We have a 9.5 week old Bernese puppy that we have had just over a week. For the most part, he is very sweet and playful. However, many times he will get too hyper when playing and very nippy. At this point, we will tell him no, get up and ignore him. But then he starts barking at us and won't stop. Or there are times when he will just start barking at us and if we get down on the floor to play with him, he starts biting us. When we get up again, he barks even more. Any suggestions?

Also, when he is outside, he eats everything. Grass, twigs, dirt, and chews on trees and tree bark. And he isn't just chewing on it, he actually swallows it. Is there any way to stop this behavior? Thank you.

I think ALOT of Berners go through the nippy bitey stage. You have to be VERY firm. It honestly took my gracie about 6 mo ths to grow out of this phase and now she is SO gentle.
I NEVER got down on the ground or let the kids down on the floor with her during this time. It's almost like it gave her a sense of DOMINANCE when she was on the same level and she was actually worse if anyone was down low.

You can try immediately crating her when she still is biting after you give her a warning or two. I think Gracie finally realized that biting meant being locked up and she wanted no part of that

I was thinking about the chewing stuff outside thing you mentioned. Some dogs are just chewers and honestly very hard to break of this habit. I would just always make sure they have a full belly before letting out so they are not food scrounging. I also would keep a mighty tasty big knuckle bone outside since it will always taste better then bark!

Truman would much rather chew on us than on toys but at 5 1/2 months and with his adult teeth almost in, we are starting to notice he is getting a little better with gnawing on us. Our vet recommended putting a toy in his mouth whenever he would bite, but that never worked!
We resorted to spraying ourselves with bitter apple, but he seemingly started to adjust to that taste (which is awful!) so now when he gets in his frenzy, we put him in his "zoo" (aka crate) for a time-out. We do not use this as a negative thing, but just gives him time to calm down. We also have Truman in doggy day-care and this has worked wonders as it allows him to become well-socialized with dogs and humans, along with getting out his puppy-aggressions Hang in there as I know what you are going through, but know in time it does get better!

Yeah, we tried the "redirect to a toy" thing, too, but at the end of the day, Barney preferred chewing on US to chewing on anything else in the house! LOL!

The only thing that seemed to work for us was stopping playtime. He'd get one warning about the biting (usually grabbing the scruff of his neck and supporting his breastplate, with a "NO BITING"), and if he kept up after that, playtime was over for at least 1 minute.

In your case, it sounds like after doing this, he starts barking. When the barking leads to you coming back to play and he gets to bite again, then you're sort of sending him the message that barking = getting what he wants. It'll be obnoxious, but I'd just ignore the barking, or give him one warning (we clap and loudly say "No noise!", but I've heard of people using pennies in a can, too), but we don't come back to him until he's calmed down. Even if you can get him to stop barking for a minute or two, then reward that behaviour. It'll send him the message that quiet puppies get playtime, barking puppies get ignored.

Honestly, Barney is about 13 weeks old now and the biting DOES decline gradually. He was awful when we first got him, and we tried everything the experts and other dog owners suggested - every dog is different, but as long as you're consistent (so EVERY bite gets a negative reaction or an end to playtime, EVERY barking fit gets a time out), he will learn. They're smart

Thanks everyone for the help. It is good to hear that it does get better. We had just always read and heard that Bernese puppies are so laid back and calm and then we got Pico and he isn't like that at all! We were starting to wonder why we got him! And yes, we have sprayed ourselves with bitter apple, which seems to help for now. We have tried the pennies in a can, but this stops him for a few seconds and then he barks even more at the can. We have tried putting a toy in his mouth and he wants nothing to do with that. And we try rolling him on his back, telling him no, and this calms him down very quickly, but as soon as he is released he is back to barking at us. We will try giving him a time out in the crate when he gets like this and just ignore him even more. And I am trying to walk him a little more, but he hates going on walks until we turn around to head home. Then he just trots right along side me! Thanks again! This has been a huge help.

AKC didn't post something on walks about berners but i think they are high agility dogs, so it's sure that they like walks. I'm thinking what's worng with him. Maybe there's a lot of food in your house. I guess..
LOL!

You could try luring him on walks. A friend of mine had a tip...put some peanut butter on a spoon and hold it in front of the pup's nose while you're walking...I'm not sure how long you'd have to do that for, but I bet eventually you could start weaning Pico off the peanut butter and maybe replacing it with a treat at the end of each block, then down to one when you get home, etc.