Well at four and a half months I wonder if Otis is behaving as he should be. Poor boy, has four teeth that have fallen out so is teething madly, he wants to chew all the time ! Have given ice cubes shop bought chews kibble filled kongs frozen, however I have little bruises all the way up my arms and teeth marks, sometimes Im just the best thing ever for him ! I also have a few pieces of clothing with torn holes in. So when he is in a bitey mood, and Im the only thing he will tuck into, I put him in his room that is partitioned off, I try not to do this to often, he used be there quietly but now he has started barking and crying, am I cruel to just leave him to do this ?It can go on for quite some time. On a good note this is the first day that Otis hasn't done a poo in the house , wipeee ! Something must be going right with the toilet training. The other thing is I still get up at night, he wakes anywhere from 3, till 5, so is this normal at his puppy stage ? He used to sleep till 5, but its got earlier. Otis is a lovely pup, he can now sit when I ask, and comes when called (unless theres something really interesting occupying him ) When I took him to the park, someone commented how obedient he was, and people say how calm he is. Its just the stressy bits when he is biting me, that worry me, thankyou for your comments in advance, just really needed to talk about it really, thanks, Maggiex
Re: Puppy problems Ah Maggie, so understand. It all sounds normal to me! Although Charlie was never a big nipper of people, as he was too busy making a start on his olympic chewing training. Sometimes, it's just a bad day with a pup - the little darlings can be a complete pain! But your boy sounds normal, healthy and just lovely.
Re: Puppy problems i can relate to the nipping / biting,think 5 to 6 month was the worst, i use to think he was aggressive as it was none stop biting, with persistent no from me he gradually stopped biting me, ......as soon as my son walked in the door he would start biting him .........it will stop as for the night waking i didn't have that problem so cant help you with that......well done on the toilet training , you will get there
Re: Puppy problems I agree the biting will settle with time. As regards the night-time bit, assuming Otis isn't weeing in his crate, or needing out to go, then ignoring him until he is quiet is probably the way to go - definitely not rewarding him in any way, especially with play, if you get up to him during the night. Lilly was a bit like this too. We were advised to use a mild adversive (pre-forum days ) when she woke us before our desired time - as long as we were sure she definitely wasn't distressed - and very quickly this behaviour stopped. I think as long as you don;t reinforce it it should improve.
Re: Puppy problems Maggie,Jade has got a similar thread running called awake times that I have written on about my experience of the night times. If you have to put Otis in his room for a while that is ok,if he's barking and whining its because he doesn't want to be there,you are much more fun ;D...ignore him,he will still love you,I know from experience!even the other day My niece and nephew where here,they'd had a good play with Dexter and then they wanted to build a den with all my cushions.Guess what Dexter wouldnt cooperate with his part in the plan so I gave him a kong so he didnt think he was in trouble and put him in his room......when he'd finished he had a whine,yelp and then a proper bark........most unusual but He just wanted to come out,it was hard carrying on a conversation with my sister but we just ignored him...and he stopped and threw himself down with a big sigh like a right drama!before they left,we let him out and he had a good old tussle with everybody again and didn't hold it against any of us ;D The nipping is normal but you wouldn't be human if it didn't get you down sometimes x
Re: Puppy problems Thankyou everyone, the support I get on here means so much to me, and to know Im not a bad mum to Otis. Thanks again, Maggiex
Re: Puppy problems Maggie we must be going through the exact same thing! Dexter the last few days has been nipping, biting, latching onto clothes. I'm trying to wear clothes and pyjamas I don't mind having holes in ha ha. I checked his teeth before and as expected his back teeth are coming through. It may stop around 6 months? Give or take a few months. Sometimes it's gets too much for us and we just put Dexter in his bed (his crate) for a time out for a few minutes. Poor Karl today got two pretty bad scratches were Dexter bit him as he was trying to calm him down. He knows its not aggression but Dexter getting overexcited but it hurt him. We put slate down in our garden yesterday. We thought "Oh it will be too sharp for Dexter to stand on. It will be too sharp for Dexter to chew" Ohhh how wrong we were! Is there anything a labradors don't chew?! Ha ha. As I say to Karl, persistence is the key. Don't feel like a bad owner either! I feel awful saying this but when Dexter has his afternoon naps the peace and quiet is so welcome! No gnawing at the dining table, no scratching the slate. Ahh! Bliss!
Re: Puppy problems Hang in there, Maggie! Dog ownership can be all-consuming at times, especially at the beginning. But soon the puppy days will pass and you will have a boisterous teenager, and then a steady, loyal adult who is just a part of the family and who is ALWAYS happy to see you. And who will always give you a reason to smile, at least once a day!!
