Surviving Puppy Biting: Stop Biting My Feet!
Continuing in the Puppy Biting Solutions blog series, this week we’re looking at how to stop your puppy from biting your feet when you’re walking.
Why is it happening?
Here’s the challenge with feet biting: it’s extremely fun for the puppy and particularly painful for the human which makes it extremely fun for the puppy.
Imagine the scene: Puppy bites at your feet and you immediately move them because it hurts! To the puppy, that quick movement is a reward and he learns he can start a fun game of chase by biting the feet. “Feet are boring, but if you bite them, they jerk around like squirrels!!”
Pick Your Battles
If your puppy is particularly attracted to a certain kind of footwear (or bare feet), you can save yourself a lot of trouble by just not wearing those shoes during this puppy phase. If you normally wear only socks or no shoes at all, consider wearing tennis shoes...with the laces tucked inside.
If your feet are protected, you’re less likely to accidentally reward your pup for biting by jerking your feet away.
Treat Toss Away
Protected, boring feet are helpful, but that’s not the only answer.
For feet fascinated puppies, I like to toss treats away from myself before walking. This gives them something to do with their energy while keeping the teeth off my feet.
“My puppy doesn’t notice the food…he just attacks my feet anyway.”
This usually happens because the puppy isn’t used to finding food you’ve tossed. Before you toss, put your hand close to his nose so he can smell the food. Once he’s caught the scent, do a slow-motion toss so he can track your hand and see the food fly.
