when you attempt to pet them they nip at your hands or when you are walking they bite the back of your pant leg or ankles.

Hang tight I’m getting to those remedies in just a moment… but keep this in mind when you’re walking through the house or even if you have a cat or kids that like run thru the house… your pup is naturally drawn to those movements.

Bite Inhibition: Puppies usually learn how soft or hard they can bite (bite inhibition) from their litter mates or mother during play interactions. When they bite on you, they are also learning how soft or hard too bite and what’s acceptable.

Solutions to all this biting

1 – Always have the right toys for your Beagle puppy to chew on.

Nylabones, antlers (deer, moose or elk), marrow bones (beef bones) and Kongs filled with a frozen mixture are great toys to have on hand for a biting & teething puppy.

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Don’t waste money on stuffed toys that can easily be chewed apart and ingested. Those kinds of toys can be very dangerous
Puppies can tear apart and swallow stuffing or squeakers and cause a blockage that needs to be surgically removed

2 – Puppies are drawn to movement

if you reach to pet your pup or go to grab one of their toys or
try to walk away and your puppy nips and bites at you, the best thing to do is always have a toy in hand when approaching your puppy or when your puppy comes near you.

Be prepared. Don’t walk around without something to immediately shove in your pup’s mouth. Immediately insert the toy in their mouth or at least in front of them. Don’t approach a land shark without a toy in hand!

You will repeat this many many many.. Did I mention many times!

3 – Yelping “OUCH” or saying “eh-eh” does work

There’s a right and wrong way to do this. It has to be strong enough that your pup takes it seriously so if you’re going to sound all sing-song like when you say Ou–ch then it won’t carry much meaning.

It has to be as if your arm is being chewed off by a shark minus the theatrics and even if it wasn’t you should always be consistent and make the same noises regardless of the intensity.
Remember we’re trying to teach our Beagle puppy what to do and what not to do.

But the key is rewarding your pup when they’ve stopped. This is how they learn to bite less or with less force. Now if you’ve done this several times and you don’t seem to be getting through that
shark brain..

I mean puppy noggin… it’s time to immediately end your interaction with your pup.

Don’t overuse your yelp…it soon won’t mean anything. It also may be time to evaluate if they need a nap due to overstimulation or play, maybe they need to go get rid of some pent up energy and go for a walk or get the zoomies out in the backyard.

When dogs have tons of pent up energy they get bitey..

4 – Encourage playong that do not include touching your Beagle puppy

Fetch or gentle games of tug. (Don’t play tug rigorously as your puppy can loose their puppy teeth prematurely!) When you play tug with a young puppy under 6 months we tend to play much more gentle. It’s as if we are just the toy holder that gently moves.

Your applying movement and slight resistance not a fast jerking motion so avoid whipping them around the room.

5 – Rotate the toys.

Every couple of days, switch out the toys so they seem new and interesting. Keeping all the toys out will lead to your puppy becoming bored with them easily. Its’ kind like a kid that has everything… they soon are bored because nothing is new
anymore.

Don’t create a spoiled rotten brat by overindulging them. Keep things fresh and new without breaking the bank. Just rotate toys every couple of days.

6 – Supervise your puppy.

Most puppies can’t be trusted to be alone until they are older than 7 months, some even older. If you have to leave your pup for even a split second to get the mail, make dinner, switch over the laundry…. then put them in their crate.

Crates are a great place to keep your pup safe when you can’t keep both eyes on them 100% of the time! It takes only a moment for your pup to chew an electric cord and get electrocuted.

It only takes a second for your pup to start nibbling and biting on the leg of a chair and then it becomes irresistible to your pup and they can’t stop themselves.

7 – Exercise your puppy!

Your puppy should be getting mental and physical exercise multiple times a day. A puppy that has a ton of pent up energy will be more likely to bite. They need an outlet to release all that pent up energy otherwise they take it out on you or your home.

Each month of age = 5 minutes of walking. If your puppy is 3 months old they should be getting 15 minute walks 2 times a day.
So your pup’s Age in months multiplied by 5 min = length of walk).
Some dogs require even more!!

8 – Watch your body posture.

When you drop your body posture your pup will get overly excited and want to bite you even more. It’s like you’ve become their littermate.

If your Beagle puppy is a biter, sit in a chair and play with your puppy. This way you have better control of interactions.

9 – Use the 3 strikes and your out rule.

This means if you’ve corrected using your yelp, OUCH or eh-eh and redirected your pup 3 times, you’ve gotten up and moved away from your biting pup, then it’s time to quietly and calmly give them some crate time.

Crates are never used as punishment, but they can be used to help refocus or redirect your pup and give them much needed rest. Puppies sleep upwards of 18 hours a day.

10 – Never play the “I’m going to get you” game.

Where you quickly reach for your puppy and quickly pull away. They will think this is an invite to chase and bite.

Remember dogs are drawn to movement and your puppy won’t understand why it’s ok to play this game with one member of the family but not with everyone else who doesn’t want to get bit when they interact with your puppy.

Now there is one last little secret weapon

I just want to mention what you should NEVER EVER DO if your puppy is biting…

We want our puppies to be happy to play and work for us not be feared into it. These old school tactics that I’m about to share, do not work and only scar and scare your puppy.

These techniques will not help you stop your puppy from biting!
These methods will make your puppy fear you and feel as if they have to defend themselves and bite even more.

Remember your puppy doesn’t understand why you don’t want them to do something that is a natural instinct for them We have to teach them what they can and cannot bite.

1.Never hit your puppy when they bite

2.Never hold your puppy’s mouth closed tight.

3.Never yell at your puppy for biting, you can yelp or use a high pitched “OUCH!” but remember telling them “bad dog, no bite” means nothing to them since they don’t know what
you are saying.

4.Never throw them in their crate for punishment when they are biting, you can calmly and quietly put them in their crate for a reset or rest.

Ok now that we are on the same page…
If you’ve done everything I’ve mentioned before…

You’ve worked on teaching bite inhibition, you’ve exercised your pup, you’ve let your pup rest and it just seems like all they did was recharge their batteries….

They’ve got all the right chewing toys and teething toys.

Then you may need a tiny little extra help.

Now I do not recommend this for sound-sensitive dogs or dogs that have fear issues…

I say this because I know someone isn’t going to listen to me when I say …this is only as a last-ditch effort for overly confident land sharks.

You can use whats called Pet Corrector, it’s just a can of compressed air, that when used creates a quick puff of air that stops the dog from continuing with the biting.

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The weird sound is enough to deter most pups from wanting to do that behavior more than a couple times.

If you use this method just know it should be used with caution as it can startle some dogs negatively and always always redirect to the right chew toy afterward.

Whenever you correct your dog, never leave them hanging.

Always teach them an alternate behavior or what you’d like them to do instead. You will find that you correct and redirect your dog many many times per day.

Now that you have the lowdown on the best way to stop your puppy’s biting fast, I want you to remain calm and consistent the next time your pup bites.

Grab a few toys that will last and switch them out every couple of days. Make sure to use a Kong filled with tasty treats that has been frozen.

You’ve got this!!

Now go play with your Beagle puppy!


Sarah is the Senior Editor at Beagle Owner. An avid reader of crime novels, fashion lover, and walking her Beagle Woody.