Please help me to schedule my puppy

Question
Hi,

My golden is 10weeks old. We got him when he was 8 weeks old. I have 2 kids 8 yrs and 14 months. Iam not able to allow my 14 months baby to play with puppy since he is biting. I am putting him in crate all day (taking out 4 -5 times for feeding, walking in our backyard) he will play with me when my baby sleeps (after 10:00pm).. Iam worried and I want my baby to play with him.. we are taking him for classes.. We sometime tie him in our backyard so that my baby can see the dog (he loves dog...) please explain me what I should do?? Thank  you.

Answer
Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting.  You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves.  I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten.  At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing.  One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth.  Then freeze it.  The cooling will soothe the gums.  Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it.  I maintain a Lab's favorite chew toy is another Lab.  Otherwise they settle for any person they can.  They keep hoping to find one that won't yelp,  jerk their hand away, and leave.

You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones.  Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them.  Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.

The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages.  If you are not there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs.  Keep a close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in pieces.  Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed. I don't trust any of the consumable chews.  The dogs just gnaw them down to a dangerous size too quickly.  These problems are the worst with, but not limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.

You must work with the 14 month old to yelp and walk off every time the puppy bites.  It is very important that the puppy loses the attention of the child every time it bites.  The child can come back in a few minutes, but must leave again if the puppy bites again.

You should obedience train it too.  It is too young for a class now, but work from a book.  The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts.  Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm  that site has additional pages discussing children and dogs.  You must supervise the 2 anytime the 14 month old and puppy are together.