9 week old Puppy - Growl and Bite - Not play?

It really is a natural part of being a puppy, and if you've ever watched a litter together they are really quite wild.

She has yet to learn that you are not part of the litter and something to treat like this.... Continue training and please don't worry that this is an indication that there'll be a problem later.

I remember my first rottweiler puppy going for faces whenever they were up close and worrying about that myself... only to find she grew into the gentlest of dogs ever.

Just continue to train as for mouthing and the pup will learn.

This is puppy behavior. Sometimes puppyhood is practice for adulthood. She is seeing what works, what doesn't, how far can she go? Do not engage her when she starts the 'stalking,' behavior.

Turn away and leave her alone. Go sit somewhere quietly and see if she follows. If she is calm you interact with her but when she gets wild you have nothing to do with her.

Biting your face obviously a big no no. If you want her to sit on your lap watch her closely, as long as she is gentle with you and licks praise and pet her but the moment she gets that look in her eye you put her down. If she trys to bite you, put your hands around her muzzle and give her a little shake and then turn and walk away. She may be an assertive female but you can train this biting behavior away. Always remain calm and confident with her. Do some homework on how to handle this and other 'assertive,' behavior she may have and begin puppy training and obedience as soon as she is old enough.

At this stage these behaviours are somewhat cute and for the most part are a natural part of being a puppy... have you seen puppies play together? Its pretty rough.

In saying that... you do need to discourage it. I have seen many friends have to give up their older puppies because it has gone past the point of cute and headed into the danger zone where children or visitors could get bitten.

Gently but firmly show the puppy it is not ok. With my dog I would go "what did you do" and put her down with a little swipe to her bottom. We would then ignore her for 5mins (which is a long time for a wee pup). Then we would encourage the good behaviour with lots of treats and play.

It worked really well. She is a Pitbull/Boxer cross and is the most lovely dog I have ever had.

I always recommend a command for finishing play also. With our girl all I need to say is "thats enough" and she stops whatever she is doing instantly.

I have a blue heeler that is currently in a training class and we just went over barking and biting. The trainer made us purchase a product called Bitter Apple. It is a correcting tool you only need to spray once in there mouth and then tell them no. Your dog will not like this at all (it will not harm your dog) put the bottle out of sight if your dog does the behavior again show the dog the bottle and correct the dog,"no bark" "no bite". With the biting, you should yelp loudly when your dogs bites this will correct the biting.

The breed matters because some dogs have to be trained differently due to certain natural instincts.

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This is how I trained my dogs, hope it helps:

Throw the toy, give the command "fetch" or whatever you use and have the dog bring the toy back. Don't let her know you have the treat. (If she knows, just hold it behind your back.)

Grab the toy still in her mouth and say "thank you". She should release, if not hold the treat in front of her nose. When she lets go, quickly praise her and give her the treat. Pet her alot too. Do this over and over. Then after a week or two, give her a treat one time, but not the next, giving her praise both times. If she does not bring you the toy, ignore her. When she does bring it to you, do as above.

When she plays tug of war, do the same, tell her "thank you" and put a treat under her nose and when she lets go, praise her and give treat. Give the toy back, sometimes they don't want to bring you the toy because they think you wont give it back (hence the "throwing it" part of fetch).

If she runs away with it, let her go. To her it's a game, "watch me make them chase me" is what she's thinking. If you don't show interest in it when she runs, she'll stop, but this will take time too.

Enrolling in training classes can help too. Just be consistant.

I play tug of war with my two Great Danes and there is never a problem. When I want them to let go I say "thank you" and they drop it immediately. Sometimes they win, sometimes I win when I say thank you. Its all about training and dominance. They know I am Alpha in the house, there is no question about it and I am consistant with training.

I've had the same puppy problem before.

When she bites at your face, take her and gently (but firmly) hold her down and say "NO". If you are consistent, this will work. She will most likely grow out of it too.

Hope this helps, have a great day.

Give it time if its still happening after 1 year or so id have it put down or give it a mussel but i think before you go off killing dogs you should try to work with the dog find out why its biting and then when ever it does tell it "NO" and every time it dosnt bite when your playing give it a reward