Bailey is now coming up to 11 weeks and a few of you know i have some problems with him.

  We've been trying all the lead training and other bits of advice i've picked up also which i hope is working.

  Lately however, he has gotten into the habit where if we are sitting down watching TV for instance, he will jump to bite our hands and start growling and barking at us.
  We do ignore him, if it gets really bad though we'll say No and walk away.

  However i have noticed that he's also started to do this to the cat, where he'll pin the cat down and start biting its stomach. If the cat manages to run away and climb on a table then Bailey will constantly bark and growl.

  I've been told to ignore the pup and that the cat will hurt him and put him in his place, but i can honestly say the poor cat is petrified and Bailey just wont stop biting him until i pull him off ( by which i will then be barked/ growled bitten).  Bailey also will not stop humping us/ cat/ any other dog :(

  I'm feeling extremely disheartened and do wonder what i've let myself in for.
Please can someone please reassure me this is normal puppy behaviour???

Sounds like you have got your handsful.  My lab was extremely playful and used to love sticking his pin like teeth into me at any given moment but he did eventually calm down.  I guess all pups are different.  Do you go to socialisation classes with him?

I live in the US and don't know if people living in the UK believe in little smacks on the nose? When my girl was a puppy, she was extremely hyper. It is a characteristic from her breed. She always bit us and tore at us with her claws. Then when I would take her out to potty, the numerous cats outside would be around. She would not even try to potty unless she got to play with one of the cats. It was horrible. When she would be outside on her chain alone, I would just happen to look out the window and see her with a poor cat on the ground. Her huge paws would be on its neck and somewhere on its stomach. She would bite the cat's face and feet. And the poor thing wouldn't be able to get away. The cats eventually learned to stay away from her, but I helped Kieron's behavior.

Inside, when she would bite us, she would receive a little smack on her nose. Not hard, but not gentle enough to where she thought we were playing. We would do this every time she bite us. She never bit again after she learned that if she bit us, she would be hit on her nose.

Outside, if she was caught with a cat under her paws, I would run over to her and catch her in the act. With her still holding the cat, she would receive a great deal of a yell to startle her. If she still didn't let go, she would be spanked. *gently, of course, but firm* As above, she eventually learned that being so rough with the kitties got her into trouble. Now, the cats walk up to her and warmly rub themselves in and out of her legs. She stands and watches them patiently. Every once in a while, she'll give chase to the cats but will never try to actually catch them.

As for your pups barking problem, I don't really have any advice on that. My grandmother owns a pug. When the pug barks, Grandma just makes the "Shhhhh!" sound. Candi learned that the command "Shhhh!" means to be quiet. I believe that if a person yells at a dog, it only encourages the dog to be louder, thinking you're playing. But if you tell the dog in a quiet manner to hush, the dog won't feel right being so loud. He will hopefully want to be quiet to and will learn to do so because he will receive praise for being quiet.

I'll leave the rest of the stuff up to everyone else! Hope some of this might help; my girl was a terror but is now an angel with the kitties.

Puppies noses are very senstive and smacks on the nose could damage the membranes in the nose so I would avoid that and would try not to start with physical punishment if possible.  Why not take him to socialisation classes and ask the trainer what the best thing to do is.  I know my trainer has a remedy for everything!  perhaps one could help you too?  

I agree, socialisation classes are a must anyway :) but make sure they are good ones and not just free for alls - ideally the pups should be learning a bit about how to socialise with other pups/dogs, and a bit about returning to the owner etc and listening to the owner.

I personally would never smack on the nose for a variety of reasons - for example it doesnt teach the animal what you DO want it to do. It could become shy of hands etc. I think i have mentioned on here before about my Lab cross whose original owners smacked her on the nose repeatedly for not stayiing put, and she ended up with cancer of the nose :(

I do feel however that you can't simply ignore a pup and let it terrorise the cat! <g> as that is not teaching it to listen or to obey but to be a bit of a hooligan :D It is probably partly high spirits, attention seeking, all sorts coming out and is pretty normal for a young pup. Don't get disheartened - it may get worse but it will eventualy get better ;) :D

Can you use child gates and/or a crate to manage the situation a bit?  It may calm things down. If necessary keep the pup on a long lead for control and use a sharp "ah!" if it goes near the cat. Reward if it behaves nicely in the presence of the cat. If it chases the cat, isolate it for a few minutes. It may take some time but i am sure things will calm down.

Also check the food you are giving is of a good quality and not too many additives .....

Lindsay

Jasmine i am so pleased reading your post!! My lab is almost 11 weeks old and has been an absolute terror!!  The whole lot of us have been bitten, dare i say savaged! by our little girl to the point where we all have bled.  She growls when she has hold of our skin which makes it very hard to get her off!  I posted a thing on this site begging for help coz i felt very sad and disheartened and true to form the advice came.  Now things haven't really improved much yet but at least i feel i can cope a bit more.  Everyone tells you it will get better and i'm sure it will just a shame its not an actual end date that you can mark in the diary!!

Good luck - we need it!!!