Help! At my wits end.

[Kristen]

we have a 6 month old bernedoodle. She's completely potty trained and doesn't chew (much). For the most part, she is a good dog. But the biting and jumping is making me insane. She will literally jump and bite at me (half the time I feel like I'm being attacked) for hours and hours on end. Nothing stops her. I give her toys, I play fetch, I ignore the behavior, I give her kongs filled wit peanut butter, ive acted like a "tree", I've researched about every possible thing and nothing is working. I've sat on the internet combing every website possible. She really hurts! I'm covered in bruises, scratches, etc. I have co workers commenting on it. My 2 year old daughter is too. It doesn't seem like aggressive behavior, but it does hurt. I'm becoming extremely resentful. It's causing problems with my husband, because she doesn't act this way with him and he thinks I'm being dramatic. Im home with her during the day more. We've only ever had one other dog, an English mastiff, and she was as calm as they come, so I'm not used to this type of behavior and I feel dumbfounded. As hard as it is to admit, at this point I regret getting her. My days off from work, I'm wishing I was there, because it's constant chaos and stress in my household. She's also ruined numerous clothing of mine. I have holes in everything. I've been around mouthy dogs before, that nibble at your hands, but this is 100 times worse than that. My sister took her for a weekend, while we were away, and she played great with her goldendoodle and was a complete angel. When we take her to the shore to stay with my in laws, she's also always so good. I feel like the problem is me, so what can I do to fix it?! I feel terrible. I want to be madly In love with my dog, I feel guilty for feeling this way. I'm obviously doing something wrong here. Sorry for the ramble.

[BG and Gavin]

Kristen, I am sorry you are experiencing this...I can feel your pain in your post. We have a group of training gurus in this group: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/trainingmindsets Please cross post this discussion to that group so that the gurus who don't always follow the main forum will see it. I will gather my thoughts in the meantime and respond when you post there. I will tell you this though, we had a similar experience here except my husband was the play target and Gavin is now the best dog going and a registered therapy dog. There is hope!!

[Leslie J]

I'm sure training experts can help you more, but I can share what I did with Cocoa at that age. I kept her tethered or crated when she was being mouthy. Sometimes I would tether her to my belt buckle, sometimes to a piece of furniture near me (like the sofa leg when I was reading). If I couldn't tether her and she was bothering me or my kids I would put her in her crate for a while. I also tried to exercise her and make sure she got plenty of outdoor time to use up her puppy energy.

She will most likely outgrow this faze, so hang in there!

[Becka]

This is a painful stage that many of us have been through. You have gotten some good advice already, and will probably get more, but I just wanted to ask--are you sure your puppy is getting enough exercise? Keeping her tired is one way to help her succeed. It also sounds like it helped her to spend time with your sister's dog--possibly because she was learning bite inhibition from her. Exercise and socializing, in addition to constantly reinforcing her training, are key. With your patience and support she will get past this stage. And please keep coming back here when you feel frustrated--this is the best community in the world for helping you get through puppyhood.

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

I'm not training expert either, but I would say she needs immediate and consistent consequences for the jumping and biting and if it were me that would mean a time out in a crate, or small, closed room like a bathroom ( I think a crate is better). She needs to be separated when she can't be calm enough not to jump or bite. I would take her to her crate without a word, close her in and leave her until she seems to settle. Then, let her try again. If needed, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Combined with that I would reward, reward, reward anytime she is doing what you want her to do. If she's lying quietly, give her a treat. If she sits, treat. Anything that is what you would like her to, instant reward. 

Maybe you have tried all of that but that is my general philosophy in working with my dogs. They get separated when they are not behaving appropriately, and I try to reward them instantly and often when they are behaving in ways that I want. 

6 months is very young so I do believe it is totally possible to turn this behavior around! 

I also noticed you mentioned she had a dog to play with at your sisters. Maybe she needs more doggy playtime? Does she ever go to a good doggy daycare? Maybe she needs to get some of her energy out with other dogs?

[Amy and Annabelle]

I feel your pain. There was a couple of months in there that my husband wanted to take Annabelle back to the breeder. She attacked me the most, simply because I am her main care taker. My husband only does the fun stuff, but he doesn't feed her, or give her meds or take her to the vet, or groom her. So I got the brunt of it. We are retired so have no small kids living with us. We do see the young grand kids a couple of times a week or so. She spent a lot of time in her cage around them once I became shark bait. I didn't want her hurting my 1 yr old at the time grand son.  I tried to make sure she got plenty of exercise, which is difficult in a cold Michigan winter. I did enlist the help of a trainer that came to the house. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Annabelle is a perfect angel now. She will be 2 in August.  For us between about 15 and 22 weeks, she was at her worst. It took a lot of training and patience to get her to the place she is now. Plus I think maturing had a lot to do with it as well.

[Amber Anderson]

We are in Michigan too! I'm wondering what this winter is going to look like for this crazy pup!

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Be ready to get your boots and mittens on!  Outside play with doods in the winter is fantastic!  My dood has to be coaxed into the house at night...even when it's 0 degrees.  

[Kristen]

Thanks so much everyone for the responses! She does love to play with my sister's goldendoodle, and all dogs in general. She's a huge dog lover. It was hard because we got her in the beginning of January, in the dead of winter here in New Jersey, so a lot of time was spent inside initially. We do have a large yard, I'm hoping now that it's warming up we can be outside with her much more and can have more play dates, bring her to the dog park, etc. she was just running around outside with my daughter and I for the past few hours and is now napping, so I definitely need to tire her out more often. It's hopeful to see that there is hope, and hopefully it's just her being an energetic puppy!

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Based on my experience with a very rambunctious puppy, I have two comments to add to all the good advice you have already received. First, I found taking Belle to the dog park was a big mistake, because there is no supervision of the dogs by someone trained to deal with inappropriate (canine and parent) behavior, and there are lots of dogs there who model behavior you do not want your dog to imitate.  Second, a good doggy daycare two afternoons a week provided Belle both with patient, constructive supervision that supplemented my own training efforts, as well as lots and lots of exercise and socializing. Please note, not all day care providers are the same, and I checked out 4 places before choosing one on a farm in Washington Crossing, which ultimately helped Belle so much.  She is now 11 months old and while she is still a very lively and surprisingly ingenious pup, she is a joy to be with. Someday, like so many of us, you will look at those holey clothes and fading scratches and laugh about your doodle' s puppy antics.

[Karina]

Hi Kristen,

Our Baylor had the typical sneaky shark attack attitude.  He is almost 6 months and he did out grow all of that through exercise, playtime, plenty of walks and his favorite chew things.  Well, we thought he was done until this past week,  he was neutered and has been medicated until yesterday, well sure enough this morning he did one of his old shark sneak attacks, dog airborne, mouth open, pearly whites showing, chomp!! didn't see that coming, right on the top of my head, I'm okay, may be missing some hair though.  Hang in there, it'll all work out :)

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

One other thing I just thought of and wanted to mention is my family (mom, sister, etc...) has had multiple Bernese Mountain Dogs. We've had four different BMD's in our extended family and they ALL were very mouthy, bitey puppies. But they all also grew into the sweetest adult dogs ever. So some of this could be the Bernese in your pup. Not that it changes what you need to do training/exercise-wise but it might help to give hope it is part of the development of this breed and she will grow out of it with time, patience and training. And, yes, tire that pup out!!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I feel your pain- Winnie was a HUGE shark when she was little! And, it was the same situation where she did it mostly to me- my husband was spared a majority of the nips. I kind of looked at it as a "mother/daughter thing." My hands and arms were covered with teeth marks, and multiple pants, night gowns, shirts, etc. had either tears or holes in them. I finally got wise and wore the same pair of thick corduroy pants every day when I got home from work, and basically all weekend long. Those "puppy pants," as I affectionately called them, were riddled with so many holes I finally couldn't wear them outside the house anymore!

I, too, had literally tried everything- ignoring, "the tree," a spray bottle, saying "Ouch!"etc. and it all just made her go after me more. And, it seemed like I couldn't really give her the exercise she needed because walking her was a complete disaster- she'd be either hanging from my pant leg or biting my butt!

A couple things REALLY helped. First, we took her to a Doggy Daycare 3 days a week. She'd come home so tired from playing that the chances of her getting revved up and nipping was lessened. And, she learned that play nipping was OK with other dogs, but not humans.

Second, I always had her on leash- she dragged it around all day so that I could catch her easier when she did try to nip. I'd promptly make her sit right in front of me- with her butt between my legs and both of us facing the same direction. I'd put my hands on her shoulder and say a low "no bite" and immediately praise her when I could feel her body relax. If she did it again- boom- I'd twirl her around and make her sit and we'd do the same thing over again. If she tried it a third time, she got put into her kennel for a time out. When I took her to the kennel, it was very calmly and not showing any emotion, even if I was super mad at her. 5 minutes or so, she could come out. Third, I carried around a rope toy in my pocket at all times and quickly shoved that in her mouth. After a while she realized that it just wasn't worth doing it anymore. Pretty soon she started doing it only when I took her outside to potty, and then eventually she stopped doing it altogether. I think she was around 7 months or so.  

Hang in there! I had read somewhere that the behavior will get worse for about 2 weeks before it dramatically gets better, and that was certainly true with Winnie. Right when I thought I was going to go insane, it got better! :-)