Hey. I brought home a beautifl little girl on Wednesday, An 8 week old black Lab. When she gets excited she starts play biting. You tell her no, wakl away and shes fine but as soon as the other half goes to play with her she bites him (not vicous at all, just playing). I was told not to give her toys as she cant distinguish between what to bite and what not to but  feel that it will divert her attention to what she can and cant play with. Any advice would be much appreciated. Also, she is a true Retriver like her mum, BUT she keeps bringing me in stones from the garden, if i take them off her and give her a ball instead she plays for a little while then goes and gets another one. Not sure if she thinks im playing or if its a natural instinct. If anyone can enlighten a new mummy then i would appreciate it.

Megan & Holly (who is asleep on my slippers)

Re the biting, this is a perfectly normal part of growing up for a puppy telling her no and walking away is fine, you need to get the OH to do the same.  Not sure what you ae getting at with the toys, she is a puppy and needs distraction and entertainment toys are great for that and what's wrong with chewing a toy?  She will soon learn what she is allowed to chew and what shes not allowed to chew.

The stones do sound like a retriever, our 2 year old Golden will still look round for something to bring you when she greets you, I'd try and distract her with the toys (like you are doing with the ball) so she brings you one of those rather than stones.

Have a read of The Bite Stops Here - an invaluable article containing excellent advice with respect to the mouthing.

If you dont plan to use toys, the probolems will never stop!

When she nips, shove a toy in her mouth and start to play with it and she will soon get the idea, biting is not good espicially if you let out a loud yelp when she nips.

Yeah i thought toys would be good, but then she started gettin all bitey and wondered if id made a mistake. Shes started jumping and biting. I want to stick to one method so she doesnt get confused, no seems to make her want to play more. Shouting ouch just scares her then she gets very jumpy around you. I feel like a bad mum doing it all wrong i should feel sorry for Holly really. When she gets over excited she is more inclined to mouth. Should i wait for her to mouth me or watch for her doing it beofe telling her not to??

Very confused mummy, and an over excited Holly xxxxxxx

Shouting ouch will mean nothing to your puppy - she doesn't speak human. The advice is to squeal like a puppy would,  "yip, whine, whine", lick your hand/paw. She'll take notice of that. Did you hear her play with her littermates? That high pitched yelp is what you want to make to let her know she bit too hard. Then play ends immediately and you walk away. You'll get good bite inhibition quickly as pups love to play and losing it is the worst punishment for them.

Same thing for playing with toys. Dogs can be very accurate with their jaws. If she catches you instead of the toy, high pitched yelp, say game over or whatever command you use to say play stops now, and walk away with the toy.

As for jumping, start as you mean to go. I don't like my dogs jumping all over me or other people so they get no reward if they're jumping up. No treats, no cuddles and no toys for jumping on me. Jumping at a toy is OK if I'm waving or throwing it. So, if my puppy jumps on me they don't get the toy. If they're on the ground they get it. If she needs calming then use play for small amounts of training control. Teach your puppy the sit command first. Then while playing ask her to sit if she's getting too excited. Make sure you stop waving the toy around - I turn into a blank, boring statue. When her bum hits the ground then its "good girl" and throw her the toy.

Being able to control your puppy will give her more freedom as you won't feel the need to avoid things. My dogs can get as excited as they want, and even jump around on me as long as I asked them to do it and I can stop them immediately.