Looking at the strong bond between me and my beagle, my neighbor decided to get a beagle puppy too. After a couple of months, my neighbor came to me and told me that her pup has started biting her a lot lately. Puppy biting and nipping is 100% normal, but when do beagle puppies stop biting?
Beagle puppies stop biting and nipping when their teething process is completed, which is usually at 7 to 8 months. Play biting is another common reason which will stop when the puppy realizes that it’s not the correct way to interact.
Further, in this article, we will look into different reasons why a beagle puppy bites and things you can do to stop it.
Do Every Beagle puppy bite?
Yes, not just beagle but every puppy bites. Well, not just puppies even human babies bite while teething. There’s nothing to worry about, puppy biting does not mean that your pooch is aggressive. Your beagle is still a puppy and hasn’t learned the correct way of interesting with others.
There are two major reasons why your beagle puppy has become a crocodile:
- Teething
- Playful Biting
Let’s look into both of these reasons and see what you can do to stop it.
Teething
When beagle puppies are around 5 months old, their permanent teeth start developing, replacing their old milk teeth. This process causes irritation in their gums. During this time, a puppy will chew on anything he can find to ease the irritation in his gums.
Teething can last for 2 to 3 months. Once, the teething process is completed and all the new teeth are developed, their urge to chew on things end and they stop biting and nipping on people.
How to deal with it
Teething is unavoidable in any puppy, but there are few things you can do to ease their irritation.
Chew Toys works wonder: Get some good quality chew toys for your pooch. Get them in different shapes and texture. Get a hard toy, soft toy, rubber toy, plastic toy. Introduce these toys one at a time, this will keep your beagle puppy excited. Chew toys can do wonders while a puppy is teething.
Use an Ice cube: Ice cube can be like an edible chew toy. Keep it on the floor and let your puppy chew and play with it. Ice can help numb the pain in his gums. To make this more interesting, you can add some chicken broth to the water before freezing it.
Use a frozen carrot: Freez a baby carrot and give it to your puppy. Carrots are healthy and can be a great edible chew toy.
Playful Biting
Beagles are energetic and playful creatures, and they love to play. But sometimes puppies don’t know the correct way of interacting with you. The thing that biting is the only way to interact and play with people. You may notice your puppy biting your fingers, clothes, and feet. This may seem cute when your pup is 8 weeks old but becomes a serious problem when he grows up and becomes stronger.
This is more common in puppies who didn’t get enough time to spend with their littermates and mother. A puppy learns basic socialization skills like no biting, from his littermates and mother.
With some training and redirection methods, you can easily teach your puppy that biting is not a way to interact with you within a month.
How to stop Play Biting
Without proper training, this behavior can continue to a puppy’s adulthood and become dangerous. So its better to be persistent about it and start with the training as soon as possible.
Overview: You need to make your beagle puppy understand that humans have sensitive skin and his biting hurts.
Biting Inhibition: The first thing to teach your puppy to be gentle while biting. Don’t worry, this won’t encourage your pooch to bite. Your puppy needs to understand how much pressure is safe while mouthing on people. Puppies bite each other all the time, which is okay. But every time a puppy bites his mate too hard, his mate yelps and stops playing. This makes the puppy realize that it’s not okay to bite hard. You will have to apply something similar to the training:
- While playing, let your puppy bite your hand.
- And the moment your puppy bites hard, yelp loudly.
- This will surely make the puppy alert and stop.
- Stop playing with him immediately.
- Sooner or later your puppy will understand that biting is not okay.
- Meanwhile, every time your pooch licks your hand or fingers, give him a raise, followed by a reward. This will give him a clear vision of what type of behavior is okay and what’s not.
You will, of course, have to be consistent with this. Your pooch won’t learn this in a day. It can take even more than a week.
Redirection: The next thing to do is teach your puppy the correct way of interacting with you. During the playtime, keep a toy in your hand, and every time your puppy tries to interact with you by biting, redirect him with the toy. If your pooch tries to grab your clothes, show him a toy and distract him. Again, be consistent with it.
The entire training can take a month, but it’s necessary, and please do not procrastinate until it turns out to be something serious.
Lack of Socialization
I get tons of emails daily from new beagle puppy parents, telling me that their puppy bites them every time they pat or even touch him. Every beagle has a different personality. Some are friendly and some like to be independent. Independent thinkers take a little longer to learn socialization skills. They are not comfortable with the touch of other people. Well, this can be a bummer for new parents who are excited to cuddle their adorable little pooch.
If your puppy bites you when you try to stroke or pat him, then you can follow this to make him more comfortable with a human touch:
- Your puppy just needs to realize that getting cuddled by you is a good thing.
- Keep a few treats in your fist making it a little difficult for your puppy to get them.
- Let your puppy sniff your fist and try to get treats out of there.
- Don’t make it impossible, or else your puppy will lose interest. Let him taste and grab a treat at a time.
- While doing this, stroke your other hand on your pooch body.
Remember, your beagle is unique but equally adorable, so take it slow and be patient. It may take a few weeks until your beagle puppy stops biting and allow you to cuddle.
My puppy Growls and bites
Well, this is normal too. Beagles are vocally expressive. They bark, while, bay, cry, and even growl. In most cases, their growling is normal. In fact, my younger beagle Groot (8 months old) growls while playing tug of war and he is not at all aggressive.
Final Thoughts
Your beagle puppy can have one or all of the above biting problems. Start the training as soon as possible and take it slow. Do not lose your patience and never give up on your pooch.