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Help! My puppy keeps biting my hands and toes. How do I stop it?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Miniature American Shepherd | Female | spayed | 2 months and 3 days old | 7 lbs

I need advice because my puppy keeps biting our hands and toes and everything she gets a hold of. How can I make that puppy biting stop, letting her know that it's okay to bite her toys but not us. I got her when she was still 7 weeks old and I don't think she got time to learn not to bite from her litter mates.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Megan, DVM, CVA

Veterinarian

Published on July 18th, 2017

This is a very common problem with puppies her age. I would definitely tell her no when she does this and give her a toy instead. Also, holding her muzzle gently while telling her no helps to teach her that your the "boss". When she looks away from you while doing this is a sign she is submitting and you can let go and praise her. The first couple times you do this she may fight you and throw a puppy tantrum but you are not hurting her. She is just being a testy toddler. Also, make sure you or anyone else in the house is playing with her with your hands as this makes things confusing for her. Only play with her toys. Finally, if she isn't improving or showing a lot of dominance that you cannot control, I would contact a trainer to help teach you how to teach her to behave well. You could even enroll her into puppy classes when she is old enough. Teaching her to sit, lay, stay, etc makes her a better dog in the long run. Puppies take a lot of patience but they do get better with proper socialization and training. I hope this helps!

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