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"We also tried to tell her to "leave", reinforcing with a treat when she did it, but it seems that she was beginning to bite to get treats, so we stopped doing that." In this case, we need to evaluate what may be happening. It sounds like she did successfully "leave it" for some trials and you reinforced those with a treat which is awesome. However, it seems that, at some point, perhaps a bit of frustration set in, and she may have started to bite. When we see frustration, this can be if we are progressing too fast. So for instance, if you are holding the treat in your hand and she isn't trying to get it, make sure to be fast to praise and reward, before she thinks about going to plan B which may be biting in hopes of gaining access to the treat. If the biting occurs when you close your hand because she is trying to get the treat, then it would be important to teach her that she gets nothing by biting. Now, I know it may hard to endure sharp teeth. So in such a case, we can try wearing gardening or welders gloves initially. Or we can practice on the floor wearing tall rubber boots and covering the treat with our boot so even if she bites, we can continue practicing. I hope this helps, Let me know if you have any questions, or want to do more troubleshooting. Best, Adrienne

Hello and welcome to the forums, Congrats for your new Rottie! This sounds like rather normal puppy behavior. The growling can be a concern, but in most cases, puppies are just growling when they tug at clothing out of play. Puppy teeth are very needle sharp and they can hurt. This is a behavior that won't stop overnight considering that young puppies are naturally drawn to play this way and need to learn through lots of repetition that us humans have delicate skin and don't appreciate this type of play. Telling no or scolding or pushing indeed can often make pups more aroused. And if we push them or grab their collars to put them in a timeout, this can make them defensive over time and resent handling. More on collar grabs here: As annoying as puppy nipping may get, the good news is that we can ameliorate the situation by engaging puppies in games that are more rewarding to engage in rather than just nipping our ankles/pant legs. On top of this, when we don't have time for engaging the puppy, we can use management options which I will be listing at the bottom. Here is a guide with several games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ In particular, I like to encourage hand targeting to encourage positive interactions with hands. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/ Other forms of interaction/ training options: -I know that you mentioned redirecting her to toys, but there are toys and toys. Most puppies will play with regular toys for a few minutes, and then choose to play with out legs because our legs and clothing moves around and puppies are after movement and live playmates. Therefore, static toys that pups see at home most of the time won't attract them or keep their interest alive. Better options are therefore toys that add movement into the game such as a tennis ball tossed in the opposite direction (make it extra fun!) or a flirt pole for dogs (stick with a stuffed animal attached one end). The goal is to find a way to make these toys much more interesting, rewarding and fun to interact with than our body/clothing. I like to carry some tennis balls in my pocket and a flirt pole around my waist so I can use these tools at moment's notice. -You can redirect to an interactive game with you. I like to keep kibble always in my treat bag/pocket ready for this. Since she seems to respond to sit, as soon as he approaches, your wife can ask her for a sit and reward by tossing one piece of kibble/treat. She'll likely eat it and come for more if she perceives the treats valuable enough. Important is catching her before she even has the chance to think of biting. Once she has attached and is in full chewing mode, it is much more difficult to re-direct. The goal is to make your pup tired, provide an outlet for chasing instincts while incorporating some fun obedience. -Alternatively you can redirect to an empty water bottle with no lid filled up. Most pups cannot resist the crinkling sounds produced by chewing on these. They make an economical. temporary chew toy. Always monitor your pup when chewing if your dog tends to ingest things and consider that excess chewing can make some parts sharp so you need to be watchful for that. To make the bottle even more interesting, fill it up with a portion of your puppy's daily ratio of kibble so your puppy will keep busy trying to roll the kibble out. You can read more about this fun game here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/ -Make sure you provide outlets for pent-up energy. Games, training, exercise and opportunities for socialization should wear her out and provide outlets for her basic needs. With brain games that allowing her to chase things and get rewards out of them (like kibble out of a bottle or a in a Kong Wobbler) she should seek these games more and more which can turn our bodies and clothing pretty boring after a while because she gets more out of these activities when he's bored/frustrated/overstimulated. -Don't forget to train your pup some bite inhibition. This is a very important skill. A good exercise to train this using treats is here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ The main goal in getting a dog to stop biting knees/pant legs is to teach that it's boring playing with them because there are far better forms of play out there that don't involve human body parts. So make those toys more attractive. Wriggle them, toss them, provide toys that release food. With their strong urge to bite and play satiated with other forms of play, soon, puppies should outgrow the habit of chasing ankles/clothing just as they outgrow the habit of chasing their tails. You may have to try several of the above options and see what works best. Redirection to a rewarding treat-dispensing toy or game that uses treats should be moderately easy at this age if these activities are made rewarding. Teaching an alternate behavior is also important because dogs cannot misbehave if they are busy targeting our hands or sitting! It may take a bit of time though to teach these alternate behaviors fluently but it is sure worth the time and effort. By providing outlets for her energy and needs for mental stimulation and reinforcing appropriate behaviors, you should eventually start seeing a decrease in the biting behavior. Keep track of it so to measure whether things are getting better with time. Management Options For obstinate cases, it may help to temporarily avoid temptations by refraining wearing clothing that attracts puppies a lot, such as shoes with shoe strings, leather shoes, pants with wide pant legs, long skirts and dangling scarves. Some puppy owners who are around their pups for most of the day wear tall boots or tuck their pants in their socks. If the biting occurs a lot when your wife needs to work, like in the kitchen, for those times when she doesn't have time to dedicate to re-directing or training, it may be worthy of installing a baby gate and keeping the pup behind it with some toys so that your wife can work freely without having a puppy dangling to her clothes. This is just for the time being, until the puppy learns to interact in other ways. If the biting occurs when you need to eat, you can keep your puppy behind a baby gate or you can train the puppy gradually to lie on a mat to enjoy a long-lasting goodie (stuffed Kong, edible chew appropriate for puppies) there. She is too young to hold a long down on a mat, but if you provide something that she can enjoy there she'll likely stick there more and more as the may attains a reinforcement history. This allows your to establish a nice of routine where you eat and your pup looks forward to her goodie. After some time, as she matures, you can gradually train her to wait on the mat for you to finish eating and then give her her long-lasting goodie once you are all done. Here is how to train to lie on a mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ Finally, consider that puppies tend to get worse at nipping when they are cranky and in dire need for a nap. If you notice a time where your pup is super nippy, consider enclosing her behind a baby gate or crate with something valuable to chew. Chances are, if you provide a quiet area, she will chew and then happen to fall asleep for a well-needed nap. I will post some tips for the leave it issue in my next post.