hi we have Murphy who is 7 months old now and having nightmare with him at moment any help/ advice would be very much appreciated as I'm getting to end my tether and at a loss what do and with a very angry husband he driving insane !! At home he is really really naughty jumping on sides stealing stuff trying to run of with anything he is not supposed to and of evening he just won't settle if he comes in lounge with us he is just so naughty jumping up pinching stuff knocking stuff flying and just being general pain will not lie down and settle of evening !! Have tried bringing mat in lounge and giving Kong treats when lie on mat but soon as he finished he back causing chaos!! Out on walks he very good comes back when called he does sit leave down shake paw etc but he just seems be ab nightmare in house and we are now having shut him in kitchen of evening due to sheer havoc he cause which don't want do as want him be part family of evening!
We have Quinn who is 6.5 months and even though a pretty chill puppy, I find the dinner hour is when she is most hyper (and when a young pup always had the zoomies). As soon as she starts taking shoes or running up and down the halls, we do some training followed by hide and seek type games (for recall) which she loves. I find that she takes things to get our attention ('drop' for a treat) and is distracted if we play or do some short training with her and then calms down so we can get on with dinner. After dinner we go on another walk/off leash park and she is zonked for the remainder of the evening and sleeps in the room with us while we relax (usually hardly wants to get up for last pee before bed!).
I think that is what puppies do, if I remember, mine drove me nuts until they were about 6 months old and began to sleep in the evenings. The time does pass, he will grow out of it @QuinnM1 has given very good advice. I feel if you shut him in the kitchen he will just get worse and worse when you let him be with you.
Yes....Charlie was like that, he still is sometimes..... I think the trick is to ignore the dog. So clear the lounge of absolutely everything that he can nick, steal, chew etc. EVERYTHING. Leave nothing. If that means putting barriers in place, or the log basket on top of the TV, do it. Bring the dog into the room, and ignore him. Just ignore him. Ignore him pawing, jumping on furniture, whining, and fussing. This might take some time. But ignore him. After a while, and it might be a long while, he will get bored, and do something that approaches calm - if you can stick it out until he lies on a mat, perfect. At this point, give him a treat. Now the bad news - giving him a treat will cause him to start up again, you ignore again... The end point is that the dog settling down nicely on a mat gets a magic treat appearing in front of his nose (try to drop the treat quietly without disturbing him). It does work. Honestly. But I can't tell you how many times I ended up screaming at various people to IGNORE THE DOG!
We had the Twighlight Zone each evening when Dexter was about the same age ...just as we were about to sit down and eat ........we didnt change our terrible habit of teas on knees ,despite the potential for disaster......so Dexter was put behind the child gate in his room (the utility room ) with a Kong ,he could see us and had something tasty and interesting of his own.....before I knew it,me plating up the dinner was his cue to go and wait in his room ......once food was done in peace , we tried a mixture of the above advice to cope until he settled ie a bit of training ,some ignoring, a little bit of controlled play ...like find it games.This time passes .....but this hectic period in the day seems to be a totally normal Labrador puppy phase. One thing I would say...and I'm conscious that you are stressed ,but try not to shout or yell if you get cross....that can just be super exciting and rile them up ten fold.Calm is the way forward.....and wine.....I recommend white rather than red whilst your ride this storm x
Thank you all for your replys and advice I will try the ignoring him see how that goes !! Do not tell him of just put him in kitchen to calm down!! as we have got do something as it is getting out control and when u been up since 6am u do want couple hours peace come a evening don't you!! And he has driven me to vodka and Coke lol as don't like wine ! Was really wondering about getting him neutered wondered if this would calm him down a little if anyone has any advice on that ??X
Lol I think ur right as he has shown no signs of humping or anything ! Know it just phase just sometimes very hard aren't they when they being so naughty it!! He does make it up in cuteness tho X
I won't offer advice as there are others better qualified to do so. But just to say you're not alone -- that I once cried when I thought I had the "Marley" of the litter when Snowie acted like a crazy puppy before bed when he was around 4-5 months old -- just as we'd want to go to bed, he'd tear around and would have that crazed look in his eye, it was most disconcerting. I was once told by a "behaviourist" that I must neuter him because he was frustrated and that was why he wouldn't, for example, lie quietly at a café (he struggles still to do nothing while out and about -- but that I blame on us, we didn't invest enough in this part of the training, particularly when he was a puppy, to be happy to do nothing while out and about, it is a work in progress). He has grown up into a lovely, mellow boy, still unneutered.
We expect our pups to settle in the lounge when we go in (9pm ish) from about 6 months old. I have their day bed by the sofa and no toys or anything else for the pup. Tatze snoozes on the sofa with me. To start with I put the pup on the lead and take some treats to give for being settled. They get no interaction at all from us. They soon learn that lounge time = settle down time, and soon no longer need the lead - a week or so at most. ....
I have always had a play session with Juno in the evening, telling her when play has finished and then just ignored her and allowed her to settle where she wanted, ensuring that everything is out of puppy's reach.
