Why Does My Dog Bite Me When Excited? [PLUS HOW TO STOP IT!]

Spending time with your dog is usually fun. However, when you do, your dog may get overly excited and then begins to bite you. When this happens, it could become frustrating that you might even want to scold the dog.

Dogs bite their owners when they are excited for various reasons, including to play with you, to get relieved and soothe themselves, it wants to jaw-wrestle, it wants to chew something, and it wants to get your attention. You should avoid screaming, pulling, or pushing the dog when it does this.

As a dog owner, you should know that scolding is not the best approach to stop your dog from exhibiting bad behavior. Instead, you need to understand the possible causes and then learn how to stop them.

Why Does My Dog Bite Me When Excited?

As a dog owner, it can be frustrating and annoying when your dog bites you because it is excited. When dogs get super excited sometimes, they could display some behaviors such as barking loudly, jumping, spinning, and nipping. If you currently have a puppy that bites you when excited, that should not be a concern.

It is natural for many puppies to bite. They are likely to stop as they grow older. However, some dogs continue this habit even when fully grown. For such a dog, you must learn how to stop the habit, as the biting could be painful and even embarrassing sometimes.

However, to learn how to stop the biting habit, you must first understand the possible reasons why it happens. We will be explaining some reasons why your dog bites when excited below.

Your Dog Is In A Playful Mood

Biting is a normal behavior many dogs display whenever they are excited. When a dog is in a playful mood and wants to involve you in it, it could do that by biting you. This is more likely to happen when your dog does not have any toy or a buddy to play with. So, this is bound to happen frequently if you are the dog’s only playmate.

Also, during playtime too, when your dog gets overly excited, it could nip at your hands or leg for fun. This is more likely if the kind of play it engages in involves running and chasing.

Your Dog Wants To Soothe Itself

Another reason a dog could bite you when excited is that it is experiencing oral pain. When a dog feels pain or discomfort in its mouth, it could result in grabbing something in its mouth to ease the pain. So, when there is nothing around to grab, your dog may bite you to soothe itself.

Your Dog Wants To Jaw-Wrestle

Jaw-wrestling is one of the ways dogs play with themselves. This harmless game usually involves two dogs attempting to bite each other’s faces. So, if a dog wants to jaw-wrestle but does not have any dog to do that with, it could turn to its owner to bite just for fun.

If your dog jumps on you while walking or playing, then bites you, it is a sign that it wants to jaw-wrestle. However, you need to pay attention to your dog when this happens. The moment the dog begins to act aggressively, it might indicate that the dog thinks you are one of its dog friends.

Your Dog Wants To Chew Something:

If you cannot relate your dog’s biting behavior to any of the reasons explained above, then it could be that your dog wants to chew something. Generally, dogs love to move their mouths. They could chew anything they see around from toys, bones, slippers, and sticks.

When a dog does not have anything to chew, it could decide to bite its owner since that is the nearest thing it feels is available to chew. If you notice this behavior, you could provide your dog with a toy or something to keep its mouth busy instead of biting you.

How To Stop My Dog From Biting When Excited

Your dog’s bite can be harmless sometimes, especially when it does it for fun. However, this is not good behavior, as it could be very painful sometimes. So, it is always advised that you ensure you learn ways to stop your dog from doing this. We will be explaining other ways of stopping your dog from biting you when excited below:

Stay Calm and Boring

When your dog is excited and sees you moving, walking, moving your hands, or squealing, it may jump at you thinking you are also in for its fun, causing it to nip you. However, the moment you stay calm and still, the dog will likely stop the jumping and nipping. You need to avoid making movements when your dog is excited.

Toss Your Dog’s Food On The Ground

Whenever you notice your dog is overly excited and you do not want it to bite or disturb you, a way of making it calm is by tossing its treats all over the ground. When you do this, the dog would be more focused on sniffing the treats scattered over the ground and would stay calm. This is a very effective way of stopping your dog from biting you when excited.

However, if you notice your dog refuses to take the treat or returns to bite you after doing this, you need to find other ways of stopping this behavior.

Leave The Room

Perhaps you have already tried tossing your dog’s treat on the ground, and it continues to bite you; another thing you could do is leave the room. This is a negative punishment procedure. What you need to do is to step behind a closed door, then return after a while.

The reason for doing this is to remove what your dog wants, which could be your leg or hand to nip on whenever it tries biting you. So, when you return to the room, instruct the dog to sit. With this approach, you should be able to get your dog to stop the behavior.

Control The Situation

If this is a frequent occurrence, you need to learn to control the situation, and there are different means of doing so. If your dog gets overly excited and is out of control or becomes aggressive, you can put it on a leash. This will limit its movement and make it calm down after a while.

If you frequently travel with your dog, you might want to have a leash to keep it under control when it gets overly excited. If you are home, one effective way of controlling the dog is by locking it up behind the dog gate, especially if you will have guests around to prevent embarrassment.

Make The Dog Exercise Or Play

Another effective way of stopping your dog from biting you when it is excited is by letting it play and exercise. The dog learns to control itself by engaging in an activity while releasing all the energy bound up in it. However, you must play with the dog; you must not leave it to go off by itself. The dog should be allowed to run around and release the excess energy.

Final Thoughts

Controlling and handling a puppy can be burdensome because it is still tender and small, and you do not want to hurt it in any way. Also, you need to ensure the puppy grows up to be a good dog. The best way to train a puppy is through positive reinforcement, by rewarding it for good behavior and discouraging bad behavior.

Also read:

• Why Does My Dog Sound Congested? 
• How To Discipline A Dog After Fighting [Complete Guide]