Bite-Sized Lessons for Nippy Puppies

 

You Don’t Have to Struggle Alone With Puppy Nipping

February Theme: Focus on Behaviors

If you’re living with a nippy puppy, chances are you’ve had at least one moment where you thought:

“I love my dog… but this is hard.”

The constant nipping, the sharp teeth, the worry that you’re doing something wrong; it can feel exhausting and isolating. Many dog owners quietly struggle, wondering why play turns chaotic so fast or why calm moments seem so short-lived.

Here’s something important to hear:  You are not alone and your puppy is not being “bad.”

Most puppy nipping is a behavioral response, not a behavior problem. It’s how young dogs cope with excitement, frustration, overstimulation, and big emotions they don’t yet know how to manage. That’s why in our February theme is Focus on Behavior we focus on understanding what a dog is doing and why so we can change the outcome without blame or force.

Instead of asking, “How do I stop this?”

We start asking, “What is my puppy trying to communicate and what skills are missing?”

That shift changes everything.

The new Bite-Sized Lessons Mini-Class takes place February 10th - 12th!

To support dog owners through this common struggle, I created the Bite-Sized Lessons Mini-Class with short, easy-to-follow class designed to help you:

• Understand why puppy nipping happens 
• Respond calmly and clearly when it does 
• Replace nipping with better behaviors 
• Build emotional regulation skills that last beyond puppyhood

Each lesson is short on purpose. No overwhelm. No complicated training plans. Just practical guidance you can use in real life, even on hard days.

And because no one should have to navigate this alone…This mini-class is FREE for a short time. 

If you’re feeling frustrated, discouraged, or unsure of your next step, this is your invitation to pause, take a breath, and get support. Focusing on behavior, rather than labeling it as a problem, creates clarity, confidence, and calmer days for both you and your dog.

👉 Register now to access the Bite-Sized Lessons Mini-Class while it’s free.

You and your puppy deserve understanding, not pressure and help that meets you where you are.

Bite-Sized Lessons with the Perfect Storm

One of the most reassuring things dog owners learn in the Bite-Sized Lessons series is this:

nipping during puppyhood and adolescence isn’t random, and it isn’t a sign that your dog is aggressive or “out of control.” It’s the result of what we call the Perfect Storm of adolescence.

Bite-Sized Lessons breaks nipping down into three overlapping forces that are all happening at once during this stage of development:

Impulsiveness: Acting Before Thinking

Adolescent puppies live very much in the moment. Their brains are still developing the ability to pause, think, and choose a different behavior. When excitement spikes (during play, leash time, or greetings) impulses take over. Nipping often happens not because the puppy wants to bite, but because they haven’t yet learned how to slow themselves down.

Bite-Sized Lessons helps owners recognize impulsive moments early and respond in ways that guide the puppy toward calmer choices.

Instant Gratification: If It Works, It Sticks

Nipping brings immediate results. Hands move, people react, play continues, or the environment changes and to a young dog, that feels rewarding. Puppies aren’t trying to be difficult; they’re simply repeating behaviors that have worked before.

In Bite-Sized Lessons, owners learn how to interrupt this cycle by making gentle, appropriate behaviors more rewarding than nipping, so new habits can take root.

An Underdeveloped Nervous System: Big Feelings, Limited Skills

Perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle is this: a puppy’s nervous system is still under construction. Emotional regulation, the ability to calm down after excitement or stress, doesn’t come fully online until later in development.

Bite-Sized Lessons emphasizes co-regulation, teaching owners how their calm, clear responses help their puppy’s nervous system settle. Instead of punishing big feelings, we focus on building the skills puppies need to handle them.

By framing nipping as a developmental “Perfect Storm,” Bite-Sized Lessons helps dog owners move away from frustration and toward understanding. When we focus on behavior, rather than labeling it as a problem, we create space for learning, growth, and a stronger relationship with our dogs.

In Bite-Sized Lessons dog owners will learn how to play games that reinforce the behavior we want while using management of the environment to prevent that challenging behavior that hurts our fingers.

When nipping has become self reinforcing or has been reinforced unintentionally, it's easy to jump to punishment and blaming the dog for causing us pain. 

In Bite-Sized Lessons we take blame out of the picture and teach dog owners how use games to reinforce taking treats nicely, keeping puppy mouths on toys (not people), and calm the internal storm that leads to more nipping.

This Mini-Class will run from February 10th-12th with a mini-zoom session at 8PM Central each day. During this zoom, the info from the day's written lesson will be presented in video format. Then we will take a moment to walk through one of the participant's personal struggles followed by a Q & A Session. 

Each zoom meeting will take roughly 30-45 minutes depending on participation. Live participation is preferred and will be most valuable to dog owners, however a recorded replay will be made available within 24 hrs of the live session. 

Spaces are limited so sign up today to save your spot!