Why Does My Dog Nibbling Me?
Introduction
Being a pet parent is very exciting – you can experience happiness, joy, excitement, and much more with your lovely furry friend. But it is not always a good experience with furry friends; sometimes, they have a tough time. Dog loves his owner up to the extent that he can risk his life. Unfortunately, their love sometimes brings out irritating behavior from them, and they start nibbling. The love and affection of your pet for the owner can be one of the causes of nibbling because dogs crave their owner’s attention.
The nibbling behavior can sometimes be dangerous and problematic for the pet parents. If you are a pet parent, you may like and love how your dog comes near you and biting to get your attention and move you play. But over a period, your dog’s behavior can become violent and frequent, which is the point you think of its solution. However, you should expect this behavior from the start and take necessary actions, which I will describe in this article, to eliminate the probability of getting this behavior.
Why Does My Dog Nibble on Me?
As a pet owner, you don’t know when the problem starts as you think of love and affection. However, over the period, the issues become severe, and it becomes difficult to eliminate a habit that has developed with time. Moreover, there are more causes for the nibbling of your dog. Affection and love are not the only cause of this problem; instead, your dog can be suffering from issues like anxiety, teeth problems, etc.
Whatever the reason for this behavior, you should not let the dog develop the habit of nibbling. It is because you can resolve the issue in a week or so. But if your dog has developed the habit because of your acknowledgment, it becomes tough to eliminate the behavior. The reason is the love of your furry friend for you. He will do anything that pleases you.
Show of Affection
If you are away from your home and your dog feels the loneliness and anxiety of being alone, he will nibble on you on your return to show you that he feels alone and want you to be with him. You can think of it as a love bite from your lover. But you don’t like so many love bites in a day that look like your own pet heavily bites you.
Your dog may nibble when he wants you to play and make some fun to eliminate the boredom—for example, your dog nibbles to get your attention to play. Your puppy has developed the habit from his fellow puppies. Puppies nibble on each other to force them to play. However, some adult dogs do occupy this behavior with their owners.
“When the dog is sick, the body is more sensitive, slightly touched may bite. To check or rub the medicine, you can also wear a muzzle.”
Oral Issue
Teeth pain is one of the most painful pains; no species is free from it. Several oral and dental problems are the cause of severe pain in dogs. The most predictive behavior in oral or dental pains is clenching of teeth. However, your dog may nibble on you while suffering from oral and dental issues. Pain causes severe dog agitation, and your dog alleviates it by nibbling on you.
In actuality, if you find your dog nibbling on you because of an oral or dental problem, you should take your dog to a vet. However, in the meantime, you should not let your dog develop the habit of nibbling. Furthermore, you should avoid nibbling because it will be difficult to manage the dog if he becomes habitual to nibbling.
Anxiety
The dog that is more attached to their owners and they often suffer from separation anxiety. However, if you live in an area with more than normal noise, fireworks, traffic, airport, etc., your dog may suffer from anxiety issues. Anxiety causes agitation and stress, which are the causes of several abnormal behaviors, one of which is nibbling.
Some dogs are, just like their human friends, more prone to nervous behaviors because of anxiety and stress. And these behaviors let them nibble or even suckle your hands or fingers. These behaviors act as relieving techniques to alleviate anxiety and stress. Nibbling is usually a coping mechanism, but you should be aware of the problems causing your dog to nibble.
Excitement
There are various behaviors that humans and animals express when they get excited. You should probably know about the Cocker Spaniel, which is famous for tinkling slightly when he gets excited. Tinkling and nibbling are almost the same behaviors that one can express in excitement. You may think that why your dog nibbles on you. Well! This answer lies in the extent of affected dogs have for their owners. Dogs want to share their feeling with their close ones. Therefore, you always become the prey of your dog’s nibbling.
Teething Behavior from Puppy Hood
Teething behavior in a dog is no more different than a human baby’s teething behavior. Puppies at a young age start eruption of teeth, and this period is harrowing for them. However, they tend to bite anything soft and smooth to alleviate the pain of teething.
Puppies at their teething age develop the habit of nibbling, and they usually nibble on each other. However, some of the dogs adopt this habit even in their adulthood. Habitually, they get comfort and relaxation executing this behavior.
What is the Difference Between Mouthing and Nibbling?
The hairlike difference, sometimes, between mouthing and nibbling is aggressiveness. The severity of biting can tell you that whether your dog is mouthing or nibbling. Also, the playful attitude, relaxation of body and face muscles, and general attitude will make the difference.
Mouthing is relatively a docile behavior because of the innate behavior of dogs to explore everything by taking it into the mouth. However, your dog may express this behavior to show affection and love to you. Therefore, mouthing is somewhat normal in dogs, and they do it for exploring the world.
Nibbling is relatively a harsh behavior compared to mouthing, and your dog takes small bites to express nibbling. These small bites are may be due to aggressiveness, agitation, stress, and other problems. Or it can only be due to the extra possessiveness and affection of your dog. However, nibbling is not a good sign because of several reasons.
Why Should This Behavior Not Be Tolerated?
Mouthing or nibbling are behaviors you should not tolerate, even at the cost of affection. You may think of these behaviors as a symbol of love, but you will not allow your dog to do that when you know about their consequences.
This can be the case that you love nibbling and can tolerate it. But if you are living with other family members, nibbling can be dangerous for them. In actuality, kids have softer skin, and they may not bear nibbling and can get an injury. It can also be the case that your dog is suffering from a contagious disease, and after biting, the disease can be transmitted to others. However, whatever the case is, you should not let your dog nibble on you or anyone else in the family.
How to Stop Your Dog from Nibbling?
Owing to the consequences of nibbling, you should not let your dog bite you. To stop your dog from nibbling, you should first find the reason for nibbling.
- Chewing toys: If your dog bites you in the teething phase, you should provide him with chew toys to avoid the pain. It will make your dog feel alleviated.
- Allow your puppy to spend more time with their mother or other puppies: If your puppy is at an early age, it is better to let him spend enough time with his furry friends.
- Discourage biting: However, if your dog is adult and still biting, you should discourage the behavior. When your dog starts biting you, you should scream a little and say “NO” or “GENTLE” or other words to let him know that you are hurt. As dogs behave to please their owners, they can’t beat your discouragement and quit nibbling. Treats can also help you in that. When your dog is not nibbling and nice, don’t nibble on you after your discouragement, you should provide them treats. Treats will help them learn to quit nibbling.
- Have a time out: Mostly, dogs nibble while playing, so you should take a break or move away when your dog nibble on you. It will make them learn that you don’t like the behavior, and they will gradually learn to quit nibbling.
Final Thoughts
Nibbling can be fun and love in one way and can be seriously dangerous in several ways. Therefore, it is better not to let your dog bite you. You can any of the ways to avoid your dog’s nibbling depending on your ease. At the same time, you should know why your dog’s nibbling because then you can treat it better.
Don’t forget to leave your questions below the comments at the end of the article. If you found this article useful and interesting, please don’t forget to share it with your friends and family.
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