All I know from dog behavior has been through observation and I'm still learning something new every day. But after eight years and reading a whole bunch of books and dog boards...

Puppies do go through a mouthy phase. It's your job to teach them " OH **** NO!"...in not so many words.

Puppy classes and daily play/training sessions are well worth every penny.

The Jack Russell breed is well known as a big dog trapped in a little dog body. Keep that in mind at all times.

If the bite is breaking the skin you need to take control ASAP. I would tell you to look into trainers today.

I disagree that dogs always take stern NO and STOP as games. I am all for positive reinforcement, but I handle biting and other forms of aggression differently and it's always worked for me and my puppies.

My dogs always knew better than to think I was playing when I said NO, because when I said it, I was certainly NOT playing, and if done correctly, it can be of use. Also, adult dogs do not always walk off when a puppy keeps biting, they will often snap at the puppy or snarl at it.

Now, needless to say, if a dog does not react to being told no, or thinks it's a game... it's worthless. But the dog DOES react to it and stops, only not when the OP says it, but when her partner says it. That means it might be of use.

I have never tolerated biting from my dogs, they never once got the idea that it was acceptable. I'll admit I am kind of old school (outdated if you want to call it that) in stopping puppies from biting me. They are merely told NO, removed (leashed and guided away), and removed from the room.

Admittedly, I have been known to grab a scruff, as well. Never hit or strike, or even lift or shake, but just gently physically STOP the dog from biting you, not just shouting and making things worse, or ignoring it and needing a million band aids.

I'd like to NOT have holes all in my arms and legs, and I'm not waiting for puppy to "grow out of it" while I suffer from painful bites for ages. There is chance of infection, too so I can't do that. No way.

I don't think ignoring bad behavior is always a good thing to do. In some dogs, it can cause the problem to escalate. Not all dogs learn as quickly as others, and same as with chasing the tail, the mere action of it can be fun for the dog, and ignoring it won't help.

Oh, and I'd not LIFT the dog unless absolutely needed. This can stress them out as many dogs don't like it. None of my dogs really like being lifted and it's unnatural, so if you can, avoid picking the dog up unless totally needed.

True ... but they need to learn ... in a wolf pack the mother would turn on them and be extremely assertive with them. It is unacceptable to allow a puppy to hurt, razors or not.

I simply could not tolerate being bitten for what may be months, depending on how long puppy takes to grow out of it. How stupid do I look just dealing with being bitten over and over again by my own dog and not doing anything but ignoring it?

Those bites hurt, cause marks, and can cause infections and other problems. It's not something I'm willing to deal with and it doesn't last long around here at all. Chewing up the house, okay I can wait that out kinda, but chewing me up? Nope!

I might add it also takes changing your own attitude as well. I feel we should never be in a position where we almost fear our pets. I went through that with Sophie the first year.
Not biting but she was completely insane on leash. When she saw something from squirrel to stray cat she was going to charge it and nothing was going to stop her.
For awhile there I looked like I was getting beaten...regularly. She would pull me down like a rag doll, she almost pulled down my husband as well and he's built like a linebacker. Finally after almost breaking my arm I realized she needed a training class. She was booted out of an earlier one for being too boisterous. This time I found a trainer who taught her AND me. I learned not to be a milquetoast with her. Not abusive certainly but just the mindset-
I am the human
I am the all powerful food giver
You are not going to hurt me
If you try to take me down I'm pulling you down instead
Simple
And it changed the way we walk. She still can get worked up and in old age she's slowed a bit. But it became a relationship of respect. I am not a forbidding presence...I'm a petite senior citizen. But you can convey authority without brutality...just takes some learning.

I don't think anyone is implying that it is acceptable, at least i'm not, it's just that the pup is learning bit inhibition and needs the owner to teach the pup this as the mother and siblings are no longer around to teach manners. A puppy is not biting to hurt someone purposely, they just don't know how to control themselves appropriately yet.

Nipping is a normal part of a young puppy's development which if you go about it in the right way, you can come through relatively unscathed. Many human babies also go through a "bitey" stage and it might surprise you to know adult human on human bites are more common than most of us believe!

It is painful and upsetting when your pup bites you but this is normal behaviour .

It is important your pup learns Bite Inhibition.

This from Karen pryors website

*Q: I have a new puppy, and she wants to chew on everything, including me. What can I do?

A: Puppy mouthing is 100% natural dog behavior. It's not dominance. It's not meanness. It's a puppy being a puppy, roughhousing with parents and littermates or with human substitutes. Rather than "no bite," I strongly, strongly urge you to teach your puppy bite inhibition instead. Bite inhibition means training for a "soft mouth." It teaches your pup to use his mouth gently with people. *

More at http://www.clickertraining.com/node/725

Dibbythedog ... that's an excellent article and is the same method I've used to train bite inhibitions with my last four puppies.

As I'm getting older and live on my own I particularly wanted my Shar-Pei to learn, amongst other things, how to hold my arm gently but firmly in the event that I fell and needed her help to get up. My smaller ones were taught how to play rough and tumble and tug of war with me without nipping or biting of hands, also to stop playing on command.

My present two dogs have such good bite inhibition that they'll take one of my hands in their mouth and hold it so gently that I hardly notice!

Typical Gnasher response

Have you actually seen a wild female wolf do this ? Not one in a captive artificial pack ?

I very much doubt it, up to the age of 6 months or so puppies/cubs are generally given a lot of leeway by ALL adults. The mouthing is part & parcel of their learning, so to stop it by scuffing, shouting, removing from the area is NOT what an adult animal would do. They would remove themselves & hence remove the object of attention.

Karen Pryor has a lot of insight into animal behaviour