constant nipping

We've had our boy Baxter now for 3 weeks, we took him very early (7 weeks) we were going to take him at 10 weeks but after seeing the conditions they were kept in we made the choice to "rescue" him, they had 7 puppies in a pen no bigger than a bath tub, they were rarely given water and only fed once a day, they stopped the mum going in to nurse at 5 weeks old, poor little things, the mum developed a uti and mastitis as a result. I will also add that all puppies have now been removed and all have gone to loving secure homes.
Anyway, on the whole, Baxter is adorable, he goes to the back door whenever he needs to do his business and we rarely have an accident indoors, he's learnt "sit" and gives us his paw before a treat, he's very loving and loves cuddles, BUT, he has crazy moments where he bites us, really hard, he already has a strong jaw and his bites really hurt, I say no but he goes into a crazy zone, growling and lurching forward snapping his jaw like a crazy crocodile!!!! I've had dogs all my life, all from when they were puppies, but I've never known one to be this vicious from such an early age, I have his crate inside a pen, so that he has space to move about when I'm not there, but not free roam of the house, would anyone recommend shutting him in the pen for time out, I would never use his crate as punishment, but is putting him in the pen the same thing?

Sorry for the long post x

I have heard of people using pens etc for a "calm down" period.

Have to say I am having similar, if not biting as hard as Baxter maybe, with Barney. He is only 9 .f weeks though, so hoping time and patience will produce results. We shall see.

Have you had a Stafford before?

I wouldn't class this as vicious behaviour, he's too young to be vicious. He's just testing his boundaries and its up to you to teach him whats right and wrong.

Just like many members on here, I too went through this period with Zeus where he'd nip, bite, growl etc, and the way he is now is because of the way I handled it (and with major help from this forum).

Different methods work for different people but for me, the best method was to give a time out period. I can't comment on if a pen will work but if you want him to go into the pen happily without any problems, then I would suggest against that. Whenever Zeus shown any unwanted behaviour, whether it was biting, growling, chewing etc, I would pick him up/move him into the kitchen, or another room and let him cool off for a few minutes. I then let him back in. If he played up again, I'd do the same. I remember doing this literally 10 times in a row but eventually, he got the hang of it an realised if he did something wrong, he'd be out of the room.

Key is to be patient, eventually he'll learn!

I have just posted a (very long, sorry) topic and would be very interested in what you guys think of it. It was this post that inspired it.

I've never had a staff, but I've previously had a Rottweiler and a Doberman and more recently a Springer spaniel/border collie cross x

Hi
Can sympathise. Toots is over 13 weeks now and she will do the mad crocodile thing sometimes! It is only play.
I'm fortunate that I have another young dog that she mostly does it to rather than me, but if she does, I just ignore her completely and the second she stops I give her praise and a treat. (Good to keep some handy in a pocket).
She's getting much better, so please be patient, this phase won't last!    

We had Bane early from about 7 weeks too and it just took him a little longer to learn bite inhibition, as he was taken away from his litter mates and mum too early.
It just takes a lot of repetition and patience for them to learn
Keep consistent with how you handle him in these times and he will soon understand that it is not acceptable behavior. They are very sociable dogs, so just putting him on his own in other room or turning your back on him and stopping all contact for a few minutes should make him realise that if he bites you, he doesn't get to be with you.

Bane would often do the crocodile snappy thing when he was really tired and had become hyperactive. We would just put him in his bed for a cool down and quite often when we returned a few minutes later he would be asleep.
He still has his crazy moments now and he is almost 7 months old but he knows how to be gentle

Great advice above from emma(bane) it just takes time and patience, its not aggression just normal puppy play

Yes normal puppy behaviour just a high squeal if the bite is too hard and keep at the consistency it will pay off.   

Here's a link to help

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

I noticed with Lula the changes happened slowly but we did get there in the end it just took time. We get the odd nip but a firm no and it stops straight away.
We used a firm no and made sure she had loads of chew toys. If she was getting over excited i would call her over make her sit and when she did she would get a treat. Lula loves treats so will do whats asked of her to get her little paws on the goodies.

mia is now 6 months and was just the same always biting hands and feet
i followed the advice above and it worked wonders takes time and she
has the odd relapse when gets very excited but never hard and never
aggressive

Our now 6 month old went through this stage too. We used to yelp loudly say 'no bites!' Then both walk out of the room for 15 seconds shutting the door behind us. She would normally cry at the door (and often do a wee too) then we would come back in as if nothing had happened and if she did it again we would repeat. It literally took 2 days and the biting had stopped. (Had to walk out about 10 times each day before she understood why we were walking away from her but it worked!)