It isn’t rare to notice your dog affectionately nibbling at you, at his toys, playthings, or even other dogs of your home or the ones they come across in a dog park. Several questions about your dog’s nibbling behavior may run through your mind. Is nibbling found only to be seen in puppies? Do all dogs nibble? Is it bad for dogs to nibble? And the list of questions seems never-ending. Well, puppies indulge in mouthing or play biting mostly during the teething phase.
However, nibbling isn’t a behavior only displayed by puppies. Adult dogs also resort to nibbling; that is one of the major ways they communicate with others. A 2014 study in ResearchGate shows nibbling as one of the non-verbal methods of communication in dogs. Read on to learn more about why a dog nibbles on other dogs.
How Does a Dog Nibble?
When a dog nibbles, his teeth come in contact with the other person or dog’s body. However, there isn’t any biting involved. Your dog may either use its entire mouth or only the front teeth. When a dog is only using his front teeth while nibbling, the gesture is known as cobbing since the behavior replicates how one bite corn.
Moreover, when nibbling, a dog mostly looks calm and lacks the facial expressions associated with fear, anxiety, or aggression. The common signs dogs display while nibbling includes a stiff body, tucked tail, and flat ears.
What Are the Reasons for Your Dog to Nibble On Other Dogs
There could be several reasons behind your dog’s nibbling on other dogs. Nibbling is considered a natural form of communication among dogs. However, too much nibbling isn’t good and needs to be addressed and intervened. Given below are some of the reasons why your dog is likely to nibble on other dogs.
1. To Display Affection
As mentioned, nibbling is how dogs communicate non-verbally with one another. When one dog nibbles the other, it is their way of showing affection to their pals. Mothers show love and affection for their puppies through nibbling.
When the puppies become adults, they inherit this behavior and use it to accept and respect their fellow dogs. However, nibbling is not the only manner in which dogs display affection. There are other ways as well, like licking and cuddling.
2. In Pursuit of Play
If you have multiple dogs at home, you must have noticed one nibbling the other’s ears, tails, or legs. Well, they don’t intend to disturb their fellow mates. Rather, it is their way to attract the other dog’s attention, perhaps to play with them. In most cases, you would see a young dog nibbling at older dogs to convince them to play.
This is an amusing sight to watch. However, if you see the dog being nibbled on, disturbed, or irritated, you need to step in to take control of things. If play is the main intention, you would also notice other signs, like licking and tail wagging.
3. To Groom Themselves
When you have many dogs living in a single shelter, they will form a community and bond with each other, especially if you have trained them to socialize. So, besides displaying affection nibbling on other dogs may even mean that a cleaning session is in progress between the pals.
Nibbling combined with the licking of the eyes, face, and ears indicates that your dog is engaged in a grooming session. You can easily identify grooming nibbles. They occur briefly, and the dog nibbles using its front teeth.
4. Out of Stress and Anxiety
Nibbling is mostly about positive emotions. Not always, though. When your dog is stressed or anxious because of some reason or the other, they could express it by nibbling themselves or even other dogs they live with. In fact, other than nibbling, a stressed dog would often curl its lips to show its teeth and gums, tuck its ears and tail, yawn, or even pant.
5. Out of Boredom
When bored due to lack of exercise or proper training, a dog could do many things, like nibble, lick excessively, pant without getting tired, scratch without reason, jump around the place, slap their legs, and so on. They could nibble themselves, you, or any other nearby dog. If you feel that your dog has been there doing nothing, which in turn has triggered the nibbling behavior, you must focus more on his physical activities.
6. On Getting Encouraged for His Actions
When you see your dog nibbling, you are amazed at this cuteness and would love to see more of it. You even cuddle or pat them on their back as a mark of appreciation. There you go! Your dog understands that you like their gestures, and to impress you further, they would carry on nibbling their housemates. They associate this action with rewards and would continue until stopped.
7. It Was a Learned Behavior
Instinctive learning is quite common in dogs. Moreover, dogs also tend to mimic the behavior of other dogs. If brought up with other canines, it is quite likely that the dog would acquire the habit of nibbling as it grows by watching its fellows.
8. It’s Their Way of Exploring the World
Dogs are known for their curious nature, and it isn’t unknown how they use their noses to explore the world around them. Besides smelling, nibbling is another way of knowing and understanding new people or objects. For example, if you have a new pooch in your family, your older dog may nibble and lick on it since it is curious about the other dog’s whereabouts.
9. Out of Over Excitement
When overly excited, dogs could resort to several behaviors, nibbling being one of them. For instance, if your dog goes out to a park and sees other dogs, there are chances he might nibble on the other pooch excitedly. If you have a high-energy breed like a Chihuahua, Corgis, or Dalmatian, the chances of them nibbling other dogs could be higher.
10. As a Pack Behavior
Have you ever seen a dog pack with an alpha couple as the leader, followed by betas and omegas? In such a pack nibbling is quite common where one member interacts with the other. Like, a beta could mouth and nibble to apologize if he has challenged the authority of any of the high-ranking members of the pack. Similarly, members that rank low may nibble at alphas to display contrition. Through nibbling, your dogs could even warn one another of impending danger. For example, when you take your dogs to a park, the more dominant one could nibble on the submissive one, warning the latter of any threat.
When to Worry About Your Dog’s Nibbling?
Nibbling occasionally out of affection or while playing isn’t bad. However, if it turns into a habit or your dog shows other signs of discomfort and nibbling, then it is high time you intervene.
1. If It Has Become a Habit
If nibbling has become a regular habit, you need to identify what triggered it first. If he started doing it suddenly, chances are high that he must have learned this behavior from other dogs at home or in the park. Moreover, if your dog isn’t just nibbling but doing many other gestures simultaneously, like whining, barking, shaking, panting, and so on, the problem could be something else – stress, anxiety, trauma, or much more. In this case, you would need to keep a close watch on your dog and check on the factors that are stressing him out.
2. If Your Dog Nibbles More at a Certain Period of the Day
You should even observe if the nibbling behavior is high at a particular point in time or not. For example, if you have multiple dogs, the moment one dog gets aggressive, you could see your other dog nibbling on him. That may mean he is scared and perhaps trying to be submissive.
3. If the Nibbling Proceeds Towards Aggression
Excessive nibbling could even result in aggression. For example, your big dog could be nibbling on your smaller dog, urging the latter to play. Denial from the latter might convert the nibbling to biting. When you have dogs of varying sizes staying together, keeping a close watch on their behavior is a mandate. You should supervise them even if you have given them obedience and socialization training.
Nibbling could even be out of dominance or jealousy. Suppose you are petting one of your dogs. At that moment, you see your other dog nibbling on it. This may mean it is getting jealous and demanding your attention.
How to Control Your Dog From Nibbling to Much
Too much of anything isn’t good. So, if your dog is nibbling too much, you must find ways to keep it in check. Showing affection or communicating through nibbling isn’t bad. However, when this becomes a regular activity, it isn’t just to display affection. There could be other reasons behind it.
1. Don’t Encourage the Behavior
If you always encourage your dog through rewards each time he nibbles, he will keep doing it to please you. Nibbling on the other dog out of affection is not bad. However, if it is done repeatedly, there are chances that the other dog may react unpleasantly at times out of stress.
2. Shift its Attention
When he is engaged in nibbling repeatedly, the best thing you can do is to divert your dog’s attention to something else. You may hold his favorite toy in your hand and urge him to play with it. Also, if you have time, arrange for a game of fetch. This way, your dog would be busy and perhaps get over his nibbling tendencies.
3. Keep Your Dogs Away From Each Other for Sometimes
If you have two dogs, one is constantly nibbling at the other; the best way is to maintain distance for a while. You could arrange a separate crate for the other dog to go there whenever the first dog gets into a nibbling spree. However, bonding between pets is essential. You should consider separating them if the nibbling tendencies intensify.
4. Give Proper Training
You cannot train your dog not to nibble, as it is an instinctive behavior and a good sign when controlled. However, through proper socialization and obedience training, you could be able to control aggressive tendencies and feelings of jealousy that may trigger nibbling. If your dog is trained to follow commands, then a firm ‘NO’ or ‘STOP’ from you would make your dog stop his actions.
Moreover, when a dog has poor self-control, he wouldn’t be able to check on his actions. So, the nibbling that started as a display of affection could continue if your dog can’t control his impulses. This can be achieved through proper training.
FAQ’s
When should you see a vet regarding your dog’s nibbling?
If your dog shows physical discomfort alongside nibbling, like loss of appetite, lethargy, restlessness, and discomfort, then you would need to get in touch with a vet. Moreover, if your dog is stressed and anxious that does not get better with training, then also a vet’s intervention is needed.
What does it mean when your dog nibbles on the other dog’s ear, nose, and face?
Nibbling on the neck could mean a display of affection, intention to play, or curiosity. Nibbling on the ear is mostly a sign of grooming. However, nibbling on the face may indicate that the dog is bored or stressed.
Conclusion
So, in conclusion, it may be said that those cute, cuddly nibbles to show love for their fellow dogs are for sure appealing. But continued nibbling may not be a good thing for all your dogs and needs to be stopped at the earliest.
Elena Gherman is a highly skilled and knowledgeable animal care expert. At the start of her career, she gained practical expertise with multiple animals. In addition to that, she works as a DVM veterinary editor for Joy Pet Products, which focuses on offering reliable information on pet health and wellbeing. She meticulously reviews each piece of writing before it is published to make sure pet owners get the most precise and updated information possible.