how to stop my puppy biting

Hi, we have a cocker spaniel had him two weeks hes twelve weeks old. Hes good in every way apart from hes alway wanting to bite us. Is this something he will grow out of? Is he just teething? Tried saying NO but still wont stop. Please could anyone advise us on what to try next! Thanks http://www.dogsey.com/images/smilies/icon_idea.gif

Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting. It is an instinctive behavior that they must be trained out of. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing. One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth. Then freeze it. The cooling will soothe the gums. Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it. I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find one that won't yelp, jerk their hand away, and leave.

You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones. Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them. Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.

1.Yes he will "grow out"of it with lots of patience & help from you.
2.It isn't teething as that is chewing not mouthing.
3.Puppies explore their world & boundaries with all their senses, including their mouths.
4.Lots of ways to distract your puppy from biting you.
a. Offering a soft toy such as a rope tuggy for him to test his teeth on, rubber toys like Kongs & all the kong puppy toys.
b. Do not say No to your puppy, he doesn't understand English & it will mean nothing to him.
c. Do what the puppy's mother would do when she has had enough, get up & walk away, out of reach of the puppy(into another room with the door closed)
d. Do not react if he does mouth you & the do as in c.

Basically you need to reward good behaviour & ignore the bad. You can also clicker train him not to mouth you. It's worth getting a copy of "The Perfect Puppy"Gwen Bailey & one of Karen Pryor's clicker training books

Good advice from Joedee. Our lab was a really bad play biter. I thought he would never stop. He did eventually and we did it by just walking away from him every single time he did it. It took quite a while but it worked. If we 'yelped' or said NO he bit us harder - he thought it was all part of the game, but walking away and out of the room for a short time worked really well.

Good luck.

Having the same problem with my 9 week old dalmation, that I was going to ask about....saved me a job!
Thanks

Thanks a lot for the ideas will give them a try.