Schnoodle Puppy Biting

Question
My husband and I are first time dog owners. We have a 19 week old schnoodle puppy, with more schnauzer traits and temperament. He is very biting and growling. Recently he has started to bark and try to bite our hands, if he wants to play. He does not like to be held, and will growl and tries to bite if you're holding him. He also will growl and try to bite if I pick him up while he's laying down. We've tried "No bites", holding his mouth shut, and rolling him over on his back, but this makes him more aggressive. Eventually he'll give up, but after quite a battle. I've noticed he's losing his baby teeth, and really needs to chew a lot. Is this normal puppy behavior that he will grow out of, or should we be concerned about his constant biting?

Thanks for your help!

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 and jerk their hand away, or growl "Bad dog." and clamp
their mouth shut.  Then offer a chew toy.  They keep trying despite hundreds
of corrections.   Another good technique is to quit playing and go away.   Be
sure to praise them when they are playing nice and not biting.

You also need to work on pack structure.  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