While Edsel still remains a model citizen with my dad, he's nearly nuts everywhere else. He's restless and fidgety some days, then today he slept almost the whole day away until his usual evening crazy time. He's become quite noisy where he barely barked before. Wants in and out a thousand times a day, jumping like a kangaroo. I'm thinking (hoping) this is just part of the over 16 weeks stage but not sure. The only thing I want to make sure I nip is the constant in and out, but he's done so well with house training I hesitate to doubt the legitimacy of his requests...and the barking, which I really think is related to my dad's visit and his tendency to respond to it. Help from those of you who have gone before please! Lori
Re: Wacky pup Around 5-6 months Dexter was a total nuisance every eve..... ;D first we would have The Prowl......an hour or so of whirling dervish stealing and running away with anything that was within reach...things he didn't bother with at all during the day .....then we would get the sitting at the french window gazing outside,then back to us and then outside again...... We fettled the prowl by playing outside,distractions,playing with chew toys inside or just giving him a frozen kong to get on with in his room....he could still see us. If I'm honest we answered every request to go outside .....just in case!most times all he wanted was to go hunting for stones or to dig up an irrigation system peg : ...so,we'd do a swap with him for a toy or a treat and go straight back inside ......we'd take it in turns all night to do this it was tedious at the time but he grew out of it quickly and there would always be an occasion when he would want the toilet : I did work with a clicker to train a quiet command for barking ,Dexter does bark when the door goes , I don't mind that but wanted to get him to stop after a couple of wuffs...( this was preparation for an autistic visitor who is hypersentive to some noise pitches)the only other time vocal noise was an issue was whining,bit of barking in the car.....my solution in the end was just to ignore,it was all I could do really when I'm on the car on my own,so there is an argument for asking your Dad to ignore Edsel.....will he though? I think he sounds quite taken with his little Grandpup x
Re: Wacky pup I wonder if he's got so much energy he doesn't know what to do with himself... How much exercise does he get? I know you need to be careful as he's still so young but at that age my Penny was getting about 45 mins as otherwise she would be bouncing off the walls! Also does he get enough mental stimulation? Keeping his brain occupied should help burn off some of that excess energy and you'll get half an hour of peace too with a frozen kong or treat ball.
Re: Wacky pup Albert is 19 weeks and has quite a bit of exercise each day, around 45mins off lead meandering around the beach or woods plus another 20mins at night playing 'fetch' in a field. He also has a couple of puzzle games for food, plays 'find the treats' in the garden or a box full of paper with treats hidden inside. He goes to 'puppy school' at home for 10 mins morning and afternoon on most days, which reinforces basic 'sit' 'down' ' stay' commands and also gets recall training every time we are out and also walking to heel on the lead. So not surprisingly Albert is a very calm puppy most of the time, especially in the evening. He is very content with a chew or playing with his toys! It is easy for us as we work from home, and he gets a lot of our attention (too much sometimes) but he is a very contented, mostly calm puppy. Hope this helps Jan
Re: Wacky pup Thanks all. We are still getting a good amount of exercise in. Probably 45-60 minutes romping through the yard and creek. Lots of toys and chews in the house. Not sure if I am a bad kong maker or if Edsel's just too pampered to work at it but he's shown minimal interest in them. I have to admit training has gone by the way with the exception of basic manners while dad's been visiting, and that may be part of it. I also believe he is doing some serious teething. I think I will get the noise in hand once dad's gone home. Little hope of training him not to talk to Edsel. Think I stress that if we regress in training, we won't get it back. But it looks like that isn't likely if we go back to basics.
Re: Wacky pup Hi, just read your comments about Edsel. Last weekend I had my parents stay and Maisie went from being a relatively calm pup to behaving like a naughty toddler who is showing off :!! Since they have gone home, she's stopped behaving like that! I just wonder if he is showing off! While they were here Maisie also didn't get her usual daily training, not as much exercise, etc. It'll be interesting to see if he goes back to normal after your Dad goes home.
