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Help! My dog bites hard during zoomies. How do I train her to stop?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 4 months old | 19.842 lbs

often times my dog would do zoomies, & i know it's because she's excited especially when my borther gets home. often times too this zoomies leads to biting. not an aggressive bite, but it still hurt as she usually bites hard even when i know she's only playing. just a 'stop' won't stop her from biting when in zoomies mode. so, can i stop her zoomies mode that involves biting? how?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Debi Matlack

Veterinary Technician

Published on September 23rd, 2018

When you play with her, let her mouth on your hands. Continue play until she bites hard. When she does, immediately give a high-pitched yelp, as if you’re hurt, and let your hand go limp. This should startle your puppy and cause her to stop mouthing you. (If yelping seems to have no effect, you can say “Too bad!” or “You blew it!” in a stern voice instead.) Praise your puppy for stopping. Resume whatever you were doing before. If she bites you hard again, yelp again. Repeat these steps no more than three times within a 15-minute period. If you find that yelping alone doesn’t work, you can switch to a time-out procedure. When she delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Then, when she startles and turns to look at you or looks around, remove your hand. Either ignore her for 10 to 20 seconds or, if she starts mouthing on you again, get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds. After the short time-out, return to her and encourage her to play with you again. It’s important to teach her that gentle play continues, but painful play stops. Play with her until she bites hard again. When she does, repeat the sequence above. When your puppy isn’t delivering really hard bites anymore, you can tighten up your rules a little. Require her to be even gentler. Yelp and stop play in response to moderately hard bites. Persist with this process of yelping and then ignoring her or giving her a time-out for her hardest bites. As those disappear, do the same for her next-hardest bites, and so on, until your puppy can play with your hands very gently, controlling the force of his mouthing so that you feel little or no pressure at all. Also, make sure she is getting lots of outside time to play, going for lots of walks, playing fetch, etc. Get her involved in dog agility or obedience training (or both!), train her to do tricks or perform tasks for you, anything and everything to tire her body and engage her mind. A tired dog is a good dog.

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1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Other Answers

  • Image profile

    Answered By Debi Matlack

    Veterinary Technician

    Published on June 27th, 2021

    When you play with your puppy, let her mouth on your hands. Continue play until she bites especially hard. When she does, immediately give a high-pitched yelp, as if you’re hurt, and let your hand go limp. This should startle your puppy and cause her to stop mouthing you. (If yelping seems to have no effect, you can say “Too bad!” or “You blew it!” in a stern voice instead.) Praise your puppy for stopping. Resume whatever you were doing before. If your puppy bites you hard again, yelp again. Repeat these steps no more than three times within a 15-minute period. If you find that yelping alone doesn’t work, you can switch to a time-out procedure. When your puppy delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Then, when she startles and turns to look at you or looks around, remove your hand. Either ignore her for 10 to 20 seconds or, if she starts mouthing on you again, get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds. After the short time-out, return to your puppy and encourage her to play with you again. It’s important to teach her that gentle play continues, but painful play stops. Play with your puppy until she bites hard again. When she does, repeat the sequence above. When your puppy isn’t delivering really hard bites anymore, you can tighten up your rules a little. Require your puppy to be even gentler. Yelp and stop play in response to moderately hard bites. Persist with this process of yelping and then ignoring your puppy or giving her a time-out for her hardest bites. As those disappear, do the same for his next-hardest bites, and so on, until your puppy can play with your hands very gently, controlling the force of her mouthing so that you feel little or no pressure at all.

    Vote icon

    2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

  • Image profile

    Answered By Debi Matlack

    Veterinary Technician

    Published on June 5th, 2019

    When you play with your puppy, let him mouth on your hands. Continue play until he bites especially hard. When he does, immediately give a high-pitched yelp, as if you’re hurt, and let your hand go limp. This should startle your puppy and cause him to stop mouthing you. (If yelping seems to have no effect, you can say “Too bad!” or “You blew it!” in a stern voice instead.) Praise your puppy for stopping. Resume whatever you were doing before. If your puppy bites you hard again, yelp again. Repeat these steps no more than three times within a 15-minute period. If you find that yelping alone doesn’t work, you can switch to a time-out procedure. When your puppy delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Then, when he startles and turns to look at you or looks around, remove your hand. Either ignore him for 10 to 20 seconds or, if he starts mouthing on you again, get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds. After the short time-out, return to your puppy and encourage him to play with you again. It’s important to teach him that gentle play continues, but painful play stops. Play with your puppy until he bites hard again. When he does, repeat the sequence above. When your puppy isn’t delivering really hard bites anymore, you can tighten up your rules a little. Require your puppy to be even gentler. Yelp and stop play in response to moderately hard bites. Persist with this process of yelping and then ignoring your puppy or giving him a time-out for his hardest bites. As those disappear, do the same for his next-hardest bites, and so on, until your puppy can play with your hands very gently, controlling the force of his mouthing so that you feel little or no pressure at all. Start teaching him obedience by making him sit and wait when you feed him. Make him sit and tell him 'wait'. If he gets up before you tell him okay, say 'no', put him back in a sit and tell him to wait again. If he waits even for a second the first few times let him have his dinner. You can also work with him on this task with treats and a favorite toy. Make your training sessions short and always end on a good note, with him having done something correctly and getting a treat. Make sure he gets plenty of playtime and mental stimulation because a tired dog is a happy dog.

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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