Bite inhibition is very important to teach right away, as young as possible, especially if you have a large dog, be sure to teach this before the dog is stronger than you!
Puppies bite, that's how they play but they must learn not to bite humans, it hurts, but rather than being rougher than they are and "showing authority" by being bigger and tougher, which will only teach them a poor fear of you and cause them to act aggressively out of fear of getting hurt by you, gently teach them they listen to you.
Here's how to teach "the soft mouth""
*When you play with your puppy, always use toys instead of your hands and occupy their mouth with it so the only way they'll know to play is by biting the toy.
*If your puppy insists on biting when you pet them, feed them treats with one hand to occupy their mouth while you pet or groom them with your other hand.
*Do your 'puppy cuddle' sessions AFTER exercise periods so they're tired, more relaxed, and less likely to bite.
*Don't play muzzle slapping, face grabbing, or wrestling games with your dog ever, this will encourage biting and aggresion.
And always supervise children and pets, if the dog nips at a child, the first thing they'll do is scream, jump, and run away which will actually encourage biting. Start training as soon as your puppy even puts their mouth on you, by ignoring at first if they gently put their mouth on you, don't have any reaction to it, for now you're just telling them to have a soft mouth. To teach them not to bite, you'll need two principals
If you're petting them and they bite cheerfully say 'ouch'
(not high pitched, loud or angry) and walk away, take a toy with you, if they follow you distract them with that and go to another room and close the door, count to 30 then open the door and calmly interact with them, if they bite hard, firmly say "OUCH" and walk away this is 'negative punishment, the biting behavior makes you go away. Punishment means that their bad behavior will fade, it doesn't have to be forceful or painful. Each time the puppy bites hard say "Ouch!" and walk away. If they mouth gently, say "Good" and feed them a treat. This is positive reinforcement, they get a treat, and you keep playing. Eventually, they'll consciously decide to be gentle, not because they're afraid you'll hurt them, but because they want something good to happen, a puppy's sibling teach them to bite softly by not playing with them when they are rough, and you should teach the same. It is important to leave a puppy with their sibling and mother until they are at least 8 weeks to give them a time to learn 'soft mouth' lessons and avoid hard-biting puppies. To handle unexpected mouthing during training, (you don't know the puppy is going to mouth, until
you feel the puppy's teeth):
Say "OUCH!" and walk away
Expected mouthing (you see the puppy getting ready to mouth you):
You say "OFF" before the puppy can mouth you. The puppy is mouthing you to play, so when it's expected, say off, guide them off and tell them to sit, give them a treat when they do and then play, they learn to listen to you in order to get what they want. Dogs continue behaviors simply because, they work so if everytime they bite you you play with them right away, you just taught them that biting gets you to play, don't do this. If your puppy bites you to play or get attention or simply to get something they want, if you catch them before, say off and make them sit then play, but if they bite unexpectedly, say "Ocuh!" and walk away, make them sit then resume.
