# Help with Bitting Bernese Puppy Behaviour



## lettsrj (Jan 27, 2011)

Hi,

I have a 13 weeks Bernese Mountain Dog and I really need some help.
We can't get him to stop bitting. He bites everything and everyone. We can't pet him without him turning his mouth to bite us and it really hurts. My hands have a different bruise everyday.
We have tried a few techniques:
Doing an loud ouch sound doesn't work as he thinks we are playing or something and it just bites stronger.
Holding his mouth just gets him more excited.
Ignoring him just makes him chance target to your ankles.
We tried substituting it for a toy, but he only thinks it's interesting for a few seconds.
Can you please give me some help and let me know if this behaviour is normal because I'm starting to worry as he is getting very big now and the biting is hurting more. We are getting very frustrated as we cannot pet him or have a relaxed play with him.


----------



## Liquidsunshine (Jan 24, 2011)

Hi I'll just post a few websites for you, the 2nd one is a blog where there are some instances of the owner dealing with nipping. May not be possible for you to copy her methods with a bernese mountain dog though!Got Puppy Nipping? Take the Clicker Approach | Karen Pryor Clickertraining
Blog7weeks
The Bite Stops Here by Dr Ian Dunbar


----------



## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

Maybe a short 'time out' when the pup becomes too excited and starts to lose control; in his crate if he is crate trained. This works well for me as long as the crate is never seen as a place of punishment....I say 'go to your bed' in a soft voice and give Kilo a treat when he goes in. I just use it for 2 - 10 minutes, he always comes back out far calmer and more than half the time falls asleep - he only tends to lose control now when he is overtired like a toddler who needs putting to bed. It also teaches him that any unacceptable behaviour swiftly ends play / interaction with his humans.


----------



## cocopop (May 31, 2010)

Hi,

Just as a thought, is your puppy getting a chance to do lots of chewing? 

Rawhide, nylabone, kongs, steralised marrowbone etc - all great for pups to release their 'chew' energy


----------



## bbear690 (Nov 23, 2010)

i have a 14 week old boxer and she will have a crazy 10 minutes before falling asleep so i have now taken to putting her in her crate when she starts jumping and biting and she goes off to sleep

i think she is like child fighting her sleep lol


----------



## ChatterPuss (Sep 4, 2010)

At our puppy training classes we have been taught to have a favourite toy to play with as a special reward I.e a cuddly that you can play tug of war with but as soon as his mouth gets near to your hands grab the other end of the toy. If he touches your hand the toy goes away and walk away. He will begin to realise that biting loses your attention and his favourite toy / game. This toy should not be left out for him to play with when unattended and only got out for special play time so he won't want to lose it !


----------

