Puppy training support

Puppy help

Dear Reddit, please help. Against all of my better judgment I got myself a 10 week old Bully Mix after my super chill old dog died. I have a basic understanding of dog training and was having really good success initially. Now he’s four months old and everything is going off the rails. He constantly bites my kids to the point where everyone is scared of him. He was doing really well at the basic commands and no longer wants to listen to me. Which is age appropriate, but is not working in my favor. He is quickly outgrowing my abilities now. I live in a very rural area and there are no available training resources that are accepting new clients. The shelter is planning to put me in contact with their trainer, but I really do want to grow my own skills. However, I am getting so confused by all the different suggestions on the Internet. I’ve looked through some of the wiki page, but I’m not seeing like step-by-step what I should do next type instructions. I feel like all of the suggestions that I’m reading about are complicated by having three young children around him at all times. I am determined to teach him how to be a calm and respectful companion for my family.

This week hasn’t been a complete loss, he has had some success with keeping his feet on the floor when he is greeting. This requires massive amounts of coaching. This skill is extra important because we have a home-based business where clients are coming and going and cannot be jumped on. (Why did I get a puppy?!?)

I’ve been trying some of the techniques I’ve found from “Say It Once” like tethering but unless I give him a high value chew he will eat his leash. That brings me to my most pressing question, leash training. We live in the country so he doesn’t have to be on a leash very often, but I would love for him to be part of our lives and go places with us so we continue to practice the leash. Obviously, I don’t know what the hell I am doing because the leash turns him into a piranha/tornado combination. He is going to hurt himself, and I hate it.

I’m not even sure what I’m asking, resources?, Advice?, punishment? I need something more personalized than basic dog training advice because our home feels so complicated. I have made a mistake by bringing him into our home just to be kenneled even when we are home but I am determined to make this work and not send him back to the shelter. Where do I start? I thought it was going so well but I was wrong!