Hi everyone, The last couple of days have been quite a test with Pippa. It seems like she changes from a well behaved, eager to learn puppy into 'The Devil' in the blink of an eye. It's like she is testing the boundaries and seeing what she can get away with. She's coming up to 11 weeks old and wants to constantly bite, chew and pull at everything she can get to. The difference in her behaviour between the weekend and yesterday (Tuesday) is huge. She's being really naughty. Training her has been really positive so far. Within the first few days of having her she nailed the sit, lay-down, paw and stay commands pretty quickly. We have just begun with the clicker training techniques and she is doing really well with this too. She is great with the nose to hand touch, walking to 'heel' and last night she even started to retrieve a dummy (the gun dog thing) and bring it back to me. She doesn't like to release it yet, but it's a good start. After a few minutes of training she sometimes gets really hyper and her tail will go between her legs and she will literally rocket around the room or garden at warp speed. It's amazing how she can do this without flying through the window and at first we thought she needed a wee or poo. After a few laps she will just stop, have a scratch and then look for something to chew. So my questions/concerns are, do we need to train/entertain her more? Are we over training her and over praising her? Is she just bored of us and our training/games? Sorry for waffling on and I appreciate any comments and suggestions. Cheers, Jason.
Hi Jason - you have a totally normal lab puppy. Everything you have described above is part and parcel of puppyhood. Great that she is learning quickly for you, but be prepared when she gets older for "selective hearing", "selective understanding" and of course "what can you possibly mean come back to you - I don't know what that means and there is such an interesting smell over here....yup I'm going for the smell" months. She's not being naughty - although I know it seems that way to us, she is a baby that is learning all about the world around her. The part where her tail goes between her legs and she rockets around the room is what we on here call the Zoomies. It is a burst of puppy energy that just has to be released and it is usually (or at least it was with my boy) just before he needed a nap. If Pippa (lovely name by the way) is getting hyper, super bitey then she may well need popping in her crate for a rest. Keep training short - 5 mins or less - as training tires out pups brains and they have the attentions span of a fruit fly. Also at 11 weeks old there is so much new information that she is learning - by seeing, smelling, chewing, walking on etc the days are just not long enough! Butterfly brain is also a factor in keeping training short - set her up for success by keeping things easy. If you are looking for other things to do, have you tried brain games? I use an old muffin tin and put some treats (used to be kibble from his food allowance when Bailey was tiny) in the holes and then covered them with a tennis ball. It used to take Bailey a good five minutes to get the balls off and eat the kibble as he didn't know whether to play with the tennis balls or eat the food! Now, at 18 months old, he has the balls off, treats eaten and chasing balls all around the room (or stripping one of its furry cover) all within the space of seconds! Kongs are also good for occupying pups (although my Bailey has never "got" kongs and will only ever get a bit of the food out and then abandon it - lazy I think!). I would say just keep doing what you are doing and enjoy your pup
Hi Samantha, Thanks for the reply and reassurance that this is normal behaviour. I have had a puppy (not a Lab) before but this time feels much more intense, maybe I am getting old? I like the term 'Zoomies' and it describes what she does perfectly. I can definitely relate to her fruit fly attention span and butterfly brain moments. We have just about every Kong toy ever invented and she loves trying to lick the frozen peanut butter from them. We don't have any tennis balls though, so I will be ordering a few today. ;-) Cheers.
She's being 100% normal and, yes, Labs are hard work when pups. All is play. Often, when they are really loopy, they are over tired - so it's worth popping them in their crate with a filled Kong to see if they need a snooze. My Tatze, aged four, still gets the 'zoomies' from time to time .
Although I had grown up with dogs Bailey was our first "own" dog and puppy that we have had to learn to train him. I think labs seem to be intense as puppies - everyone I have met with other pups were amazed at his determination to chew on me - almost any part of me that he could get to - toes, feet, hands, arms, even once my nose! Two weeks after we got Bailey I broke my wrist in two places (not puppy related!) so he then had a variety of plaster casts to chew on - still saved my skin! Bailey still has zoomie attacks, in fact once he starts, if we are outside and its safe, I encourage them by standing in the middle and when he slows down just shout "ZOOMIE" and off he goes again - I love the mad expression on his face while he's zooming around! At 18 months we are now just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with his recall - he can be trusted off the lead in most places - I am still wary with new places or places with lots of other dogs as he gets very excited and wants to play till he drops so that's the next training step for us. I've just got back from our morning walk and he's curled up on the sofa next to me snoring his head off! Moments like this make all the hard work really worth it.
Ah yes, Pippa sounds pretty normal to me! Don't get discouraged by her wild moments, and don't think of her as being 'naughty', she really is just being a puppy.
I encourage the "zoomies".Duggan gets in the zoomie stance when he's ready to rip and I just lunge one step and he's off. Burns the pent up energy and then after a few laps he falls back in line. I wish I could zoom sometimes. Lol.
I don't watch TV but if I could record the 'Zoomies' as you call them it would make for great family entertainment. We are taken by surprise as a dog in shutdown mode suddenly starts running all over the place for no apparent reason. Egged on no doubt by hails of laughter from his other family members. Long Live the 'Zoomies'
Hi jason I feel your pain Penny my 14 wk lab is just the same. I thought i had bought a dog that would be all cuddly, quiet natured and super obedient Wee Jason welcome to the world of labradors. I honestly thought i had bought a dog that had some sort of personality disorder lol. Penny is now 14wks and its all about how much she can chew and her favourite seems to be flesh and bone lol. We are suffering the needle sharp teeth and claws and believe me it hurts. In the 7 wks since bringing her home she has chewed wood ...plastic..bricks..rubber..carpets..clothes.. shoes...and humans lol. But i love her so much and couldn't imagine not having her ..she keeps us on our toes and it seems i am even further down the pecking order now lol. I have only joined this forum and its great to hear that we are all in the same boat with puppy life. Its definately a learning curve that we need to go through..but also my Penny has been so good at other stuff. She slept on her own in the kitchen all night from 6 wks. She was toilet trained by 8 wks. She is not too bad walking on lead ..still working on that and i took her out to park off lead for first time this morning and she was great. I am trying to enjoy her puppy stage although its hard. Good luck Jackie
