How to train an australian shepherd not to bite?
Biting comes naturally for dogs, more so for herding breeds like Australian Shepherds. Aggressive biting is an undesirable behavior and you want to train your Aussie early on not to bite. The good news is that Aussies are very intelligent dogs and highly trainable. You can control their biting behavior by redirecting their attention, providing a distraction, or inhibiting the biting.
To inhibit the biting behavior of your Aussie pup, you can use the limp and yelp technique. When your pup bites you while playing, pretend that your hand goes limp and make a yelping sound. Once your pup releases your hand, ignore him for 15 to 20 seconds then you can resume playing. Remember not to pull your hand away when your Aussie bites you as it can trigger his chase instinct and would make him want to bite you harder. Repeat this 3 times for a max of 15 minutes then have a puppy time out. This way, you’re teaching your pup that playtime stops when he’s getting rough. Once you’ve trained him to stop the hard bites, you can teach him to stop the moderate bites by repeating the same process. Do this until your pup learns to control his biting.
Another way to train your Aussie not to bite is through redirecting his behavior or providing a distraction. You’ve got to carefully observe what triggers this biting behavior and the signs that he’s about to bite. When your pup acts like he’s about to bite you, pull away even before the contact happens then wave his favorite toy or treat at him so that he’ll bite this instead. When you don’t have a toy or treat when your Aussie bites you, stop moving and when he releases you on his own, praise him for doing so and caress him so that he will understand that you like what he just did. Aussies are motivated by praise and treats as rewards. Use these to stop his biting behavior. Be calm throughout the process. The key here is your consistency and dedication in training your Aussie not to bite.
Teach your Aussie not to bite and raise a well-mannered dog that you and the people around you will surely love.
