Hey All, I'm after some advice please as I feel like I'm officially done with our puppy today and it's only 9am.....! Nelli is 14wk old lab puppy and she's generally very well behaved however I'm starting to be at the end of my tether with the whole puppy life. My husband isn't taking much part as he has always made clear that he doesn't want the responsibility of a dog. He's not a dog hater but the whole training and looking after is on my shoulders (fair enough I knew it all along) and to add on it we have 3 & 6 year olds running around which means more supervision.. Anyway, Nelli has been pretty good with general puppy behavior until this week when she has started barking (most likely for attention) every time we dare! to have our meal, try to do some house chores, concentrate bit on the kids, anything really. We are not shutting her away anywhere she's there with us but then comes and sits behind you or tries jumping on you and barks, really loudly! We then tell her to be quiet and click and treat when she does. Is this right thing to do? Should we tell her off or just wait until she stops and then click and treat? (it's very loud though and we have neighbours...) She might also growl when barking. She's still a puppy but if she was older this could be quite intimidating especially for the kids. Also we have now come to realise that she has her zoomies around 5pm (witching hour I know!) and goes completely mad for a moment. Yesterday it got to the point that she jumped on our little 3 year old and scratched him right by his eye quite badly. Half a cm and it would have been his eye and this really scared me! He was on his way to a playhouse terrace where she can't get to but wasn't quick enough. Any good ideas how to best deal with the zoomies especially when you have kids and also do they grow out of these crazy moments when they get older?? I really hope they do! We have a crate where she happily sleeps at night and has been left own her own when we popped out or during the day if we are not downstairs but I'm reluctant to put her in her crate if she's done something wrong as I don't want her to see it as a place of punishment. Is there any other way to give her a time out? Or is that ok thing to do? Any advice would be great before my new puppy parent brain pops and I have a total meltdown. I can completely admit that I have been thinking whether this was a horrible mistake and could we just give her back but I wouldn't really so just need to soldier. But please tell me it will get better. Desperate dog mummy x
Hi Noora, it will absolutely get better!! I was feeling very desperate at the 14 week point too, but Buster is now 18 weeks and he us doing fantastic. I was also reluctant to use the crate much during the day because I didn't want him to see it as punishment. But when he was about 15 weeks, I changed my approach and implemented a much more structured routine of about an hour exercise and playtime followed by an hour and a half to two hours in the crate. Made sure to put him in the crate calmly and quietly with a small handful of "treats" (really just his kibble) so it was a positive experience. Things got much better almost immediately. His biting and the zombies became much less frequent and easier to stop when they did happen. He is 18 weeks now, there is only an occasional episode and I can stop it quickly. Really encourage you to use the crate during the day. Stay strong!
Hi Nora. Sophie started barking at like 13 weeks out of the blue. She was bad for 2 weeks. I started ignoring her and leaving the room when she did it, and I’d come back when she was quiet and then reward for quiet. It helped a lot. she still barks now but it’s normally when she can see me. If I’m in the other room and she can hear me - no barking. When she can see me, she barks. Maybe try ignoring her snd see if that helps. I think it’s for attention. Sophie does it sometimes in the car too and oh boy is it loud!!! sophoe had HORRIBLE zoomies from 6-9 pm. Horrible. Aggressively bitey, crazy eyes, running around like she was possessed for HOURS, nothing ever worked for me to calm her. I did buy some calming treats and those helped a tiny bit but not much. I had to be very careful with how I interacted with her in the evening and how to play with her. I avoided the toys and games that I knew started making her get crazier. Tried doing calm training snd other low key things and that helped a bit too. At 4 months when her other behavior changed, her zoomies suddenly disappeared too! Everything is slowly getting much better so hang in there. Each week you will start to see improvements soon!
Hi Noora I have a 13 week old puppy, who has also started barking for attention, his zoomies are crazy, jumping on the furniture and biting when I get him off, sometimes he's just out of control, I find that it is quite often when he is tired, so to keep everyone safe I put him in his crate and he usually goes to sleep. I don't think I use the crate enough, as like you I didn't want it to be a punishment. I let him out after a sleep and when he's quiet. I must admit I have found these last few weeks really hard particularly the biting, it really hurts, he's like a crocodile, and the growling sound so aggressive. The more I read the more I understand this is just normal puppy behaviour and you will get through it.
Hi Nora, I can totally sympathize with you and i am so please to find this thread. I have a 10 wk old lab and a 2 yr old lab. Two kids aged 5 yr and 13 yrs. After reading the comments i don't think i have been utilizing the crate much during the day esp on weekends when everyone is home, so taking advice from the others today i have made this change and done wake / wee & poo / feed / 1hr play both dogs and me / 5mins training and then crate to rest. This should also improve the house training, in the past week we have only had 4 accidents. We too have the barking which is new the house as my older lab does not bark so i am working on the ignore on barking and reward on the quiet esp when in crate. Puppy life is hard going, i remember this with my first dog but this is another level and day 5 i was wanting to quit but now i'm day 7 and will keep going.
Hi all Very relieved to find this page. We have had our lab puppy for 1 week and she is 9 weeks old. For most of the time she is delightful but in the evening she turns into a devil dog. Biting growling and barking. Last night was the worst lasting about 2-3 hours. We did crate her but she cries and howls but in the end it did seem to work after about 15 minutes. It seems to be related to us being on the sofa, watching the TV that starts her off, although it isn't just food related. My partner gets the worst as she has launched herself at him biting and growling. Likewise I am wary about using the crate as she often goes into herself quite happily with the door left pen so I don't want to spoil what is a safe space. I note that the other puppies mentioned here are a few weeks older - have we got another 3-4 weeks like this ? Will putting her into a training class help at all ? How long is feasible to crate her for in these scenario's. Many thanks !
From my experience I only needed to put Buster in the crate for a short time out (say 15min) when he started biting, zooming in the evening. And it didn't affect his willingness to happily go in the crate to eat or sleep. Also, training classes helped generally with his responsiveness to me. He is now 6 months and is a great dog - completely past all that, so hang in there.
If your dog is barking at you for attention or because she wants something, ignore her until she stops. This might be hard in the beginning, as she might bark longer and harder in an attempt to get your attention, but be patient. Wait for 5 seconds of quiet and then reward that quiet with attention.
