Aggressively correcting a puppy's behavior.?

I'm going to ume you meant 12 week old puppy. Do not kick your puppy in any way, "gently" or not. The Humane Society in the area that I live suggests to have a squirt bottle of water handy to correct bad behavior. Give the puppy a short squirt of water while firmly saying "no" when he does something bad like growling and biting at a family member.