Bite inhibition

Modern dogs learn bite inhibition for the same reason that their ancestors, the wolves, did: in order to establish an effective dominance hierarchy.[5] It allows for tranquility in large groups when each individual knows its place. Dominance hierarchies may be formed in groups of canines through intense displays of aggression.[6] However, this type of vying for dominance has only been observed in forced groupings of captive wolves.[7] In the wild, this trend is less common, as wolves tend to group off into family units instead of unrelated adults. Therefore, the alpha male and alpha female would simply be the parents, and the offspring would submit readily. Bite inhibition, then, naturally occurs as the pups learn not to bite their siblings and parents too hard.

The term "soft mouth" is used by breeders and users of hunting dogs to refer to a behavioral tendency to pick up, hold, and carry quarry gently. It is not a preferred characteristic of terriers and ratters, who are expected to roughly shake and mangle pests such as rats and snakes in order to kill them quickly and efficiently. It is desirable in gundogs such as retrievers and spaniels which are expected to produce quarry intact and in good condition, and is a notoriously difficult behavior to teach to a dog without an inborn temperament to do so. As a result, breeders and users of gun dogs arrived on this term to describe a characteristic important to this enterprise. Dog breeds known for producing more soft-mouthed individuals include Golden Retrievers, Cocker Spaniels, Poodles, and Gordon Setters, but in any litter some individuals may be much less soft-mouthed than others, as there may be relatively soft-mouthed individuals in a litter of even classically hard-mouthed breeds such as Jack Russell Terriers or Mastiffs.[14]

Bite inhibition is typically learned as part of juvenile play behaviors, when the animal is still in the company of its mother and siblings: by biting each other during play, the young animals learn that biting a companion too strongly leads to the abrupt termination of play activities. This behavior is crucial later in life, as well, when dogs need to maintain the carefully constructed dominance hierarchies. Therefore, a useful method for training a puppy or dog to monitor the strength of its bite would simply be to ignore the dog immediately after the incident occurs. This way, the dog learns that harmful biting will lead to punishment.

A dog's first instinct to unpleasant stimulus is not a bite. A dog will use several techniques to stop a perceived threat before resorting to biting. Therefore, it is important to avoid suppressing important canine communications such as growling and snarling. If a dog learns that a growl is an inappropriate response to a threat, then humans may be encountered with an unexpected bite when they accidentally, for example, step on the dog's tail. Even a dog that would never bite out of anger can snap when met with a painful or threatening stimulus, so training in bite inhibition can be useful to keep them from accidentally hurting another dog or human.[15]