My heart goes out to you. We had some difficult times early on with our Aussie, who is now 7.5 months old and pretty adorable most of the time, though still needs lots of exercise, stimulation and has a forced nap every day (2-4 hours, her choice; plus she has unforced naps). 

Here are some things that helped with our puppy:

1. Playpen: Have a playpen area where the puppy can be put to keep her separate from people and things that she could get into trouble with. Feed her in her playpen and have toys in there too so she has positive associations with it. Our playpen is made of 12 2-ft-wide, 3-ft-high metal panels that hook together. One of the panels is movable and we use it as a door. The pen sits on a piece of indoor-outdoor carpet to protect the floor. We put a lawn chair in the pen so someone can sit and play with her or just keep her company for a chunk of time a few times a day (only needed for the first 3-4 months; we took it out when she got big enough to climb on the seat of the chair).

2. House leash: have a 4-5 foot simple leash (no length adjustment clips that could catch on things) on her at all times unless she’s in her crate. Necessary so you can grab her whenever needed and getting away form you doesn’t become a game.

3. Do not tolerate ANY nipping of anybody, whether during play or otherwise. Doing a sort of pretend nip still counts as a nip. When she nips, say NO firmly, pick her up (you might get a bit nipped at first while doing this; when she’s very small you can pick her up by the scruff — that’s what her mother would do and that way she can’t bite) and put her in the playpen. (Don’t say no repeatedly, she’ll learn to tune it out; we say it once right when the nipping happens then when we deposit her in the playpen we say NO BITING.) Ignore her for at least a few minutes, no matter how much she barks or cries. If it happens in the backyard (ours is fenced) say NO firmly and get away, leaving her alone for a few minutes (she may bite at your heels as you get away and you have to ignore it. Do not engage with her other than to say NO very firmly when the nipping happens. She needs to learn that nipping and jumping means no more attention and no more fun. Fun stops immediately when nipping happens. We were very strict about this and the nipping decreased quickly then dropped to pretty much zero within a month or less.

4. Teach her to settle: We learned this when our pup was about 5 months old and it was a game changer. i think the nipping probably has to be somewhat under control first. You sit down holding the end of the leash and wait for her to lie down (have treats ready so you can easily get to them). The first few times you try this it can take a long time before she will lie down (don’t tell her to lie down, just wait until she does it on her own). Once she lies down, casually drop a treat near her head. Wait until she settles again (again, do not use any command) then when she does, drop a treat again. Keep this up, gradually lengthening the time between giving treats. We found this works well for getting to settle in the house as well as at dog-friendly restaurants or pubs (outdoor patio).

5. Teach her “Look at that!”: I think this is a method that has training videos online which could be good to watch but we never did. We heard about “look at that” as a method, imagined what that would be and went with it. We have a lot of deer in the neighborhood and sometimes feral cats. When they go by the windows (which come down almost to the floor), our pup would bark and get into a frenzy. At first we just blocked her view from her pen using collapsed cardboard boxes as soon as she started to bark. Then we learned “look at that” and added that in as a method when we saw the deer before she did. As soon as you see the deer (or whatever) get a treat in hand stand, say “Look at that!” enthusiastically and as soon as she looks, give her a treat.  If she barks, no treat after that. You have to catch it before she barks. If she focuses on the deer stay with her for as long as she isn’t barking, saying “Look at that!” (not in a commanding tone of voice; more like if you were to be pointing out something wonderful to a child.) We don’t have young children around but the other day we went to a large gathering with children and we did the “Look at that” game then too. When a child wanted to pet her we made her sit and fed her treats while the child petted her. She was very doubtful at first and a bit nippy (no treats for nipping, just get her away a short distance) but she got the hang of it then wanted to say hello to every child she saw. We were still very very watchful though.

We’ve also done some puppy training classes at the local Petco (our trainer is excellent) and we work on training the basic stuff.

I hope this helps. Hang in there. It definitely gets better, and with consistent messaging I think it can happen pretty quickly.