I thought I was prepared! I’m a single person household, have an 8 year old small dog I raised and also had a yellow lab who I also raised. I guess I knew she was an anomaly, but I didn’t really get it! She was mellow from the get go. I got another lab pup at 8 weeks 7 weeks ago so she’s 15 weeks. I got her because I started to get complacent and wanted to rock my world a bit. And that I did. I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing but I’m going bonkers. I can’t properly tire her out because a) she’s a puppy and b) we are just learning how to walk on a leash. She can pay attention to the clicker for all of 1 block. I’m taking her to play groups and a few hours of daycare once a week. It’ll go up in a few weeks to twice a week and eventually she’ll be able to play the full day. They limit puppy play to 3 hours which seems sensible. Ideas for tiring her out? Stopping the barking? Leaving the mulch alone? And much more...
Hi and welcome. Mental stimulation can help tire them out. Hide treats around a room then get them to find them all, get a muffin tray, put balls on the holes and randomly put treats under different balls, puzzle games, using a Kong or just short sessions of training different things such as high 5, lie down, sit, letting you look in her ears and mouth etc. Hope some of these help.
Many annoying puppy behaviours are actually caused by them being over-tired, rather like an irritable toddler. Enforcing rest time is a good idea - if you use a crate or pen, pop her in there with a stuffed kong and let her chill out. Even from this age, teaching calmness is a good idea. Reward her every time she demonstrates calm behaviours. Teach a settle on a bed. Pups do tend to pick up everything in their mouths, so I wouldn't be too concerned about the mulch as long as she's not eating it. Just try to distract her from it with a game or some training. If you make a big deal of it, it's more likely to "stick" so just diverting her attention is a good idea.
I found the first six months exhausting, puppy always wants to play when I wanted to settle down and watch TV! However, you will find they will suddenly settle down
