Hello Everyone,

I have a 14 week old St. Bernard puppy.  I have only had him for a week and the last couple of days he has been nipping and getting hold of hair and pulling...hard!!!  He is already 40 lbs and has quite big jaws, and I know he is just playing, but his bites hurt!!!  When I try to stop playing with him and tell him "no" very firmly, he starts barking at me and coming at me!  I know it is going to take some time for him to adjust, but are there any suggestions?  I am scheduled to start an 8 week puppy training class next month (that was the earliest opening), but what can I do until then to teach him that this behaviour is not ok?

It sounds like he is just being a normal puppy, don't worry ;-)  He has just found he gets a good reaction by doing that !!
I would try playing with him with a toy instead to distract him but, if he really is too much then give him a little time out. My puppy can be very rough and doesn't know her own strength at all but, I will firmly take her collar and ask her to sit if she gets too much. She tends to calm down straight away normally but, I keep her there for a few minutes and stroke her calmly before letting her go again. It does the trick everytime for me.

Debbie  

search the bite inhibition thread, its very good!

I had thiswith mine, offer him dried cow skin cigars  (hide) and get a water spray bottle, like the one you spray plants with and spray this at the back of his head when he bites, not allowin him t see where its come from if poss as he associates the bite with a negative experience.  this works for me but dont expect it to end straight away, from what ive read on here pup will prob be 6mnths old before it ends

i have staffords and my boy used to do this, i found that making a screaming noise worked, as though hes hurting you, my simbas ears go back and hes really upset wen i do this, it stopped, and even now when we play fight i find when iv had enough and he hasn't i just scream when bites and he soon stops, well its not a scream, its more of a screech but very loud

try it

sami

He sounds like a normal puppy, playing with you just as he would with his siblings. :-) The only problem is that we humans are weak feeble creatures and can't cope! Have you read The Bite Stops Here? If followed consistently by the whole family the advice really does work.

I agree with the screaming idea, it worked on my girl who was a terrible biter as a puppy (luckily only a Cavalier though!). He just needs to learn how delicate we are, any mouthing or nipping at all needs to get a shriek like he's ripped your arm off, you then walk away and ignore him (if he bounces all over you try shutting him in another room for 5 minutes or so. That way he learns that playing rough makes a horrible noise followed by being ignored!

and get a water spray bottle, like the one you spray plants with and spray this at the back of his head when he bites, not allowin him t see where its come from if poss as he associates the bite with a negative experience

He is only 14 wks old far to young to be using any form of negative correction.

Puppies need to bite , for them to learn not to bite, they need to learn how hard  they can and cannot bite, what is exceptable and what is not.    "the bite stops here"   is well worth reading.

By using negative punishment (water spray)  on a puppy, can  make him fearful, you may stop him biting, but you wont teach him Bite   inhibition....

He's just a baby, all the dogs ive ever had bite and mouth as puppies and every one grew out of it and developed into loving dogs! Its just a puppy thing, just dont react too much and divert his attention to something else when he does it.

Enjoy your puppy while you can

St Bernard pup........lucky you!  I never had this problem with my St Bernard, but I currently have a Leo pup who found it a very amusing past-time.  I found it difficult at first because any voice correction seemed to make him even more excitable.  I was advised to use time-out by my trainer, and it worked a treat.  Keep him on a training line so there's no need for physical contact, when he starts biting, say nothing just pick up the line and calmly remove him to another room.  Once he has calmed down let him back in (again saying nothing).  I was also advised to alternate this with removing myself from the room, and returning once he'd calmed down.  

I too remember trying to cry and saying "ooh" you hurt me. The boys then seemed to get upset and I was showered with slobbery kisses. Its as natural to them as breathing, but I would agree with the writer that I would only use a water spray when they are a bit older. we used it to stop the boys barking when the door bell went, worked a treat, I think it could frighten a pup, even a HUGGEE one. I'd love a St Bernard a border collie is our biggest.