Ouch! When do Lab Puppies Stop Biting?

Bringing home a little Lab puppy for the first time is very exciting. But as time goes on you may start to wonder if the biting will ever stop. I know I sure did when I first got my Lab. So, I did some research to figure out when my little guy would get over his biting phase.

When do Lab puppies stop biting? 7 months old. As a general rule, a Labrador puppy will stop biting by the time it is 7 months old. At that age, your puppy will have all his adult teeth and will no longer bite due to teething.

While the teething may stop at 7 months of age, your puppy may still bite for other reasons. Besides cutting teeth, they also mouth things as a way to explore, and they nip during play. Luckily, there are things you can do as a lab owner to curb that biting habit, even before the 7-month mark.

Why Lab Puppies Bite

If you are new to the world of young puppies, you may be surprised by how frequently your pup puts his jaws on something (or someone!).

Perhaps you’re wondering if this is normal or if your puppy is some kind of weird furry shark. I can assure you, though, that the biting is completely normal.

To some extent, the problem will stop by the time the puppy finishes teething at 7 months of age. Before this age mark, puppies are losing their baby teeth to make way for a full set of adult chompers. This process causes quite a bit of pain and irritation to the young pup’s gums, just as it does for human babies.

You’ll need to be patient with your little puppy as he works hard to grow his new teeth.

Provide him with ample chew toys.

Redirect his attention to one of these if he starts trying to chew on someone or something he shouldn’t. This will begin to teach him that biting people is not okay.

In addition to teething, puppies bite and mouth things as a way of exploring the world around them.

Since they don’t have hands to pick things up with, they resort to their mouths. This is similar to the way human babies stick things in their mouths. It is their way of interacting with their surroundings.

Being retrievers, lab pups are especially inclined to bite and grab things with their mouth. That is, after all, what they were bred to do!

Another reason for biting is simply that that’s how puppies play.

Biting is how your puppy interacted with his litter mates and mother during playtime. All the puppy had to do was nip at his brother or sister to initiate a game of tag and tumble.

Unfortunately, your puppy is not going to get that same reaction when he nips at you. (At least he shouldn’t!)

If your puppy is nipping at you to engage you in play, don’t give him the attention he is seeking.

Don’t wave your hands in his face or allow him to chew at your fingers.

While this may be cute when he’s little, you don’t want him to form a habit of grabbing for your hands with his mouth.

Redirect him to a fun toy instead.

Things That Trigger Puppies to Bite

Besides your hands, there are all sorts of things that can trigger a bite from your playful pup.

Moving feet are a favorite target for puppies. They see your fast-moving feet at their level, and they can’t help but chase them.

Like with your hands, entice your puppy with a toy to pull their attention away from your feet.

If they are persistent, separate yourself from them. Stepping over a baby gate would definitely do the trick. They can no longer target you, and the game stops. This is a clear sign to them that feet are not a toy.

Another big trigger is excitement.

If your puppy senses excitement, chances are he thinks it’s playtime, and he’s much more likely to bite. A few things that might set him off are roughhousing and noisy behavior from kids or adults.

Playing in a rough and physical way with your puppy encourages biting.

If you’re chasing him, rubbing him all over, or grabbing at him, he’s more likely to bite from all the excitement. If it escalates to this point, stop the interaction and give the puppy time to cool down.

Next time, try to pet him more calmly. Throw a toy around and let him play with that instead.

This same rule applies to children.

If your puppy is getting too riled up by your kids, it’s time to separate the two so the pup has time to calm down.

It’s your job to teach your children how to play with the lab puppy appropriately.

Identify a toy for the child to use as they play with the pup. Keep games between the two short to avoid uncontrolled excitement.

Teach your child what to do if a game does escalate into biting.

An easy response to teach children is the tree method. Should your puppy start biting during play, teach your child to become a tree:

• Have them stand straight with their arms at their sides and have them look at their feet.
• The child should remain like this until the puppy calms down.
• By doing this, the child becomes boring to the puppy, ending the game as the pup loses interest.

Teaching Your Puppy not to Bite

Part of teaching your puppy not to bite is understanding bite inhibition.

Bite inhibition refers to the puppy learning to not bite down too hard. Your puppy already learned some of this from their mom and litter mates.

When puppies play and wrestle and one bites down too hard, the other pup will yelp, and play will stop.

The same thing happens when nursing. If a pup bites down too hard on the mom, the mother dog will growl and move away.

These things teach the puppy that biting too hard makes good things end. As new puppy owners, we can use this to our advantage.

When playing with your puppy, act like your pup’s litter mate:

• If he bites down really hard on you, make a yelping sound or say “no” and then ignore your puppy.
• If he still tries to engage you, leave the room or step over a baby gate to separate yourself from him.
• After he has calmed down a bit, go back to playing with him.
• Repeat this process every time he bites down hard on you.

It’s important to take this training in steps.

Don’t expect your lab puppy to immediately understand that teeth on skin is unacceptable. Rather, begin with only the hardest bites.

Use a toy and try to get him to bite the toy instead of you. But if he does go for your hand and bites down hard, that’s when play stops.

Once you’ve taught your puppy that biting down hard hurts, you can begin to teach them to not put their teeth on you at all.

Again, take it in steps.

Once you’ve overcome the most painful of bites, target the next painful and so on.

Eventually you will get to the point where your puppy isn’t biting you during play, but rather is mouthing you. That is, putting his mouth on you, but not actually biting down.

You have made excellent progress!

But don’t stop there.

Begin stopping play whenever your puppy puts his mouth on you at all.

After a few weeks of working up to this final step, your puppy will understand that play only happens when he’s putting his mouth on toys and not on you!

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