Puppy Aggression

We rescued our puppy from the RSPCA a week last saturday (04/jan/14). He was an unwanted christmas present dumped on the RSPCA 4 days after christmas!  
He is roughly 12/13 weeks old and is getting very very boisterous and mouthing a lot. He is also biting our 7 1/2 year old labrador a lot. He is biting his neck/ears/legs and snarling, and wont let go until we pull him off as our labrador tries to get him off but no luck.
I work at a vets and one of the vets said that this was normal, yet I have had numerous puppies and none of them have ever behaved like this!

I really want to nip this in the bud as early as possible as it is not fair on our lab! Do you have any advice? At the minute we tell him 'No' and put him in his cage for a few minutes then only bring him out when he has stopped whining - is this an appropriate thing to do?

Thanks - we are getting desperate now!

Congrats on your rescue! The nipping is normal at that age (trust me I have no hands or ankles left lol) but I only have the one so can't offer advice on him nipping your lab sorry but I'm sure someone else will be along soon who can offer more help. Good luck, hang in there!!

Please do not use the crate as punishment, this is not the right use of them, please see the links below:

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/stop_your_staffy_puppy_biting

http://www.staffy-bull-terrier.com/crate_training

Totally normal its not aggression he is too young for that. He just needs to be taught when he goes too far with a yelp or a high pitched sound.
Why not come and say hi here   
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

Definitely not aggression, all normal puppy play

Hello and welcome  

Can only echo the above, that it is normal and with work you'll get him out of this. And yes don't put him in the crate as punishment as it should be his safe place   

Can't add to the good advice above, except to say that Staffies in particular are very prone to growling when playing. It's a play growl from the back of the throat and not meant aggressively at all, especially in little puppies! A snarl, on the other hand, will sound harsher and be accompanied by lifted upper lips, fixed staring eyes and usually raised hackles.

Definitely don't punish him by putting him in the cage, otherwise he'll never want to go in there. When Zeus was going through that stage, we told him off with a firm 'NO', if he didn't listen then we simply picked him up and put him in another room or the back garden to let him cool off for a minute or so, then brought him back in. Sooner or later, he realised that this unwanted behaviour would mean that he wouldnt be allowed in the same room as us.

You're better off doing it now and even if he nips when you try picking him up, it won't hurt. It'll be a different problem when he gets older and those teeth grow.

Lynda wrote:Can't add to the good advice above, except to say that Staffies in particular are very prone to growling when playing.  It's a play growl from the back of the throat and not meant aggressively at all, especially in little puppies!  A snarl, on the other hand, will sound harsher and be accompanied by lifted upper lips, fixed staring eyes and usually raised hackles.

Totally agree, Zeus is 2 next month and hes exactly the same. When he's playing he growls but its not meant to be aggressive, its definitely a play growl. We know when its an aggressive growl when someone new comes into the house and he doesn't know them. Big difference!

I'm having the same trouble with spud just now only without another dog, he keep nippin me hangin off my shoe laces, my neighbours must think I'm mad with all the shouting as a firm NO is not working earlier tonight I shouted NO in an angry voice when he got me on the calf n immediately stopped, but he had my daughter I tears the other day when he nipped her n I've told her to she needs to be more demanding in her saying NO but she only 8, I know this has something to do with me getting him to early, he's 9wks 2moro so 2nd jag next wk n then can get him out n tire him out threw walkin. Hard work but love him all the same

As above with the advice. If your lab isn't letting him know when he's going too far then you will have to tell him and remove him from the play time.

Bane has played with the Golden Retriever next door since a few days after his first jab and as he got bigger, he got more boistrous and would nip at the retrievers ears, so much so he would yelp and run away (funny as he is 60kg and Bane only about 9kg at the time ) The retriever never told him off though, would just try and get away from him, so we had to step in and correct him. Just put him in a different room until he calms down, and he'll soon learn