At 5 months old he will most likely be teething again as his adult teeth come through. He will want to chew on things to relieve the discomfort and this may include trying to chew your fingers. Furniture and shoes also tend to be on the menu for teething puppies - but at this stage it's your job to ensure that they only chew on things they're supposed to. (Errorless Learning and all that stuff... A dog learns what the "right thing" is much quicker if they are not allowed to make mistakes/rehearse bad behaviours. The theory basically dictates that if you never let your dog chew the table as a teething puppy, they will not chew the table as an adult. Likewise letting a puppy have accidents indoors due to lack of supervision means that they learn where their correct toilet place is much slower, and may still think toileting indoors is an option.)

However nipping (as opposed to chewing) is not normally related to teething. It tends to be a method of getting attention, especially used when hyper. (My dog used to bounce up and nip my hands for attention/to get me to throw his ball quicker). You can either stand there and look at the ceiling, completely ignoring the dog, or walk away. (Depends whether your dog thinks you walking away is a game of chase or not ).

For what it's worth, your dog sounds completely normal for a 5 month old.

("Normal" except for the puppy-classes bit. But I'm not entirely sure what to advise about that - it's not an uncommon problem though.)

 

Thank you for the advice.

He has just been to the park and again another dog came to sniff him and he was showing his teeth and went to go for the other dog. That seems to be another problem aswell and it is really annoying.

 

Thank you for the advice.

He has just been to the park and again another dog came to sniff him and he was showing his teeth and went to go for the other dog. That seems to be another problem aswell and it is really annoying.

Do you know whether he's ever had a bad experience with another dog? E.g been bitten by one, or being jumped on by one? Has he had issues with other dogs since you've owned him?

It is possible that your dog might just be reacting to the other dog being impolite (this article explains it better than I do) : He Just Wants To Say "Hi!" | Suzanne Clothier . I own quite an impolite young male dog who tends to greet other dogs by jumping up at their heads to lick their muzzle - he also likes to sneak up on other dogs to sniff their bottoms. (The bottom sniffing is a polite greeting, but sneaking up on the dog to do it seems slightly risky.) But this means that I do not allow him to greet other dogs unless I know and trust the other dog to give an appropriate reprimand (a growl, a well-aimed paw, briefly towering over my dog) rather than an inappropriate reprimand (biting my dog). It also means I check with the other dog's owner first before allowing my dog to greet theirs. But I don't expect other dogs to just stand by and tolerate my dog's bad behaviour.

Also, it's not exactly reasonable to expect your dog to get along with all other dogs. It's like people - there'll be one or two who your dog just does not like. However if your dog is reacting badly to even the most well behaved dog, you may have a problem.

 

How much exercise does he get a day? Nipping can be a boredom and attention seeking thing, and little dogs are often quite hyper and nippy anyway as they're often bred for catching rats, so it needs to be constructively directed into the right things like toys - one of my terriers was a very nippy pup but she soon grew out of it and learnt it just wasn't acceptable with a loud yelp from us every time she nipped - it worked!
Crate training can sometimes be great for hyper little dogs to get them into the habit of calming down and having a time out - my terrier mix is still very hyper but getting her into a routine helped a lot, as well as running her little legs off!!

As far as aggressive to other dogs it's often fear related as he has no idea what to do - are there any nice older sensible dogs you know that could come around to play? - often in a puppy class it can be a bit overwhelming for some pups and they react aggressively as they're scared. I wouldn't get rid of your poor pup at the first hurdle - they are like children and can be trying at times, owning one is a huge responsibility and very time consuming, with lots of input and effort it is very rewarding in the long run!

 

We've had him since he was 9 weeks old, and when he went to puppy classes i just think he got overwhelmed by all the other dogs running around him and its scared him.

 

Have you any friends that have a nice quiet dog he could walk with or find a puppy class a lot smaller maybe

 

We've had him since he was 9 weeks old, and when he went to puppy classes i just think he got overwhelmed by all the other dogs running around him and its scared him.

Were there lots of other puppies in the class? Personally I think more than 8 puppies in a class leads to chaos (especially if they're all off lead)...