From 7-8 weeks old - growling or biting of clothes or human beings. NOT ACCEPTABLE.

A puppy that learns it is acceptable behavior to growl or bite a human will become a dog that growls, lunges, bites, snaps, well - you get the ugly and out-of-control picture - and assert its opinion with teeth.

UNACCEPTABLE behavior.

In our society, a dog that does this will get the label as "aggressive" and that is NOT a road you want to ever go down.  Even guard dogs are trained with solid obedience so when they attack, it is on command.

SO, when your puppy does any of these puppy behaviors, particularly from 8 weeks thru approx. 12 weeks old,  simply lightly grab the puppy's muzzle, squeeze it quickly and immediately, as you issue your no word. I recommend "PHOOHEY!" as it is not a word commonly heard in our everyday language. Do this 3 times maximum in one training session. If puppy continues, either kennel it for 30 minutes or do the Quiet Time exercise for 30 minutes.

Your puppy needs the refuge of time to process the consequences of what is a poor choice - growling or biting, etc. This quiet time allows the puppy's lesson of "Stop that behavior, now" to process and sink into its mind.  The puppy learns, oh that didn't work out so well, and helps to train the puppy that a wrong choice earns consequences.

This process, done each time, will help your puppy quickly learn the rules in life are no growling or biting of humans.

NO EXCEPTIONS. Ever.

Since it replicates what a dam will do with her rude puppy - and all puppies have to go through learning boundaries - the puppy intuitively recognizes the mechanic you are doing replicates what the puppy has already learned from its dam.  This is how dogs learn, via body language, and you are using what your puppy already knows and recognizes.