tug-o-war with my lab

Question
hello mam,plz help me out,My lab is 8 weeks old.He plays wth me n remains quite nice most of the time but my problem is
1.he always put my dress in his mouth n pulls it n growls.I always correct him by saying firm NO n removing my cloth by pressing his upper jaw but this is not agood solution as he is quite stubborn n coz of this i have lost 2 of my favourite dresses,please please help me out.I am really upset about it.
2> second problem is bitting whatever he gets he put it in his mouth n specially my hands .it seems that eh hate my hands ,he always tries to bite my hand.i say no then he leaves.but still quite persistent.What should i do?
please help me out?

Answer
The good news is you are describing a completely normal and easy to remedy behavior.  An 8 week old puppy generally has had very little time away from its littermates.  And has spent the few 6-8 weeks of its life learning how to interact-and puppies only have the ability to bite each other.  

The first thing to do is be sure he has plenty of appropriate toys to play with.  And be sure to play with him and his toys-it is up to YOU to teach him that those toys are his, and they are way more fun than your dress or any of the other things he will choose without guidance.  If he does grab your dress, do not try to pull it away from him.  Grab his collar (or keep a leash on him and grab that) and limit his ability to move away from you into a position where he can tug.  Grab one of his toys and tease him with it-if you are patient he will spit out the dress and go for the toy.  Stay very positive and make him going after his toy very fun for him.  This is the same this with your hands-they are just a fun, moving thing right now.  He needs to learn that his toys are fun, moving things and biting your hands is not nearly as much fun.

Use this technique for a while and if you are still having problems please write back.

Also, many people do not realize that puppies need naps just as children do-as a child will get crabby and out of control, so will a puppy.  Be sure to put him in his crate or safe zone if he seems to be to rough, aggressive or just wild.  And be sure to attend a puppy obedience class so he will get proper socialization and have the opportunity to learn in different settings.  Find a class that uses positive techniques-if they use choke/slip collars or prong collars on baby puppies, run-don't walk-to the next trainer.

Keep persevering and you will succeed,
Erica Slomka
Jumpin JACS Dog Training