So my wonderful pup is 5 months old and around 29kg, he has gorgeous big paws....which from to time, generally when excited, he likes to hit us with. It's actually incredibly sore since they're huge and his claws are sharp. I haven't faced this sort of problem before and am treating it like mouthing, saying no and getting up from the sofa and leaving him alone for a few seconds...stopping all play in essence. Is this the best way to deal with it or has anyone any other ideas? OH came in from work last night, and got a paw whack in the eye.... he was not impressed so I am in the doghouse!LOL

I thought this was a dogs way of appeasing.  Sort of 'I'm only joking/playing'?  I know mine do it all the time when playing with each other and my springer does it to me all the time but it's only when she is unsure of herself/me.
I love it when my dogs do this. 

Yes,  he does do it playfully as if to initiate play and so on but at his weight/size it's really painful.... my two adults don't enjoy it much either and don't tend to play using their paws much, if at all. will clip the claws and see if it helps! :)

My Lab is 10 and still does this! I'm afraid we've never succeeded in stopping her. My grand-daughter used to say "paw down", we've tried turning away and "settle down" but I've come to the conclusion it's just the way she is. ;-)

My bitch paws me, usually my face if she wants something. But she's very small, can't imagine it would be cute with a huge puppy!

It is classic attention seeking, which most dogs will do. It is her way of getting yours or OH's attention. I would ignore her when you come home and get the OH to do the same, very hard to do with a puppy as you have missed them and they are so cute, you just want to cuddle them.
But if you want her to stop them you have to ignore her, do not speak do not say, off, get down anything. Just ignore her go and hang your coat up put your bag away, put the kettle on etc. And everyone visiting must do the same, when she is relaxed and settled and has all four paws on the ground then you can gently fuss her and give her a treat.
If you do this for a few weeks she should get the message.

He does it at completely random, irregular times but am trying to get OH to just ignore it, fingers crossed!

He does it at completely random, irregular times but am trying to get OH to just ignore it, fingers crossed!

I agree, if he's doing it to get your attention, any reaction from you is giving him the attention he wants. When you come home and he does this, completely turn your back on him and don't give any kind of physical/verbal/etc. acknowledgement of his existence until he has settle down. I would keep some non-smelly treats in my pocket so that when he settles down, I could quietly drop a treat on the floor for him (while still ignoring him) then turn around and quietly give him some attention if he continues to remain settled after being rewarded.

My beagle is a very "footy" dog (for want of a better word).  She will put paws on me, on other dogs, on furniture, in bowls.  She uses her feet for all sorts.  Even an old school trainer agreed with me though that it is not a dominance thing in her, she just like to use her feet.  She is not so bad with me now as she uses her "down" to beg although she does sort of throw herself into it by pawing out first.  As I pointed out to the trainer though when she mentioned correcting her for playing with other dogs that way, it is her I don't want her to feel that she has to inhibit herself completely and now at two and a half she has largely grown out of it without a lot of discouragement from me.  In terms of attention seeking she has found other behaviours which are more rewarding and she is beginning to grow out of her obsession with playing with all other dogs possible and in all fairness she is very dog savvy and only played that way with dogs who seemed to be having as much fun as she was.

I had this problem with one of mine, being an SBT he could give you a right clout too, he also seemed to always manage to dig his claws in, damned sore. Thankfully standing up and walking away ( he always did it when I was sitting ) soon changed his behaviour to laying his head on my knee or shoulder when he wanted something, much better ( and cuter ).

Nando was a nightmare for this. I actively encouraged it at one point because if he did it I'd play with his paws etc etc so he could get used to having his nails clipped. Then he grew and I decided I didn't want him to do that any more! LOL. Now I completely ignore (but have taught him to do it when asked) and he has taken to resting his head on my knee which is a lot nicer for both parties.