is driving me bonkers. I give her toys every moment she starts chewing things. Already chewed the phone wire so had to replace that. Also my mobile phone one. I was eating a bit ago and put her in crate I only took her to the toilet shortly before then. Unfortunately she pooed. So I had to clean that up in the mean time she chews my brand new phone lead. I phone other half cause I’m in a foul mood, he said why were you not watching her. I was cleaning her poo up!!!! Grrrrr I shouted too as he works away in the week. First time having a dog for me and I feel I’m not coping too well. She is fine sleeping at night. Is this puppy blues? As I’m thinking it wasn’t such a good idea getting a puppy x
Yes, and yes...The vast majority here have experienced the puppy blues.I remember clearing one morning, we had only had Benson just under 2 weeks. I was staring at him playing on the floor, I was too exhausted to move..and wondering what on earth was I thinking getting a LABRADOR PUPPY..most of my family and friends thought I was completely bonkers. Every room became protected with puppy gates, our lounge became quite bare..no leads hanging around or remotes. Dotted around were chew toys and small pots of treats. I kept to a routine, and the crate was my saviour! But accidents do happen.
It is a bit, but fear not - it will pass. We tend to be on such a high preparing for the pup that the exhausting reality can be a bit hard. As to biting things, you need to puppy-proof your home, making things you don’t want her to have inaccessible. It’s a bit like baby proofing a home except that a puppy is far more curious, active and destructive and can get themselves into far more scrapes! Here is a good article - https://www.labradortraininghq.com/..._Tips_On_Puppy_Proofing_Your_House_And_Garden
Have stair gates already due to little one. The scratches on my legs, keeps biting my clothes I’m wearing, I seem to be getting up every two seconds. My other half insists dogs are easier than kids. He sometimes struggles with my three year old and he says now you now how I feel.
Yup, been there earlier this year. Really thought I’d made a big mistake. Was exhausted. When we told friends and acquaintances we were getting a puppy, they all responded in a funny way. At the time, I was quite hurt by their reactions - then of course, got the puppy and undertood exactly why they had been like that . It doesn’t last.
No don't tap her on the nose You're quite lucky she's sleeping well on a night. Mine was exactly like yours but also didn't sleep so I had to do it on about 1 hours sleep They do get better. It is really hard work! Get rid of anything that might look tempting to a puppy - wires, ornaments, plants etc. Mine is 20 months and we can only now have a bin that isn't out of reach. The biting will pass, she just wants to play. Withdraw all attention for about 5 seconds. When calm, resume play. They do catch on eventually that nice play = fun and biting = no fun. Lots of little training exercises to tire her brain out. Do you have any kongs? Use lots of those. My other tip is to have a "puppy room". Ours was our kitchen that was completely puppy proofed and there was nothing we would be upset about him destroying. Then if you can't watch them or they've poo'd in the crate you don't have to worry too much about what they're doing. Soon you'll be looking back and wondering if it really was as hard as you remember. Then you'll come on here and read the other people's stories who are struggling with their pups and think yup! Definitely was
I’m glad you’ve refused to tap her on the nose. You wouldn’t smack your child, so don’t smack your puppy. Puppies are tiring but it does get better. Perhaps you could completely puppy proof one room - leave nothing on the floor or at low levels and block off access to wires, sockets etc -with a stair gate so she’s not completely isolated. Then if youre really feeling stressed put your puppy in there for a short time with a filled Kong or rice bone while you breathe deeply!
You and your pup are together experiencing the joys of your new life together. But all this is perfectly normal and exactly where we all have been at some time with our new furry friend, please stick with it. Whilst wiping the blood from my arms and holding together my torn clothes, a friend told me that there was not one day during the first 6 months that she did not regret getting a lab puppy, this sounds a bit harsh but completely understandable. Definitely remove anything you don't want destroyed, so instead of racing around taking things off her, you can prevent the carnage beforehand. Also make an area safe that you can leave her in while you clean or empty the washing machine or if you just want a rest, get a pen or a gate to block the doorway of a room. It sounds like your other half needs some educating, could you get him to read some posts on this forum from others with this problem? There is loads on here if you search. My OH drove me up the wall, when I was complaining about the biting all I got from him was "Don't let her do it then" ..arrggghh! Until one day he also got on the sharp end of Maisy's puppy teeth through no fault of his own, then it was all her fault of course. You probably don't think it now but you are very lucky with night times, lots of pups get up in the night or howl a lot etc. Maisy sleeps through the night and I used to look forward to that time so much after a day of racing about. Good luck, and keep on this forum as you will get loads of help.
All is play. If you watch two pups playing everything is done with teeth. It takes them time to discover humans can't play in this way. By around six months old they stop the mouthing and biting, in the mean time you need to be very patient and train well. Wear skinny jeans and tight sleeves. I even needed to wear wellies indoors with one of mine! Here is @snowbunny 's excellent advice - Be absolutely consistent. If your puppy is over-tired, just pop him in his crate as you have no chance of teaching him anything when he's manic. For normal puppy biting, I actually set up training opportunities rather than simply reacting to it when it happens. Training sessions allow repetition and so aid learning. With my first puppy, Willow, I used a method where I'd sit on the floor playing with her and the instant she bit too hard, I'd stand up, cross my arms and withdraw attention. No words, no eye contact, just silence. Just for a few seconds and then I'd give her another chance to play nicely, with lots of vocal praise while she was doing so. If you try this and you're not flexible, you may find it easier to sit on a low stool while you play - the key is standing up immediately the puppy bites too hard. If it takes you a few seconds to get up, they'll lose that connection between behaviour and consequence. Willow was an easy puppy, though. She never bit my legs or my clothing. Then there's my boy, Shadow, who never bit once - we brought him home at 14 weeks. Then, Luna came along. My little whirling dervish. I'm not saying she was awful, because there are far worse pups, but she was far worse than Willow. The method I used before would have her biting my calves and jumping up to grab at any part of me she could reach. I tried the advice of stepping out of her pen, but that's easier said than done when you have a puppy's teeth embedded in your leg! So, I came up with a method of playing with her inside her crate. I'd pop her in and play with her through the open door. The second she bit hard, I'd close the door and ignore her for just a couple of seconds. It's far easier to pull your hand through a door of a crate than it is to step over a gate or partition. After that briefest of pauses, I'd start playing again. You have to be really careful that you're not associating the crate with a punishment, so it must be literally a couple of seconds of separation, and lots more time spent playing in the crate. But I found that she very quickly learnt, using this method, how hard was too hard, that biting resulted in the game ending, and she tempered her play biting outside of the crate, too - except when she was manic from being over-tired. I did a few sessions a day of a couple of minutes each time until she got the idea, which only took a couple of weeks.
My other half has had labs before. He got more experience than me. I have used the crate a bit more in day now when I’m in. Start puppy training classes in jan. other half has booked tomorrow off work as I was so distressed last night. He works away in the week. I know it not Esme fault, I just don’t seem to get a minute to myself with having he puppy and a three year old.
This I agree with - and it takes me by surprise every time a new pup arrives! It’s mainly the toilet training which makes things so full on. Once this is pretty much sorted (at about five months) things get much, much easier .
It sounds like you didn’t get any books about what you could expect and what you should do about it. But its not too late. The two best I have ever seen are: THE PUPPY WHISPERER by Paul Owens and Terence Cranendonk, and TRAINING THE BEST DOG EVER: A 5 Weeks Program using the Power of Positive Reinforcement, by Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz and Larry Kay. Owns also has a terrific book called THE DOG WHISPERER. Both books define a specific plan. Dawn talks about the importance of tethering him to you all the time except for the play and training periods or when he is crated. I am preparing the deal with my sixth puppy in 46 years, and third labrador. I’ve made mistakes and successes. You can do it; you just have to be calm, reinforcing, and consistent. And you need a plan to stick to.
I was gonna sugest the same advice as above. Become as educated as possible as fast as possible to make training easier, quicker and to avoid mistakes to correct later. The Puppy handbook and Total Recall are both excellent books. My wife was in your position with a three month old lab puppy and a three day old baby. I was there to help for the first month then had to leave her alone with them for 40 days to work. Her time was difficult but was made so much easier by being prepared, educated and avoiding the common pitfalls of out dated techniques. I will never know how hard it was or how she did it but she did and so can you. The crate is your friend, use it. Nap when they do and what we did was trained puppy to be happy in a playpen or cage or whatever you call it. We put him in with a Kong every day starting with us at home and the door open a dog bed and water bowl. Then slowly over time we increased the time inside. Then we closed the door, then as more time passed we left the house starting for 5 minutes. Then 8 then 15 etc and built the time up to 6 hours as he and his bladder matured. He was comfortable and knew he was getting a yummy stuffed Kong and always went in on his own and sat waiting for his Kong whenever I set it up. The reason I’m telling you this is because when my wife was overwhelmed she could easily put him in the cage. Put baby in the car seat and go for a coffee ( or tea lol ) while baby slept in the car seat and have some time for herself.
My 11 week pup is the same, she would eat the house if she could! In terms of protecting things in your home from biting/chewing, I bought a spray from Amazon to deter dogs from chewing things which tastes of bitter apple. When I catch Bailey chewing something she shouldn’t be I spray it and she doesn’t return to it. She doesn’t like the taste so it seems to work. So it may be worth a try, it’s not too expensive. As for me, I have sore hands and arms! She seems to be slowly understanding when she gets too rough as I back off for a bit and then return to play when she’s calm. She seems to get rough when she’s tired so I give her a chance to take a break so she can have some time out. Take time to get to know their personality and try and get a routine going for your sanity and hopefully things will settle.
Avoid The Dog Whisperer like the plague. The man is a bully, uses outdated and downright dangerous techniques and shouldn’t be on anyone’s reading or viewing lists. Anything that talks about being the leader of the pack, dominance and similar should be dismissed.
Yes, do use her crate to give you (and Esme) a bit of breathing space! Puppies can get over-tired and over-stimulated (just like three year olds!), so a bit of time out will help to calm her down. Have you tried giving her a frozen Kong to chew too? Things will improve!
Hi, Hope you are feeling a bit better today I get how you're feeling - I've got a 15 week old pup, and two kids - just 1 year old and a 4 year old. Some days it's great - other days I'm tearing my hair out feeling I can't cope! So I fully sympathise with how you are feeling. I've got a puppy pen and I've found it really useful to be able to separate everyone when needed. It's in our sitting room - so he's still kind of with us - just helps keep them all safe when I can't be 100% on them all for whatever reason. After about 1 and 1/2 or 2 hrs max the pup is normally ready for a nap. But I do have to put him in his pen /crate to encourage him to sleep. He won't switch off yet if he's around us. And nowadays we do also have to leave the room. Once we're out of the room - he'll lay down and go to sleep within a minute with no fuss. But if we're in the room - he'll fuss and yap which sets the baby off crying! So we just to just nip out into another room and let him settle on his own. And he'll normally sleep for a good hour or more if left in peace. Which gives us a little breathing room It will get better and easier!
Besides chewing the bt cable again, it’s not been too bad. She is learning to sit on command. She still sleeping through the night. She has started to go to her crate on her own accord now. Usually when she is tired. When we eat we put her on her crate with a treat. She always seems to find things to put in her mouth. She 50/50 with the toileting but does go outside a lot of the time.
