Originally Posted by funnysky

Thank you so much for your input again Lynn and easchaars.

Yes, he is my first bernese and my first dog. I was bit confused and lost but you guys put me on the right track. I did the yelping method and it is working pretty well so far!! He doesn't bite as much anymore and when he tries to I give him a toy. Like Lynn said, key is consistency. I am realizing more and more how important that is.
Easchaars, I can totally relate to your problems.
I've tried everything that you said but it didn't work. I think the worst was the mother method (where you grab their neck and pinning him down)
I didn't try yelping because I am a guy. I can't make that kind of high pitch and it is embarassing! but I gave a try and it is working.
I was surprised. when he bites my hand I yelp take the hand out and he looks at me as if I am really hurt and stops. I was amazed. then, i would give him his favorite toy. I repeated this process several times and he is not attacking us anymore.
I hope this helps

So glad things are already beginning to work. Well done.

Ollie was my first Bernese but not my first large dog and I had a great learning curve but I did do a lot of research before getting him and learnt the best way to train was firmly, fairly and consistently. They are like no other breed.

Enjoy him he sounds like a lovely boy and will become a true and loyal friend.

I will be going through this whole process again at the end of this year after losing Ollie in February this year. I have learnt a lot with Ollie so will be even better prepared this time around.

so sorry to hear about ollie.

Thankyou. He was not destined to be with us for long. he had lots stacked against him.

It was only February this year we had to say goodbye to him and it is still very painful he was such a brave boy at the end.

Lynn, my heart goes out to you over losing Ollie so early. I guess the best way of looking at it is that even if there weren't as many years as you would have liked, the years you did get were perfect and you gave him a great home That's the thing with pets, and large breeds in particular - no matter how much time we have with them, it's never enough!!

To the folks experiencing the biting, Barney was TERRIBLE with it at first! We tried the ouch, yelping, the Dog Whisperer "Tsst" with the claw, poking him in the neck, grabbing his muzzle and holding, etc. Nothing deterred him.

The only thing that seemed to work was issuing one warning (either a loud "NO BITING" or picking him up by the scruff of the neck while supporting his breastplate) and then if he went to bite again, he got a "time out" - we'd walk away from him, cross our arms and look up at the ceiling or sky. About 30 seconds of that was enough that Barney would calm down and play nicely.

He's almost 4 months old now, and the biting has stopped but every now and again he'll get wound up while we're playing and go in for a bite with his mouth open, remember at the last minute that he's not supposed to do that and turn his head or just poke us with his nose. It DOES get better, but like the other Berner Parents have said, consistency is key - it felt like we did the "NO BITE" and ignore combo 8 million times a week, but he did get it.