How do I stop my 3-month-old puppy from biting and jumping on guests?

This can be frustrating, but is normal exploratory behavior at 13 weeks old. Like small children, puppies put everything in their mouths (hands included) as a means of exploration. Blesszuri is also beginning to teethe and can be expected to start losing her puppy teeth around 16 weeks of age. That said, she should not have a free pass to display this behavior just because she is exploring and teething. Whenever she bites or jumps on you, put an appropriate chew toy in her mouth, walk away and ignore her for a few minutes. When she interacts with you appropriately, praise her positive behavior with play time, belly rubs, or even a small treat. It can take a long time and a lot of consistency, but eventually Blesszuri will understand that she only receives attention and praise when she exhibits positive behaviors and interactions.

This is a very common problem with young, friendly dogs - they become overly excited when they greet people, and can't control their jumping and mouthing. This problem can be treated effectively with good training, but it will require you to be patient and consistent since it takes quite a while for most dogs to learn to control themselves in these situations. Training for this problem involves rewarding your dog for keeping all four paws on the floor as people approach, and gradually increasing the level of difficulty to include petting and actual greetings once he is doing well. Here is a link to an excellent discussion on training for this problem, including a video demonstrating this technique: https://denisefenzipetdogs.com/2015/09/14/jumping-on-people/ If you still have trouble, I would suggest getting in touch with a good reward-based trainer who can help you in person. You can search for a qualified trainer in your area here: www.ccpdt.org

This is a very common issue with puppies - they often get overly excited during play, and have trouble controlling themselves :) It's possible that your sister may tend to be louder, more active, or move more suddenly when she plays with the puppy, which often results in the puppy getting more "wound up." If your sister doesn't live with you, this may also be happening because the puppy is excited to see her when she comes over. Make sure that you have lots of different toys available for Sherri - long floppy rope or fleece toys for tugging, plush toys for biting and carrying, and smaller toys or balls for chasing and fetching. Your sister should always use a toy when she is playing with Sherri, so that Sherri has something to bite on. If she starts to get too excited, you can ask her to sit for a treat, or engage her in some other activity that is calmer and less exciting until she settles down. If needed, you can even give her something to chew on, such as a bully stick or a Kong stuffed with peanut butter, and put her in her crate for a while to let her calm down. Her ability to stay calm during play should improve as she gets older, just as it does for human children :) In the meantime, you can help her by redirecting her to a calmer activity when needed.

Get him acclimated to people so it isn't a big deal when you have company. Make him "work" for everything (food, attention, walks, etc.). This can be as simple as having him sit or wait before being fed, taken out or played with. When company arrives, make him wait to greet. Do not allow him to initiate contact. Use a leash to control him if necessary. A head harness such as the Gentle Leader or Halti can provide a means to control and quickly correct negative behavior. Ignore him when he barks at company. If he jumps up, turn away from him. Be consistent and be firm. Do not yell as this will likely get him more riled up.

One way to train him to behave when visitors come is to get him a dog mat. Place it where he can see visitors but not near the door or where they will be sitting. Train him to go to his mat on the command "MAT!" Then teach him to stay there until you release him (use a release word such as "okay" to let him know his stay is over). Enlist friends to do several practice sessions with them acting as guests (start with one at a time). When he is reliable, you can try this with actual guests. If you need more help with this, you can click on the prompt to initiate a consult.

I recommend getting him into a puppy kindergarten obedience class. The trainer can help you guide his energy into less aggressive, destructive paths. Also, make sure he is getting lots and lots of exercise, going for long walks, take him for a jog, throw the ball for him, get a tug toy and let him play tug of war with you or another dog, get him out for play dates with other dogs (best left after his vaccination series is finished, at about four months of age). A tired dog is a happy dog, and one less likely to get himself into trouble with boredom. When you play with your puppy, let him mouth on your hands. Continue play until he bites especially hard. When he does, immediately give a high-pitched yelp, as if you’re hurt, and let your hand go limp. This should startle your puppy and cause him to stop mouthing you. (If yelping seems to have no effect, you can say “Too bad!” or “You blew it!” in a stern voice instead.) Praise your puppy for stopping. Resume whatever you were doing before. If your puppy bites you hard again, yelp again. Repeat these steps no more than three times within a 15-minute period. If you find that yelping alone doesn’t work, you can switch to a time-out procedure. When your puppy delivers a hard bite, yelp loudly. Then, when he startles and turns to look at you or looks around, remove your hand. Either ignore him for 10 to 20 seconds or, if he starts mouthing on you again, get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds. After the short time-out, return to your puppy and encourage him to play with you again. It’s important to teach him that gentle play continues, but painful play stops. Play with your puppy until he bites hard again. When he does, repeat the sequence above. When your puppy isn’t delivering really hard bites anymore, you can tighten up your rules a little. Require your puppy to be even gentler. Yelp and stop play in response to moderately hard bites. Persist with this process of yelping and then ignoring your puppy or giving him a time-out for his hardest bites. As those disappear, do the same for his next-hardest bites, and so on, until your puppy can play with your hands very gently, controlling the force of his mouthing so that you feel little or no pressure at all.

No, he will not outgrow it. If it is a behavior that was not corrected because he had puppy teeth and/or his antics were "cute," he learned that biting is an okay thing to do. It needs to be stopped right now. Do not pull your hand or arm away when he is biting, as he may believe you are playing a game of chase with him (your hand being the thing to chase). If he starts to bite, give a firm "NO!" and stop interacting with him until he has calmed down.You can fold your arms over your chest (and stand up if you need to--I am not sure how big this dog is). Leave the room if you must, and close the door so he can't follow. You need to give him the message that biting is not okay, but remember that if it used to be allowed and now it's not, this may cause some confusion in the dog. Be patient and firm, but not aggressive. Good luck with this!