Hey guys! Luckily my puppy blues have left. My SO told me I had to shape up because this puppy is now my responsibility (and that if I wanted to give him up I could never have another puppy ever again! I couldn't imagine that!) This is a new week, and of course with that comes a new question. Our sweet little Aspen seems to be WAY too excited when we play. I understand that pups have very naturally energetic play, but Aspen is very hyper. He will jump at our faces to nip, will bite anything he can find, and will only be entertained by his toys for about 30 seconds before he is on the move once again. So with that said, we are looking into getting a puppy pen, but what if he doesn't like that? Are most 9 week old content with playing in a puppy pen with all their toys? Secondly, are we over-stimulating him? To get him away from chewing what he isn't supposed to we squeak the toys and say "Come here! Come get it!" and when he gets it, we praise him. We also tug a little bit with his stuffed toys to keep him entertained. How long should we be playing like this? Or should we not be playing like this at all? When he gets to be way too much, we will ignore him or put him in time outs. They don't seem to have much of an effect. Is it possible we are crating him too much? He sleeps from 10pm-6am, goes potty, gets fed, gets crated again until 9am, potties, plays, gets crated until 1 or 2, potties, gets fed, plays, gets crated around 3 (maybe) and then eats again around 5 or 6. From 3-10pm he basically gets play time, potty time, and crate time depending on how he is behaving. I am afraid I am doing everything wrong and am setting him up to be a badly behaved dog.
Hi @alschwahn it sounds as if Aspen is a pretty normal puppy wanting to bite everything and with the attention span of a gnat . I've never used a pen for my puppies but others have so I can't give much advice on useful they are. You could try introducing a stuffed kong into the pen with Aspen to keep him occupied for a time. What I would say though is that toys are only for a puppy, or dog, if they have someone to play with them with the toys. The distraction with squeaky toys etc. to get him to come away from inappropriate chewing, is in my opinion, brilliant. He comes away and gets praised - you might to want to treat as well to reinforce coming to you is really good. As one way to look at calling him away and to you is an early start to recall training. You are calling and being exciting so it's more exciting for Aspen to come to you. Tug games are fine as well as you allow Aspen to tug and you don't exert any force. It's also perfectly ok for him to win the tug game. Tug games have rules though. I love tug games as you can train so much like 'take' 'release or out' and even that puppy teeth don't touch human skin, if they do the game stops. The only thing I would add to Aspen's daily routine is a couple of short training sessions. Before crating him is a good time as training tires out the little monsters. Training can also help to calm him if he's becoming a little over excited as it brings some focus back - as long as it's not the witching hour
Ah yes! I forgot to add that I do training after his 1pm or 3 pm potty. I have begun clicker training with him but made the mistake of teaching him to lay down directly from "sit" and he's a bit confused by it! Luckily we are learning to correct that together. I try my best to stimulate his brain to tire him out as well so I should look into getting some puzzle toys as he is still too young to train for long periods of time!
It all sounds very normal. I have been loving these trainers, and just signed up for their Training Academy. But these four videos will help you put his focus on you and build your relationship - they're up for 3 more days before they take them down, so check them out: https://game.absolute-dogs.com/focus-on-me The playing you're doing is absolutely fine. A couple of minutes at a time is all it takes. You could also try "trade" where you offer a high-value toy or treat in exchange for what he's inappropriately chewing. But yes, you can tug - it's a good way to play with dogs. That is all very typical puppy behavior you're describing. They're just exhausting. A puppy pen won't entertain him any better than being in his crate, but can be helpful for corralling him if you can't keep your eyes on him and need him to be safe and if the crate feels too confining. But not necessary, and no, no puppy will just entertain themselves in a pen with all their toys any better than anywhere else. They sleep at least 15 hours a day...and somewhere on the main Labrador Site I think she has max crate time guidelines by age? As long as he's having plenty of time outside it, and not too long a stretch in it at any one time, I think you're fine.
Also? My pup was similar. She is now 1yo and mostly a dream (minus the shoe-chewing! ). Hang in there!
awesome! thank you for your reply! it's always helpful to hear from those who have been in my position
Also, he's so damn adorable! I promise you, I cried real tears many times the first few weeks with Bessie. I was sure I'd made a big mistake and that I was going to screw her up and I seriously contemplated giving her back. It all sorted itself out. I won't lie, it was exhausting at times.
Hi glad to read that you are coming out of the puppy blues nothing further to add as everything I would have said has been said! Just wanted to say what a gorgeous boy.
For a 9 week old, you definitely need a puppy pen, or some other way to contain him. If he has the run of the room or the house, every thing he sees is fair game to be chewed up. Pups (and dogs) don't normally play by themselves. They may chew on a bone or Kong, and Cooper will occasionally attack her dummy on a bungee that hangs off the deck in the back yard, but mostly they sleep or chew things. If puppies are loose in the house they will explore and find inappropriate things to chew on, so they need to be supervised any time they have the run of the room or house.
