my wife and i just brought home our first puppy together... a border terrier. he seems to be doing an awful lot of biting. he is still VERY young (9 weeks) but we really want to take care of this sooner than later... any experiences or suggestions would help! thanks.

greg

EVERY puppy bites so dont worry and think you have some sort of aggressive , uncontrollable dog on your hands . It is usually called mouthing and is perfectly nomal . They will bite fingers, hands, toes, shoes , generally anything they can and some breeds are more renowned for it than others .
I do sympathise as those litle needle sharp teeth can really hurt . I know when my Staffy Gus was smaller we went through a period when we couldnt even stroke him without being bitten to death .
You need to start leting him know straight away that its not acceptable behaviour. Yell "OUCH" when he does it as if he was still with the rest of thelitter they would yelp loudly . Do this everytime and remain consistant . It will stop with time :)
Lel

Our Border was very nippy whe he was that age and yes those teeth are sharp! A couple of things that worked for us. Bitter Apple, its a spray you can buy at most pet shops. It tastes awful ,so a little on your hands stops the dog wanting to mouth you. It also helps to put the dog in a different room ( away from you) each time he mouths, just for a couple of minutes. He will fairly quickly get the idea that when he mouths , the games stop , and hopefully will stop mouthing.
Hope this helps.
Cheers .

Sean.