# naughty puppy behaviour



## mwats (Sep 6, 2010)

Hi all. I have just registered with this website and have read through some of the threads that have already been posted. I am hoping some of you puppy owners will be able to provide some advice to me due to some naughty behaviour that is beginning to be more and more frequent in my new pup!!

I have a Bernese Mountain puppy who is now 10 weeks old. We got him from the breeder when he was 8 weeks, and the first 2-3 days he was as good as gold. We were so amazingly surprised, he slept soundly through the night, he was very well behaved around the house (he's only allowed downstairs) and he didn't nip or mouth us. He just simply played with his toys. However, after around 5 days he has become increasingly more problematic in his behaviour. It is now his nipping and mouthing at my wrists and legs that are the biggest problem. I have read numerous forums on this type of behaviour and understand it is a given in puppies. But at the same time, I have tried many attempts at reducing this behaviour, such as 'replacing' my wrists with toys constantly, telling him with a firm 'no' and tapping him on the nose, putting him out of the room for a few minutes and closing the door behind me after telling him no. But NONE of this seem to be working. It is like he doesn't learn at all. Sometimes when I give him a toy when he jumps for my wrist he will play with the toy for about 1 minute and then come back to my wrist or trousers and won't let go. Other times he doesn't even play with the toy at all, he just snaps back at my wrist after I have tried to give him the toy!! I feel very surprised and shocked about this behaviour and also can't understand how he doesn't seem to learn at all!

I am at home him with him everyday and I play with him in the garden by throwing his toys (we have various balls, chewy toys, noisy toys) and he seems to love all of them and does play with them. So it feels like he should be releasing all of his energy but then when we are back in the house, he goes straight for wrists and legs again! He had his second vaccination on Saturday and I did ask the vet about his behaviour and whether he can suggest anything to help. He mentioned getting a 'konk' toy to fill with food and that this would distract for hours and usually works a treat. So I went to buy one straight away. It seemed to appeal to my puppy for around 15 minutes and then he was back to his usual behaviour.

I have to admit that he is still very well behaved in that he does not destruct anything in the house, no furniture or doors etc. and he is still very well behaved at night time. It is just this mouthing and snapping that I would love to reduce. Any advice on this would be SO appreciated. I have a feeling the best advice is going to be to take him to obedience classes and we are more than prepared to do this but at the moment it is a week before he is allowed out properly after his second vaccination so any advice in the mean time will be taken on board immediately!

Many many thanks


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

Keep moving your hand away. Give him lots of fuss if he doesn't bite and as soon as he starts biting snap your hand away and ignore him. If he bites your legs put them up and keep moving yourself away from his mouth. 

Your doing everything else I can think of really. As soon as he's allowed out walk him! He will get really tired and just sleep


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## Guest (Sep 6, 2010)

He will take more than 2 weeks to learn bite inhibition particularly if you keep changing the method you use. Find the one that has more effect and stick with that


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

rona said:


> He will take more than 2 weeks to learn bite inhibition particularly if you keep changing the method you use. Find the one that has more effect and stick with that


To teach bite inhibition you need to have the puppy nip sometimes, it is avoiding full force bites that is the inihibition in "bite inhibition".

Later when discouraging a soft mouthed pup from mouthey play, managing excitement level to reduce jumping up & rough housing likely helps. I think the Bernese Mountain Dog may require more patience and persistence than some other breeds.

I found when walking with my pup, to avoid playful shoe & short hem attacks, that having a toy dangling on a rope, helped a lot. Even now at 5 1/2 months, sometimes he is just steamed up to play, and without distraction through a toy, I'm going to end up nagging him lots, when he goes for laces etc trying to vent off pent up steam


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## lucysnewmum (Feb 25, 2010)

your puppy sounds perfectly normal and is doing what puppies do - exploring the world around them with their teeth and demanding your attention! there are many suggested methods to halt this behaviour and i cannot stress enough that you need to nip it in the bud before he gets his adult teeth at around 6 months old! 

puppies will play wrestle with each other using their mouths and paws - and in the absence of siblings their human owners become the obvious playmate. this is an excellent time to bond with your puppy but he must learn the rules and boundaries at the same time as having fun with you. snapping your hand away whilst protecting you from those sharp little teeth will actually become part of the game to him and he is more likely to continue with this behaviour. a far better way of dealing with this is to leave your hand, or leg, where it is, let out a loud squeal (loud enough to shock him into stopping) and then moving away. once puppy has stopped immediately reward him with a raggy toy or ball game. this way he will learn that if he nips the fun stops - if he doesnt then a better game occurs.

hope this helps
gilly


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## smudge.rimmer (Jul 25, 2010)

welcome to my world...we are still going through teething so smudge is very bitey and has lost all interest in anything she is actually allowed!!
the kong might be more interesting if you fill it with peanut butter (organic, smooth, no additives) and freeze it, she sits for at least 20 mins of peace for you! you will see improvement but it is in little bursts so very hard work!
some people disagree and dont like it but we have to be really sharp with her and tell her no, it is the only thing that works, she was particularly mouth and those teeth got through several items of clothing! she is a bolshy little madam but we are persevering....good luck and if you need to rant or have a breather feel free to msg!
xx


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## RAINYBOW (Aug 27, 2009)

It really is early days as far as the mouthing is concerned but try and view it as a natural learning process that you just have to get through, stuffed and frozen kongs will last a bit longer and raw bones will help but just be extra vigilant about giving high value treats and don't expect to be able to just take them off the pup at will at this stage, you need to swap for a piece of chicken or ham or something tasty when you want to remove and absolutely NO children present in the early stages of giing this type of treat.

As already said you just need to find a method and stick with it, a persistent/consistent approach is the only thing that will work and it will take a reasonable length of time, Bernese by nature can be pushy and will take the P if they can get away with it (some specific advice from the breeder might help you) 

I would avoid adversives like water sprays or shake cans or nose tapping so early on and go down the Time Out or yelping and withdrawal or replacement with a toy route, just see what seems to work best and stick with it 

Would love to see a picture, i love this breed and nearly ended up with one instead of Oscar


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## XxZoexX (Sep 8, 2010)

I sympathise totally.. Just curious around what age does Teething start? Only asking as Jacks biting seemed to calm down but today hes been really nippy hes 10 wk.


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## RAINYBOW (Aug 27, 2009)

XxZoexX said:


> I sympathise totally.. Just curious around what age does Teething start? Only asking as Jacks biting seemed to calm down but today hes been really nippy hes 10 wk.


Not sure but at 10wks you would still expect to be in the thick of it  Stand firm and just use the same method you have been using the improvement shows it was working :thumbup:


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## XxZoexX (Sep 8, 2010)

Oh yes hes definatly got better using distraction and removal from the room but im dont want to confuse being an little Imp with teething.. im all ready with cloths to freeze and other ideas ive found on here, just not sure if ill know the differance lol, Thanks


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

On teething as a cause, many suggested that to me as a cause, but I am skeptical. When adult teeth erupted i was surprised how short the teething period was; gum soothing chewing on cold objects just as short phase. As far as I can see all the puppy nipping & excited play type behaviours are about blowing off steam and energy, and trying to have fun.


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## smudge.rimmer (Jul 25, 2010)

with smudge, she has just started teething and it has been going on for about 2 weeks, i can tell she is cos she is just not her normal happy self, she is a bit grumpier, more snappy when she is tired and she is biting us constantly which she doesnt do, normally she is very affectionate, but she has lost several teeth and we are just waiting for the big ones to come out! we are weathering through it!! she also has a lot more energy which we have to walk and run off!!

good luck with it all!!xx


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

The pup in question is 10 weeks old.

My young dog teethed again (adult teeth) at approx 5 months old. At 8 weeks, he had plenty of needle puppy teeth, and people constantly put down mouthey type behaviours to teething, despite inspection of mouth showing no signs of it.

That's why I'm skeptical. Real teething was obvious, with bleeding gums and big teeth appearing.


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## mwats (Sep 6, 2010)

Hi All!

Many thanks for all of your comments. I have been trying to keep consistent with teaching my puppy Benji not to bite/mouth but unfortunately... dare I say it but there has been no progress. It is definitely more of a biting habit that he has rather than nipping. As he really grabs on, either to your hand or leg/trousers and he just doesnt let go until you literally open his mouth with your hands and physically take out what ever he has in his mouth (i.e. my trousers). He also does it with anybody really. When we take him to our family's home or if we have a friend visit here he is exactly the same with. Sometimes more snappy to start with and then goes into biting.

I appreciate many people have written that this is normal for a puppy and it can even take a while to train them out of the habit. But when I think of other people I know who have had puppies, whether they have children or whether it be quite an elderly person, I just can't at all imagine them with Benji. I have 2 young cousins, one who is 2.5 years old and the other is 6 years old and their parents have said they would not bring them to see Benji at the moment. Despite the children thinking he will be an adorable, fluffy puppy, their parents have come to see Benji at our home and he was doing his usual biting with them and because of his sharp needly teeth they say they couldn't imagine him with children. I certainly feel they are right at the moment.

Anyway, the main tactic that seemed to work for a day or 2 was putting Benji on his own as soon as he had been biting. We either put him in the kitchen on his own or put him his dog cage (depending on what we are doing or where we are). When he comes back into the room, he behaves for about half an hour and then would go straight back to biting. He actually tends to ignore his toys now even if you try and replace your wrist with a toy. He just goes straight back for the wrist. Sorry, if this message is sounding a bit negative. I will certainly say that he is still very well behaved in every other respect, he is toilet trained, he is good around furniture, he is as good as gold in the car and he is fine at night time.

My partner is also sharing some real concern about Benji though. Benji is the first puppy I have had, but my partner has previously had a doberman, weineramer and west highland terrier. He says that none of them seemed to behave like Benji does. When they did try and nip or mouth, as soon as they were told No and tapped on the nose, or put in a room on their own, then they learned pretty quickly and the bad behaviour would be a rareity rather than constant.

We now take Benji out for walks and have done every day for the last week. We usually go for about an hour. He is usually tired when we first get back and sleeps for about half an hour, but then when he wakes up he will go back to nipping us when he comes over to the sofa. Can I just ask, with those of you who have replied and said this behaviour is normal for puppies please can you tell me what age they tend to grow out of this habit? I am keen to know that as we are quite restricted at the moment, as I said, with seeing friends etc as those with children we have to think twice about seeing at the moment. We have thought about keeping him in a separate room when people visit us, but at the same time as he is only a young puppy we don't think that is any good for him.

Well thanks again, and I look forward to reading your replies. I will also try and post up some photos of Benji too ;o).

Monica


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## mwats (Sep 6, 2010)

I also meant to write, that we do give him lots of fuss and praise when does behave properly! So we do try and reinforce positive behaviour rather than punishing negative behaviour.. but that doesn't seemed to have clicked with Benji yet.


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## Gemmaa (Jul 19, 2009)

Danny was a totally evil puppy. He was quite growly and seemed to bite more than a puppy should, but a lot of the time it was from being over tired so he was put in his crate.
We started being stricter with him and he stopped it, and now he's delightful.

If he started biting and clamping hard, he was put in his bed, or we walked away.
He had to obey a command for everything, e.g. sit and wait for his food (stopped him leaping up and knocking the bowl out of my hands), or sit to go in the garden or out of his bed, it gave him more respect for us and stopped the power struggle.

I don't think proper teething starts until around 4-5 months, and the biting before that is just learning. Unfortunately. :scared:

Honestly though, for a while we thought Danny was going to be absolutely awful, but he's totally different now. You've just got to be positive. 
Clever breeds need more mental stimulation, I strongly suggest a food ball and look into Nina Ottosson toys.


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## bernermum (Sep 14, 2010)

mwats said:


> Hi All!
> 
> Many thanks for all of your comments. I have been trying to keep consistent with teaching my puppy Benji not to bite/mouth but unfortunately... dare I say it but there has been no progress. It is definitely more of a biting habit that he has rather than nipping. As he really grabs on, either to your hand or leg/trousers and he just doesnt let go until you literally open his mouth with your hands and physically take out what ever he has in his mouth (i.e. my trousers). He also does it with anybody really. When we take him to our family's home or if we have a friend visit here he is exactly the same with. Sometimes more snappy to start with and then goes into biting.
> 
> ...


Hi Monica,
Congratulations on your Bernese puppy they are fantastic!

I am lucky enough to have 2 Bernese boys , my oldest Tiberious was a bit mouthy when he was younger - holding on rather than nipping but stopped this at about 6 months. My youngest boy Barnaby who is 9 months old is still nipping/mouthing but he was pre-owned and I have only had him from the age of 6 1/2 months so I just put it down to lack of training and bad training. I also have to prise his mouth open at times but this is now getting less often after 3 months. Nose tapping actually made Barnaby more agressive!I am squealing at him when he does mouth or try honking an old fashioned car horn or similar ( my friend did this and it worked perfectly) , if he persists then it is timeout and I just reward the good behavour. I am lucky that he is very food orientated. He is a lot better than when I first got him so persistance is the only way. Bernese are a bit slow at learning so just keep at it. Every one of them has different personalities and I have one placid one and one that is a bit more challenging . As they age they do calm down - eventually lol

I do not have a problem with Tiberious he is a bit terratorial in the car and the house but once people are in the house he is super. My grandchildren love him and he is a giant 65kg teddybear who they like to snuggle up with.
I let my grandchildren mix with him from day one and he has not caused them any problems apart from pulling them around by their clothes at around the same age that Benji is. I tell them no or remove them if they do not stop.

I do not think that you should keep children out of the way. Keep socialising him under close supervision. Young Barnaby is a great boy marvelous on the lead doesnt bark or bite as such , just the mouthing and chewing up my house lol. I think he was left a lot as a puppy. I had him in the crate initially but thought I would try him out some weeks ago. Despite moving everything before I go to bed he always finds something to eat during the night- whether it be a dvd/rug/clothes. Patience is a virtue:thumbup:.

Do not let this put you off they are great dogs I have had close contact with them for 6 years and have been an owner for almost 3 years. I am surrounded with them as 3 of my neighbours have them too, on a good day we have 6 running round. Their puppies were also a bit nippy/mouthy until around 6 months but they are super dogs now.

Good luck

CJ


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

mwats said:


> I appreciate many people have written that this is normal for a puppy and it can even take a while to train them out of the habit
> ...
> Anyway, the main tactic that seemed to work for a day or 2 was putting Benji on his own as soon as he had been biting. We either put him in the kitchen on his own or put him his dog cage (depending on what we are doing or where we are). When he comes back into the room, he behaves for about half an hour and then would go straight back to biting. He actually tends to ignore his toys now even if you try and replace your wrist with a toy. He just goes straight back for the wrist
> ...
> My partner is also sharing some real concern about Benji though. Benji is the first puppy I have had, but my partner has previously had a doberman, weineramer and west highland terrier. He says that none of them seemed to behave like Benji does


Every thing you say, is what I was saying about the young dog I have, at 10 1/2 weeks he was at his worst. I even had a situation which caused an aggressive bite & a snap, breaking my skin; but he was set up to fail there.

My pup's focus on what his target could not be diverted onto toys. What I did was interrupt the intended nip or mouthing, with a gravel shaker bottle, and immediately substitute toy play.

As important, I started him on reward based obedience training, which taking advantage of his food motivation he enjoyed, and meant anyone could manage his excitement levels, by doing calming obedience work.


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## RAINYBOW (Aug 27, 2009)

I think we saw a significant decrease in the more worrying elements of Oscars bitey stage around 6 months.

I can understand your concern in such a big breed but this really is a learning stage and your pup will still be learning the rules of engagement 

Short supervised access to children should be encoraged and during that time try having a kong with some cream cheese or something in it to divert the behaviour and foster that children mean a nice experience. 

If the pup is crate trained after a short session i would then take everyone out for a short walk together and then some down time in the crate when you return.

Training classes are a must at helping develop good early manners 

There are lots of threads on here with people in the same boat so well worth a read even if it just makes you realise you arent the only one, what advice has your breeder given ??


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## Joolz1975 (May 17, 2010)

Im strugling with Dexter also at the moment! I thought we were making progress last week but now hes worse than ever!

Hes constantly chasing my daughter biting at her ankles and clothes and also started doing it to the rest of us as well to point where i could cry tonight as he is mouthing at EVERYTHING!

Hes biting my clothes and feet, scratching at the rug, trying to bite skirting board and my table legs!!

He hasnt been well today and thought maybe he was a bit anxious cos hes hungry (starved him for 12hours) but i have fed him and hes still like it!

Hes growling quite nastily whilst he is doing it!!!

Ive tried everything, yelping as if he has hurt us, ignoring hi, time out and NOTHING is working! 

I actually cant wait to get to work tommorow as today has been the most stressful day ive had since we got him!

Could cry!


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## RAINYBOW (Aug 27, 2009)

Joolz1975 said:


> Im strugling with Dexter also at the moment! I thought we were making progress last week but now hes worse than ever!
> 
> Hes constantly chasing my daughter biting at her ankles and clothes and also started doing it to the rest of us as well to point where i could cry tonight as he is mouthing at EVERYTHING!
> 
> ...


 sorry you are having a pants puppy day, there were defiantely days i wondered what the hell i had done, it seemed relentless 

Have you got a kong you can distract him with or a coke bottle with some kibble in, oscar used to play with them for ages, take the lid off and spear a few holes in it. Are you going to any training classes yet ???

What method are you using to deal with it at the moment ??


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## Joolz1975 (May 17, 2010)

He cant go to training classes yet as he has only just had his 2nd vaccination got them lined up though!

Yes he has Kongs and loves to play with a coke bottle its just today he has the devil in him!!

Hes even chomping the concrete step outside! usually at this time hes in his bed asleep and we dont hear a peep out of him till his last toilet trip then he sleeps till morning!

I really think hes hungry (well i know he is as he is sat at side of his bowl whining!!) so ive caved and given him some plain boiled rice with a bit of cooked turkey and im hoping he will settle then! dont normally feed him so late but expect he would be whining all night if he went to bed starving!

Maybe the fact i was up at 3am cleaning his cage as he has an upset tummy isnt helping my mood!

Just wish he would chill with the nipping and mouthing!

Oh by the way today im using a mixtue of all techniques (wrong i know) as none of them appear to be working!


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## RAINYBOW (Aug 27, 2009)

Joolz1975 said:


> He cant go to training classes yet as he has only just had his 2nd vaccination got them lined up though!
> 
> Yes he has Kongs and loves to play with a coke bottle its just today he has the devil in him!!
> 
> ...


I really sympathise, they are hard work at this stage. I remember having "those days". Does sound like he is a bit off colour and out of sorts. The mouthing still has a way to go yet i am afraid, really try and stick with one method and being persistent and consistent will win out in the long run, there is no quick fix with the mouthing unfortunately.

I really liked the time out method as it allowed me to cool off too .


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## Joolz1975 (May 17, 2010)

Yeh i keep trying time out but when i let him back out he is no better today!

Im just going to put it down to him not been 100% today and put him in his cage and go to bed i think (hubby will be back about 10.30pm so he can see to him then!)

When i pop him in his cage he settles, he just seems over excited tonight and a bit anxious!


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## RAINYBOW (Aug 27, 2009)

Joolz1975 said:


> Yeh i keep trying time out but when i let him back out he is no better today!
> 
> Im just going to put it down to him not been 100% today and put him in his cage and go to bed i think (hubby will be back about 10.30pm so he can see to him then!)
> 
> When i pop him in his cage he settles, he just seems over excited tonight and a bit anxious!


Sounds like a plan  Sometimes they get overtired and if he is feeling off colour he might not know whats wrong so this is his reaction to all that. I remember reading somewhere that excessive mouthiness can be a signal they need to toilet so it might be worse today because of his tum, if he settles in his crate i would pop him in there during the day for short periods if he is getting over excitable jst to give everyone some space  Hope tomorrows better


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## Joolz1975 (May 17, 2010)

RAINYBOW said:


> Sounds like a plan  Sometimes they get overtired and if he is feeling off colour he might not know whats wrong so this is his reaction to all that. I remember reading somewhere that excessive mouthiness can be a signal they need to toilet so it might be worse today because of his tum, if he settles in his crate i would pop him in ther
> e during the day for short periods if he is
> getting over excitable jst to give everyone
> some space  Hope tomorrows better


Aww thanks you've made me feel loads better! I know he's a good puppy and just having a bad day!

Think he's prob found this week a bit stressful as I am back at work so his routine has changed and now the upset tummy!!

Thanks for the pep talk!

X


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## ArwenLune (Jan 3, 2010)

mwats said:


> dare I say it but there has been no progress.





> Anyway, the main tactic that seemed to work for a day or 2 was putting Benji on his own as soon as he had been biting. (...)
> When he comes back into the room, he behaves for about half an hour and then would go straight back to biting.


But that IS progress! Half an hour is pretty huge for a 10 week old pup, which has by definition the attention span of a gnat on speed. If you were to stick with the approach, that half an hour will turn into an hour and then longer. You just have to drive home the message over and over 'If you act like a jerk, nobody will play with you and you won't have any fun at all'.



> We now take Benji out for walks and have done every day for the last week. We usually go for about an hour.


An hour long walk with such a young pup? That seems really long to me, especially with such a large breed. What does your breeder say about exercise? The normal rule is 5 minutes walk for every month the pup is old. So at 10 weeks you'd only do 10 to 15 minute walking daily. Much longer and you risk overburdening joints that are still growing, and that could increase the chance of HD and all kinds of misery later on.

Just walking doesn't usually tire them out for long anyway - brain stimulation does that much more effectively. You could combine that by doing short socialisation walks with lots of new experiences (just manage things carefully so that they're good experiences). Or start short clickertraining sessions!


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## RAINYBOW (Aug 27, 2009)

Joolz1975 said:


> Aww thanks you've made me feel loads better! I know he's a good puppy and just having a bad day!
> 
> Think he's prob found this week a bit stressful as I am back at work so his routine has changed and now the upset tummy!!
> 
> ...


No worries


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## Joolz1975 (May 17, 2010)

RAINYBOW said:


> No worries


Well he slept all night and got up this morning and seems much happier but still hungry! going to start mixing his normal food back in with his rice today see how he goes as he is really hungry!


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## Helbo (Sep 15, 2010)

I mean this in a friendly way - I think you should count yourself extremely lucky that is is your only 'problem' with your puppy up to now :thumbup:

The other users are right - stick to one method that works (calming him by getting him to sit, or walking out of the room and removing his favourite chew toy of all - you...)

Removing myself from the room through the day seems to work for my pup, but i do let him gently mouth my hand when tired (been told its a natural thing to do to a mummy as long as its just mouthing and not chewing). As soon as he chews properly, or goes for my clothes I leave. 

Good luck with your pup. Keep in mind that he's actually well behaved for a baby, and stick at it! He'll get there.


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## Joolz1975 (May 17, 2010)

Helbo said:


> I mean this in a friendly way - I think you should count yourself extremely lucky that is is your only 'problem' with your puppy up to now :thumbup:
> 
> The other users are right - stick to one method that works (calming him by getting him to sit, or walking out of the room and removing his favourite chew toy of all - you...)
> 
> ...


Aww yes i know thats why i feel bad for complaining, hes perfect in every other way! house training has been a breeze, he sleeps all night and is such a happy lovely little boy!

If it was just me i could deal with it but he actively seeks my daughter out to drag hold of her feet!

Im off work after today till next wednesday so going to really try and stick to one method and see if we can make progress!

Hubby has him out in garden trying to tire him out today so he might be too tired to nip later!


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

Joolz1975 said:


> If it was just me i could deal with it but he actively seeks my daughter out to drag hold of her feet!


That's why beginning reward based obedience exercises is important, once you daughter knows she can make him sit and such and can feel in control, likely she'll be able to manage that sort of playfulness.


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## Joolz1975 (May 17, 2010)

RobD-BCactive said:


> That's why beginning reward based obedience exercises is important, once you daughter knows she can make him sit and such and can feel in control, likely she'll be able to manage that sort of playfulness.


Yes she does try (she sounds like Barbara Woodhouse sometimes lol) might try and get her been a bit more assertive this weekend and get her trying to control him a bit more as at the minute she darts around tryingto avoid him whenn hes hyper!


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## ArwenLune (Jan 3, 2010)

That probably just eggs him on, to be honest. It sounds like it could be a really exciting game for a pup! A lot of people seem to have good results with teaching their kids to 'be a tree' - so stand still, fold your arms, look up. That gives the pup no stimulation whatsoever, and he's a lot more likely to give up because it's boring. If he bites her ankles, maybe start out with the being-a-tree while she's wearing wellies, so that she's able to be a tree with no feedback until he gives up?


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## Joolz1975 (May 17, 2010)

ArwenLune said:


> That probably just eggs him on, to be honest. It sounds like it could be a really exciting game for a pup! A lot of people seem to have good results with teaching their kids to 'be a tree' - so stand still, fold your arms, look up. That gives the pup no stimulation whatsoever, and he's a lot more likely to give up because it's boring. If he bites her ankles, maybe start out with the being-a-tree while she's wearing wellies, so that she's able to be a tree with no feedback until he gives up?


I will do that! we have tried the tree thing but he persisits and then she runs but wellies would make her feel more confident!

This weekend im determined im cracking the nipping!


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## bernermum (Sep 14, 2010)

ArwenLune said:


> But that IS progress! Half an hour is pretty huge for a 10 week old pup, which has by definition the attention span of a gnat on speed. If you were to stick with the approach, that half an hour will turn into an hour and then longer. You just have to drive home the message over and over 'If you act like a jerk, nobody will play with you and you won't have any fun at all'.
> 
> An hour long walk with such a young pup? That seems really long to me, especially with such a large breed. What does your breeder say about exercise? The normal rule is 5 minutes walk for every month the pup is old. So at 10 weeks you'd only do 10 to 15 minute walking daily. Much longer and you risk overburdening joints that are still growing, and that could increase the chance of HD and all kinds of misery later on.
> 
> Just walking doesn't usually tire them out for long anyway - brain stimulation does that much more effectively. You could combine that by doing short socialisation walks with lots of new experiences (just manage things carefully so that they're good experiences). Or start short clickertraining sessions!


Arwenlune is absolutely right whilst a good socialising walk is excellent for Benji 1 hour is much too long for a Bernese puppy , you have to be very careful with their joints at such a young age - they do have a problem with Hip displasia as a breed in general.

Good luck with the crating/removal after bad behaviour it will work eventually. Barnaby is just about catching on after 2 1/2 months. It is a little harder when they are that bit older than starting from a small puppy.

CJ


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## mwats (Sep 6, 2010)

Hello.

I have been reading all of your responses from time to time and must say the Nina Ottosson toys work a treat with Benji and over the last week or so his behaviour has improved incredibly. His mouthing with me has almost completely stopped which is really fantastic, and I feel very grateful and excited to post that news on here ! 

His crate seems to work pretty well. It is definitely more for chill-out time now as when ever he goes in to it during the day he just lies down straight away and relaxes. I don't even need to lock the door (if he has been naughty) and he just stays in there. Benji certainly seems to be a very intelligent dog. He is not yet 15 weeks and I have managed to train him to 'sit', 'give a paw', 'and the other paw' and 'lie down'. I certainly agree with what they say about Bernese, that they really do want to please their owner.

Despite taking him for walks everyday he does still seem quite timid of other people and other dogs, but I'm sure he will soon grow more confident.
He still mouths other people (visitors, family members, we do need to be very cautious with children still) who he doesn't live with. But he tends to be more gentle in his mouthing now, unless he is very excited his mouthing then gets a lot more powerful. I do want to say thank you very much to all of you to have responded, I'm now looking forward to updating the forum with positive updates of Benji as he grows and develops :thumbup:.

Before we got Benji, my partner and I went to a number of Bernese dog shows (in central England, South England and North England) and we knew we loved the breed, especially their temperament and the fact that they are so placid. Thank you 'Bernermum - CJ' for your responses on here. It was very reassuring to read that Benji was not the only Bernese pup who mouthed a lot, and grabbed things with his mouth not letting go. We are hoping Benji will grow to be a 'big bear' size too. The way he's going at the moment I have a feeling he his certainly heading in that direction.

I will carry on posting photos of Benji on the forum site.

Thanks again!
Monica

Monica


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