hello help needed i have a 12 week old retriever collie cross puppy he is very playful but runs about bitting the childrens clothes and me .i know this is quite normal but when i say pumba no he insists on seeing whos boss and growling at me .which i then put him outside .i just wondered if anyone else had any other ideas as this dosent seem to work.also we are having problems introducing him to other puppies at first hes scared then he growls and bites them help any ideas i phoned puppy training and they say its best to wait until they are ten months to train them so a few tips until then would be gratfully recieved.thanks

The worst thing you could possibly do is wait until 10 months to train a puppy - my God, whoever gave you this advice is an idiot and if they call themselves puppytrainers then the nicest thing i can say about them, is that they are just a little out of date :(

Please don't lose heart - first of all, pup is just 12 weeks and will take longer than that to learn to be a good little dog ;) You really do need oodles of patience to cope with a pup - the best training aid has to be a cup of tea or a glass of wine for the nerves LOL !!!

Do a search on here re. the puppy biting. He needs to be socialised and for it to be a good experience - don't soothe him when he acts scared, he is probably experiementing to see if his "threats" are making dogs go away; if they are, be careful as if he leanrs this, he may use this as he gets older and become defensive/aggressive.

But you have time on your side. Do invest in "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen BAiley, it will give you so much confidence, help and info for puppy months and beyond into adolescence.

Look into puppy socialisation classes too. I said you have time on your side, but also every day counts with a pup as they learn so much at this age :)

Lindsay

thanks for the advice he is a lovely puppy in every other way house trained and doesnt sit at the table dibbling either as this is my first puppy im quite surprised. my family has always had dogs and all i can remember is eating and the dog dribbling ha but i will contact a few other dog training places and see if they will take him at this age thanks as i only phoned one and when they said 10 months i thought it was normal so i didnt bother phoning any more again thanks its nice to know that theres other people with the same problem

Hi Susie,
To avoid your dog learning to dribble at the table, never ever let him have even a crumb of food while you're eating. If they never have any, they won't expect it. If you want to give him any leftovers (probably not until he's older), make sure you scrape the plates into his bowl and he has them as a replacement of part of his normal rations.
:)

10 months is a long time to wait, most puppy classes reccommend training to start as soon as possible and part of the training is socialisation. Try ringing your vets because a lot of them do puppy classes (not much training but puppies can get together and play and learn manners).