Never Fear, Karl Is Here! Help for Puppy Biting

Is that the “Jaws” theme you hear as your puppy comes barreling towards you, mouth open, sharp puppy teeth ready to chomp on your hand or whatever body part is closest? Rest assured, you are not alone as every puppy I’ve worked with has caused some sort of injury to their people!

Puppy teeth are like little needles, and while they don’t mean to hurt us, it doesn’t change the fact that it does hurt, and can be very frustrating to deal with. Enter: Karl. The “Karl Hack” was created by Kim Brophey, owner and trainer at The Dog Door in Asheville, North Carolina, and creator of the L.E.G.S. Applied Ethology Family Dog Mediation course. “Karl” is simply a stuffed dog, preferably one the size of your puppy or bigger, that you give them to essentially beat up on and take your place (Melissa & Doug make life sized stuffed dogs that are perfect to use. Amazon often has sales on them, or you might could find one on Facebook marketplace). If your puppy was still with his or her littermates, they would be roughhousing and biting A LOT. This is completely normal puppy behavior. However, we as humans don’t really appreciate the biting. So, we can use “Karl” as a stand in, and either let the puppy play with it by themselves, or move it around and incorporate it into playing with the puppy. Giving puppies this outlet, as well as chew toys/bones of various textures, can really help to decrease the amount of biting. Besides “Karl” and appropriate chew items, you also want to make sure your puppy is getting adequate naps. Just like human children, puppies need a lot of sleep and if they aren’t getting enough sleep, then can be cranky which often leads to more biting.

Try implementing these tips with your puppy, and save yourself from more “shark attacks”!

Still dealing with a shark puppy? Need further help? Fill out the contact form and we can talk about training options to help you!