Hi -
I am new to the forum and new to the breed. Finnegan is 11 weeks old and full of energy! He is a love, but quite possibly the bitiest (I know, not a word) puppy I have ever experienced. My experience has been raising big dogs, so I am not used to how smaller breed puppies mature. Any clue on curbing this, or an idea of when he will calm down a bit? I am looking forward to everyone's sage advice :-).
I attached a picture.

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Finnegan is very very cute!!!! I love his brown spots! I have no advice my Jojo is 17 weeks and is quite the little shark still. I usually stop playing and turn my back on her. I think it will soak in eventually! Many other things have!

I usually stick the nearest toy in his mouth when he gets like that. Hope I am not rewarding the behavior. I will have to try what you are doing. Thanks!

Welcome to life with a little puppy! Take heart that this has NOTHING to do with “real” biting/aggression, it’s JUST puppy stuff, and it WILL go away. It IS normal puppy behavior, and it WILL go away, whether you do anything about it or not. That said, you don’t have to put up with getting punctured either. As many times as it takes, EVERY time he does it, pop him into his pen, even if it’s only for 30 seconds. He WILL eventually get the message that all fun stops if he can’t keep his teeth off people. But you have to be absolutely consistent and persistent!

I do think some is individual temperament as well as how they are raised and how long they stay with their litter. Panda was part of a litter of 9. (actually 11, but two didn't make it) She has always had a VERY soft mouth. To the point that I still play games with her mouth with my hand where I "play bite at her with my hand, and she does it back. She never puts the TINIEST pressure on skin. And she never did... even as a small puppy. But that was not uniform among her 8 siblings. Many of us stayed in touch, and I remember several of the families asking for help because they had TERRIBLY "sharky" puppies while others of us had gentle mouthed babies. The breeder, who is a friend of mine, said she had an idea which ones might be "sharky" based on which ones were constantly causing the others to shriek in the play area. But it was her first litter, so she hadn't been sure. She WAS careful not to place those puppies in families with small children! LOL! (and they DID _ALL_ grow out of it! LOL!)

Neither of my others were very sharky either, but we do run into this question all the time here on the forum, so I know it's pretty common. I also think part of it is because of how NEEDLE SHARP Havanese puppy teeth are!!! LOL!

Funny, Karen, how all the puppies from the same litter were so different! I have a theory that Jojo is sharky because the adults in her life were so very relaxed and tolerant! I got her a day before she turned 10 weeks. She was the last one left in the litter and had been the only puppy for a week. It was her mamma’s first litter. Jojo was still trying to nurse. There clearly was NO milk and it had to hurt that sweet mamma dog! But she didn’t snap at her or anything! She lifted her leg and waited for her to stop before walking off. Her dad let her tug at his ears and her Aunt let her take toys. I thought it was so sweet and spoke to their temperaments! Now I just think they spoiled her! Ha ha!

Our Ellie is like that too. She'll have puppies hanging off her, and just look at us like why are we letting them do that. Most of the other adults don't tolerate puppy teeth for a split second, and will make the puppy instantly understand that it's not okay. There are never any hard feelings kept from the punishment though. They can do it differently than people can.

If one bites me, I just send it sliding across the floor, but I wouldn't advise anyone else to do that. I have a lot of time playing with puppies. I've never hurt one, and it's all part of the game to them, but they don't win that one. In most play, you have to let them win their share.

LOL! Sounds like it!

Welcome to the forum. Finnegan is a very cute pup and I wish you many happy years together. Desi is my first Havanese and is somewhat mouthy. I have had other breeds before and some were nippers and some not at all. It just depends on their personality. But as Karen said they will grow out of this behavior eventually.

There is definitely an obvious point where it stops, (for us around 6 months when he was finished teething) but mine stopped nipping at me much earlier than he did with DH and DD, so there is definitely room for shaping the behavior. The more consistent you are, the less it will come up, but it’s gradual over time. I redirected with appropriate chews and stopped playing for a moment if he was nippy. DH and DD weren’t as consistent and were more wild in their play, so it lasted longer. He did grow out of it completely though.

It’s not rewarding the behavior to give him something to chew. He needs something to chew, and he also needs to know what’s okay and what isn’t. It also helps him redirect his energy when he’s worked up. Keep in mind you really only need to stop play or return him to his expen for a moment, it doesn’t have to last long to teach him.