Pitbulls are popular dogs, but unfortunately, they come with a big misconception because of their appearance, and for reasons people used and treated them. These dogs are lovebugs, but there can be a situation where they can bite.
How do you punish a Pitbull for biting? This is a completely normal question, and you need to always react in a way to make them realize that biting is not okay.
We want to note that this does not mean that they bit someone aggressively. They can do it through playing, or in some cases, to defend themselves.
If your Pitbull got in this situation, we are here to help you with how to react, and what to do to make sure that this does not become a habit, or in other words, to never happen again.
How To Punish A Pitbull For Biting
When you notice your dog doing something that can, over time, turn into something dangerous, you need to know how to properly react. This is not an easy task. Emotions can get the best out of even the calmest dog owners.
It is important to know your dog and to assess the situation.
Not every Pitbull will react to certain punishments the same. We will list the things you can do when you notice that your Pitbull is nibbling on you or even giving harder bites.
We suggest you try them all out and see what works the best. Here are the things you should do, and things you should avoid at all costs.
1. Try Ignoring Them
It is a known thing that dogs are affectionate, and that they love attention that they receive from their owner. When they are doing something bad like biting, you you should try avoiding them for some time.
Sometimes, they will try to get your attention by biting you. When you react to that, you might actually be doing the worst thing possible because it will seem like you are rewarding that behavior.
Pitbulls are known for being clingy so this method can be very helpful with this dog breed.
This can be hard, but you need to ignore them for quite some time for this to work out. If you ignore them for only… let’s say, 10 or 15 minutes, they will not get what you were trying to show them.
2. Remove Yourself From The Situation
This can also be considered as ignoring them, but we need to be more specific with this one. If your dog is nibbling on you, and you are telling it calmly to stop, but it is still continuing with the behavior, you need to remove yourself.
This means that while they are biting on your hand, legs, or whatever they got ahold of, you just stand up and move away from them. The best would be for you to go to another room.
At first, your dog will probably be confused, but it will most likely still follow you and try to nibble on you. Even in this situation, you need to just keep ignoring him and moving away from him.
This way, the dog will realize that something is wrong, and that they did something that you did not like.
When you notice that they have calmed down, you can approach your dog. They might even start again with the nibbling when you come to them… no biggie. You will just remove yourself again.
If the behavior is repetitive, you can think of that as a good thing for teaching purposes. They will realize at this point that the reason why you are moving away from them is their nibbling and biting.
3. Never Hit Your Pitbull
Pitbulls are very gentle creatures, and they love attention and their owner with their whole heart. When you hit your dog, you need to know that it might not forgive you or even forget that feeling.
Your Pittie might get confused at first, but what is worse, it might start to fear you.
This can cause some trauma to your dog, and that is not something that you want to achieve. This can cause numerous other problems, like them developing depression and anxiety.
You can even end up with an aggressive dog, especially if you hit them a couple of times.
4. Don’t Yell At Your Dog
We understand that your dog biting you can make you feel overwhelmed and even a bit scared of the possibility of your dog getting used to that behavior. Sometimes, the first instinct can be to yell at your dog, and we completely understand.
But, make sure to stay calm and collected. These child-like pooches will for sure have some type of negative feeling if they experience their favorite human yelling at them.
Some dogs might even get so confused and out of their head that they don’t even realize what they did wrong, or what the reason is for you yelling. This completely defeats the purpose of your attention.
5. Use Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is probably the thing that you will commonly hear when talking about training, socializing, and ˝punishing˝ your dog. There is a reason for this, and the reason is that it works.
Positive reinforcement is basically rewarding your dog for good behavior. This is the most effective when your pooch ist still a puppy.
Every time the Pitbull puppy starts biting a toy for example instead of your hand or leg you can give them a treat. Try using a nice and excited tone. This way the puppy will realize that when they nibble on a toy they get a reward, while when they are biting you there will be no reward.
6. Express That You Are In Pain
This might not be a punishment, per say, but a way of showing that the thing that they are doing is hurting you. Pitbulls are sensitive, and they know how to read the energy of the people who they love the most.
When the dog bites you, say ouch and touch the part of the body that your dog bit you. This way, you are showing them both visually and verbally that biting is not good behavior.
Most Pitbull owners like to use this method of discipline on their dogs, and it has been proven that it works on most dogs of this breed.
You don’t have to specifically use the word “ouch” – you can just make a sound, but it is important to always use the same thing so they can realize what you are trying to show them.
7. Offer Your Dog Chew Toys
This also is not really a punishment, but rather a way of you redirecting them from biting you to biting the chewing toy. This is more appropriate for puppies, and it can be defined as a sort of training of the puppy.
When they start biting you, say the word “no”, and afterward, give them the toy. This can be tricky because some puppies tend to be goofier than others, and they might think that the way to get the toy is by nibbling on you.
This does not happen that often. Usually, they connect that you are trying to replace your hand that is being bitten with a toy that should instead be the one that is receiving the biting.
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Prevention Is Very Important: Here Is What You Need To Do
Biting can be thought of as sort of a way for your dog to communicate with you. It is also a natural instinct they showcase when they are playing, especially with puppies.
It is our job as dog owners to correct this behavior and prevent it from becoming a habit. There are a lot of things that you can do, but we listed the most important things you need to keep an eye on.
1. Find The Cause Of Your Dog’s Behavior
As we already mentioned, biting can be a way that your dog is trying to tell you something. It can also be a way of them defending themselves.
There is a saying that a dog will never bite for no reason, and we can say that this is true. Pitbulls are dogs that are considered to be naturally aggressive, but this is far from the truth. The cause of their aggression is… well, humans.
If you are hitting your dog or annoying them, sometimes they will defend themselves by biting. That type of bite can turn into a really serious injury if you don’t stop the thing that you are doing.
This is why it is important to always monitor interaction between kids and dogs, even though Pitbulls are known for being good with kids. The kid might pull on their tail or ears, and the dog might just nibble on them to remove the kid.
2. Reward Your Dog’s Excellent Behavior
When you see that your Pitbull has stopped nibbling on you, and has started nibbling a toy instead, you should reward that behavior. Any type of reward is really important because they will feel like they did something right, and will stop the biting sooner than with no reward.
The best type of reward is the dog’s favorite treats. You can also use a happy tone and give them a lot of praise. Well… you can also combine the two – that is the best, and your dog will for sure be very happy and proud after that.
3. Make Sure That They Are Exercised Properly
This might not sound that connected to the topic, but a Pitbull that is not exercised properly can become a bit destructive, and even aggressive after some time.
It is very important that they get their daily exercise since these dogs are more on the high to medium energy levels.
Biting can also be them getting your attention and trying to tell you to take them out because they need to let some of that energy out.
4. Assert Dominance
This is something that can be debated a lot. Some people are not for the idea of you showing your dog and teaching your dog that you are the alpha while others think that this is one of the first things that you need to do while the dog is still a puppy.
You can hear a lot of people giving advice about making sure that they know that you are the dominant one and that they need to listen to you, especially when you are planning to own a dog like a Pitbull).
This is totally up to you and your preferences. You know what is best for you and your dog, and you should stick to your gut.
To Sum It All Up
There are a couple of answers when it comes to the question, ˝How do you punish a Pitbull for biting?˝ We already mentioned that you should (and probably will have to) try a couple of ˝punishments˝ until you get your dog to realize things.
The main thing when it comes to teaching your Pittie to stop biting is staying calm and persistent. Nothing good comes from using force and yelling at your dog.
With this, you can only make things worse.
We hope that the list that we made was helpful, and that some of the things helped you with the problem of little biting demons.