Children scared of puppy

[WeAll]

What a nightmare we are having. We collected our labrador cross pup last weekend, at 7 weeks old, who my Husband and Children have wanted for years.
I've never had a dog before and "gave in" to be honest. I am not experienced at all. I have read some books but the Children can't seem to follow our rules because they are frightened.

They are 9, 7, and 4. He has run after and bitten all of us and drawn blood over the last week and I feel like I must be doing everything wrong.

What can I do to stop him attacking them? I don't think he means to scare them, mostly they rile him up by playing and he doesn't know how to play without being "aggressive".
Sometimes he attacks their feet when they aren't doing anything though, then when they shout out or run away, he bites. :(
He has only bitten me and my Husband when we tried to separate him from the boys.
I don't know what else to tell, but I really need help. I have cried every day.

Get yourself to some good training classes as soon as his vaccinations are done.

Set up a nice quiet area (ideally a crate but read up on how to introduce a crate) where the puppy can go to relax. They become overstimulated exactly like children.

When he displays inappropriate behaviour try distracting and/or ignoring. So if he attacks the children's feet they should not run or scream, they should fold their arms and turn their backs on him silently. Meanwhile you try to distract him with an appropriate toy or chew.

As for the mouthing give him your hand to mouth, when he bites you don't pull your hand away (this turns it into a chasing game), keep it low and in place and give a very high pitched squeal. Repeat as necessary.

First off, be reassured that his behavior is totally normal. It's long gone now but just under a year ago when I got my pup we had a new puppy thread. If you can find it you may be happier to know you don't have a rabid beast, just a normal pup.

All you can do in the meantime is work on bite inhibition. Getting the kids to stand like a tree helps. I did the ignore and walk away thing when he got bitey although he often grabbed a foot! He ripped lots of clothes and drew blood often but eventually he did learn. He was 12 months old this weekend and is now the sweetest thing though slightly loopy .

I'd also look for cues that he is overtired as they often go on the rampage then. He will get past it eventually but it is part and parcel of having a puppy until you have taught him this isn't on.

I am sorry that you are having such a tough time.

Your puppy is just being a puppy, he's doing to you what he would do to his litter mates. This is how they learn bite inhibition.

I think that maybe the noise, movement and shouting when he nips (not bites) is possibly winding him up further. Teach your children to be 'trees'. They need to freeze, stand still or turn away, give no attention until puppy has calmed down.

Does your puppy have chill out time, they don't know when to switch off, just get more and more hyper. If you sense this happening, stick him in his crate or in another room to calm things down.

Give lots of praise and treats when calm and reinforce this behaviour. Training tires them out, you can train even now. Clicker training is good fun and easy to do.

We have a springer who is approx 9 months old, our first dog. We get teased about whether we have drugged him as he's very chilled out (or a big wuss!) but even so, it's been hard work.

Sorry post is a touch disjointed as its Friday and I've had wine!!!

Cross posts. Giving another toy as a distraction worked for us too, I forgot that. Sign up for puppy training, sharing the pain really helps!

Sorry, this is going to sound harsh, but dogs, like children don't come ready trained. He is just a baby and it is up to you to teach him appropriate behaviour (and teach your children how to behave around him at the same time). He is not a toy for them and they need to learn this. This is why many people say that puppies and children are a difficult combination.

You chose to buy the puppy. You now have a responsibility to bring it up to become a well-trained adult.