Pawrenting: Tips on how to teach your pet bite inhibition

One of the things a new pet owner will notice is how much a puppy or a kitten fancies biting you. Some will have a soft bite, others will dig deeper into your flesh, oblivious to the pain they are causing you. To them, it is a normal interaction. 
There are several reasons why kittens and puppies bite and what determines how hard they dig in. For dogs, some breeds bite harder than others but you can modify the strength to some degree.

dog biting
Early socialisation 

Early socialisation also determines a pet's biting behaviour. The first few weeks after being born, kittens and puppies learn to control the pressure of their teeth while nursing and while playing with their litter. If they bite too hard while feeding, the mother might get up and walk away or the siblings might stop playing with them. This negative punishment trains them on how hard they can bite.
Canine behaviour professionals reckon that puppies and kittens separated from their parents and siblings early are more likely to have poor biting habits than those who grow up with both and learn mouth behaviour through continuous feeding and socialising with siblings.

Training on the pressure

Anytime they bite you hard enough to inflict pain, say “ouch” firmly and remove your body part from their mouth and ignore them for around five seconds. If they continue to grab and bite you when you ignore them, move farther away and re-engage only when they are calm and stop biting. Repeat every time the bite is painful. Young cats and dogs learn through repetition. So just know it will take time and many repetitions before they learn. 
Similarly, when the bite is soft, reinforce this by giving them your attention. You can have a constant reward when they use the right amount of pressure. Praises can work at this moment but make sure not to be too enthusiastic with the praises as they might get them too excited and consequently increase the bite pressure again.
Always make sure the pet has enough soft toys to occupy their teeth. They help them soothe their gums when they are teething. They also help when you have children and the pet keeps biting them. The children can redirect the cat or dog to the toy instead of running away and screaming which is highly reinforcing for young pets.
Some of the things that are counterproductive when controlling bites include holding the pet's mouth closed when they bite, giving a high pitched yelp as it mostly excites the pet, a calm and firm “ouch” sends a much more consistent message.
Maryanne is a pet owner. [email protected]