Leo turns 15 weeks old today. We have had him since he was around 9 weeks old, and he's been doing great. He was pretty much there with house training, taking himself to the door when he needed to go and out in the morning for a wee and a poo like clock work. He has taken to commands well and had learnt sit, stay, waits for his food until we tell him to come, (mostly) comes back to us, has been doing well on the lead and learning heel, and also great off the lead. We did have trouble with biting but this was improving a little. Over the past week, something seems to have changed in him. He has always been a crier and whines, but he is crying ALL of the time. As soon as we stop stroking him or remove our attention in any way, even if this is to cook or put the kettle on and he's still sat at our feet, he cries. Sometimes he'll even whine while we are playing or stroking him. He seems so much more needy than before, when he was always a happy little puppy. He has forgotten how to walk on the lead and is deperatley pulling, and choking himself therefore we end up picking him up to avoid hurting him. He's become extra naughty, eating anything and everything in site, and he persistently jumps up and steals things he knows he shouldnt. He bites us all the time, and it hurts. It used to just be me he bit but now he attacks my partner too, whilst growling. If we stop play, he barks at us. Toilet training also seems to have gone out of the window, with the past few days coming down to a wee in his crate each morning - which he has never done and has always held on through the night. When we put him in his crate for time out due to biting or barking, he does a wee in it. He also seems to be weeing on his own bed a lot too. These are all new behaviours! Has anyone experienced anything similar? Is it a common phase with pups this age? We are fairly certain there is nothing actually wrong with him, he went to the vet last Friday and was very healthy. Could it be teething? We feel bad because he constantly cries and barks at us and is so needy, and has become so very naughty/hyper/bitey/WILD too. We know he is fine alone as we leave him for a few hours each day and we have a camera and can see he either sleeps or plays with his toys nicely.
Hi @Michael A Brooks, we try to ignore him for the most part. However he does it so often that we still need to go about our normal day with him, playing etc, but for the most part we try to ignore him- although sometimes whining turns to barking and then we have to try and get him to stop (thin walls and neighbours!). We are also trying to get to him to recognise the word NO when he bites etc and we regularly do time out in his crate if he's out of control with biting etc.
Thanks @Lucy Hopkins for the reply. It's midnight here. There are many things going on with your pippy. Too many for me to comment now. It's entirely possible that another member will comment while Australia sleeps. If not, then I will comment tomorrow.
Hi Lucy, yes it is common for puppies to seem to go backwards in some aspects of their training. In fact what happens is that they weren't really trained before (it takes many months to fully train your pup) but they are getting bolder now and more confident. Puppies often start to pee at night after being dry when we start to leave them a little longer. Once you have come downstairs to a wee in the crate it's important to shorten the time you leave them during the next night by an hour or so. You can build back up gradually over the next few days. How long is he in the crate at the moment? With the whining it's important to reward your puppy and pay him attention for being silent. Have pots of treats easily to hand in your home or in a bag attached to your waist or pocket. And see how many times each day you can catch him in the act of being quiet. Give him lots of attention when he is quiet and none when he is noisy - he may bark even more to begin with when you start ignoring him, but it will subside, especially if you reward the quiet times. Biting in play is totally normal and peaks around this age - things will get better - check out this thread: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/biting-puppies-help-for-new-puppy-parents.24782/
One of the most important things to remember, is that you only ever have the dog in front of you. You don't have yesterday's dog or tomorrow's dog - you have today's dog. Yesterday's dog might have been able to go through the night and not pee - today's dog can't. So you need to treat him like a dog which can't. Yesterday's dog might not have been bitey - today's dog is. So you need to treat him like a dog which is bitey. You only ever have the dog in front of you. With the whining, I strongly suspect your responses have been (to begin with) 'ah, poor puppy, what's wrong...?' - and the accompanying attention. And so it has been inadvertently reinforced... Ignoring it is the way forwards, as Pippa says. With peeing in the crate, be sure you have thoroughly cleaned the crate with a detergent that has biological enzymes in it to break down the smell of the ammonia in the pee - otherwise it will continue to smell like a toilet place and encourage him to continue toileting in it. Wash his bedding with bio laundry detergent and wipe down the inside of the crate with very dilute bio detergent. Take him out for a wee before crating him, every single time - even if he is being crated due to crazy biteyness. With walking on the leash and choking himself, he should be on a front-fastening harness - not a collar - or he will inevitably choke himself, being a little puppy wanting to run everywhere. The biting is one of the most commonly-asked about things with puppies and you will find loads of threads on this forum about it, so have a read through - it will get better!
