Hi all Me and my partner are having real behaviour issues with our 14 week old. He never seems to sleep during the day, resulting in him becoming over tired and having problem behaviours. These include constant barking at us, growling, snapping, snarling, lunging to bite, full on biting and chewing us. It seems never ending and is just getting worse. We tried crate training and this just seemed to make everything worse and he got so stressed, he would just full on bark at us non stop whenever he went in there. He only settles when we sit with him (on floor or sofa) but as soon as we move he gets up so he’s not getting any rest. any advice or suggestions gratefully received!
Sounds like he is getting separation anxiety. We had to stop crate training as Luna hated it and got so worked up. Try using a pen in the living room so he is next to you so knows you are there. Give him a kong and make it nice and cosy/comfy for him and try to encourage calm time. Hopefully then once he has finished his Kong he will be tired and curl up to sleep.
How did you crate train him? I think it’s often so easy to go for the desired behaviour straight away, ie in the crate with door shut. I have and I am still learning how to break down training and learning into small steps. The first part of crate training involves just hanging out by the crate or enjoying food in it with the door open , and this for a few days. Breaking thing down into small small steps and building up to what you want is what I’ve learned about recently.
How much training are you doing with him? Calm brain games are very tiring and teach him calm behaviour.
Hi all, so today he has been a little better, I have started rewarding him when ever he lays down quietly which seems to be working. We probably do at least 3 training sessions a day, which includes sit, down, paw, touch and leave it. We also use kongs, lickimats and teething/chewing toys too.
I would really suggest persevering with crate training. Puppies often won't sleep left to their own devices or by themselves. They get over-tired and then excessively bitey or over-excited. I have a 14 week puppy at the moment and I've no idea how I would cope without the crate. If I want her to sleep, I just put her in the crate. If I need to go out and don't want her to have an accident, I put her in the crate. If her mother is coming into the kitchen to be fed, I put her in the crate. She is out the crate in the mornings for 2 hours, then goes in the crate for 2 hours and I can take her mother out or work - then she's out the crate for lunch and training, then in the crate again. Tomorrow night she'll be coming to my training classes to be demo dog during my puppy class - and will then go in the crate during my KC Bronze class... I really have no idea how people many WELL and prevent problems effectively without using a crate. Using a crate requires training and you absolutely must follow the requisite steps. You can't just put the puppy in there and shut the door and expect it all to work. Here's an article I wrote: https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/ Until the puppy is happy being in the crate with you sitting right next to it, you can't shut the puppy in there and move away...
