Kevin said:
There are a couplechoices for how to discipline a pup yourself to teach bite inhibition. A dog trainer from PetSmart recommended grabbing the pup's top jaw, and pressing its upper jaw skin into it's own teeth until it cries. Another method is to hold down and subdue the pup until it cries. With each, you repeat the "No bite" command. I think both of these are not really recommended by too many people and are rumored to give the dog a bad disposition later in life.
In my opinion that trainer from PetsMart is an idiot and should not be teaching people how to train their dogs. Some PetsMart trainers are very good, but the majority of them should not be considered a trainer.
Fact of the matter is, puppies bite. They "explore" with their mouths. And yes, usually mom and siblings do teach bite inhibition but if a pup is taken away from it's litter too early it will not learn this. 6 weeks is too young, some even consider 8 weeks too young, to be taken from the litter. I know of a few Rottweiler breeders who will not let their pups leave mom until they are a minimum of 10 weeks old.
Consistancy is the key. Everytime your pup bites you must correct them. By either telling them "NO", "NO BITE", or whatever words you want to use,in a very low stern voice and immediately give them something that they can chew on and praising them when they do. Or when they bite, you once again correct them with a stern "NO" and turn your back and walk away. Do not look at them, talk to them, etc. Completely ignore the pup for a few minutes. Go back and initiate play again and ifthe pupstarts the biting thing again, do the same. Puppies are not dumb, they will soon start to figure out that biting=mad mom/dad and no more playtime. Usually they won't just grow out of it, they need to be taught that it is unacceptible behavior.
Training is also important. Espescially with Rotties. We have had Brodie for 2 years (he will be 3 in Nov.)and he has been in training classes the entire time.
Young puppies will benefit from Puppy Kindergarten classes. Most PuppyK classes start as young as 12 weeks of age (or as soon as a pup has all of it shots) and they are great for socializing pups with both people and other dogs.