Hi, Murphy our 13 week old black lab, seems to have times when he just barks, barks and more barks. He'll be doing something he shouldnt be doing and we'll tell him "NO", then he'll just look at us and bark!!! He goes right up to my old boy (15 years old) and bark, bark and bark at him too There's nothing we can do to get him to stop doing it. I've tried ignoring him or stopping playing with him but he'll just lunge at you and hand onto a piece of clothing your wearing!! Its actually quite intimidating at times. Is this normal behaviour for a gorgeous wee boy who keeps us on our toes 24/7?? Any advise on how to deal with this would be most gratefully received. Love this site by the way, its been a livesaver after 15 years of a non puppy house Karen
Re: Help!!!!!! Deffo CLICK FOR QUIET.... check out the article on the main website http://www.thelabradorsite.com/click-for-quiet/ (And no, of course I really didn't laugh at the bit about him going up to your son's face and barking in it ;D)
Re: Help!!!!!! Sounds like a puppy who is overexcited...do you have a crate? Somewhere for a quick time out to give the pup a chance to calm down? There are quite a few articles on the main site and threads on the forum about dealing with overexcited pups, I'm sure you can find some strategies to deal with this there. All of the barking, lunging, grabbing onto clothes is him telling you he wants to play.
Re: Help!!!!!! Yes, he just wants to play. It's totally normal But you don't want to encourage him to ask in that way. Even though it's normal it's not nice (i.e. it's painful and extremely frustrating!!!) for you. I agree that 'clicking for quiet' and giving him a 'time out' are both really good plans. A small room like a laundry or bathroom is ideal for a time out. If you are using a crate for sleeping or as a safe retreat for him don't give him a time out in the crate as the crate should be for positive things only. But a different room is fine (one where he can't destroy stuff). He will also need the opportunity to burn off some energy. What kinds of things do you do with him to use up energy and keep him occupied (play sessions with other puppies, little training sessions, recall training in the backyard, hiding treats for him to find, scattering kibble in the yard or house for him to scent out)?
Re: Help!!!!!! Hello Karen , I would go with everyone else's opinion on this as well , Its pretty normal for a 15 week pup , Hes exited and wants to explore everything , I saw this with our puppy as well , We still see this even now when hes 5 moths old . But not as much as it used to be . He was generally a quite boy and bark for some reason , like calling to play or asking me to be quicker when i am preparing his food etc , But ignoring and being louder than him (occasionally) really helps . Just bear with him for sometime , I have seen some puppies exploring their barking ability as well when they are kids , But yes this can also be due to boredom , So ensure that he has lots of toys to play and have a good routine of play time with humans and puppies . Also a little but of socializing would help like a puppy preschool etc . Our little fellow knew a puppy from the preschool as he was a friends pup and would bark endlessly to let him off leash to play with the other fellow . Cheers Vish
Re: Help!!!!!! Lola is of the same age and does exactly this. My other half just shrugs and says "she's only playing" which is true but I don't think that is the way she should get my attention. When she barks I tell her "quiet!" 9 times out of 10 this works but when it doesn't I put her in the kitchen without saying another word. 2 or 3 minutes usually does it then I let her in and she's quite calm again. I would recommend if you do remove him from the room make sure he has something to take his frustration/ excitement out on. Lola has a blanket she rolls around with otherwise my cabinets get the brunt of it
Re: Help!!!!!! Thanks everyone for your advice. We do have a crate but I wouldn't put him in it for time out as I wanted the crate to be a nice place for him. I don't really have a room I would be prepared to leave him in for 2 mins on his own for timeout, unless I wanted it demolished!!!! Since being told the barking is normal (although not nice behaviour) and is only asking to play, I've not been as worried about it and have tended to just try to distract his attention, and this seems to work. I don't think he could be bored but I do find it difficult to think on things to do with him to stop him getting into mischief. He has three walks a day, where we let him off lead so he can run around, we play in the garden kicking and throwing balls, we play with his toys indoors, do a bit of training - getting him to stay, getting him to come, and getting him to sit. But then I run out of ideas. I'm going to try the hide and seek kibble game, he'll love that . Anything else anyone can suggest? He started puppy training 2 weeks ago. I can't say he enjoys it, but we'll keep at it!!
Re: Help!!!!!! Kongs are great to keep pups occupied for a while, also using things like treat balls or give him his tea through a kong wobbler or something similar
Re: Help!!!!!! I think you do too much with him He is constantly stimulated and therefore is always looking for more. My pups at that age spent a fair amount of time during the day asleep (but was an absolute pain all evening!). I would have thought the three walks plus some short times of training in about five minute bites, chewing a kong and searching for some kibble in the garden should be sufficient.
Re: Help!!!!!! I am really new to keeping a dog..in fact I have never had a pup let alone a dog! So I don't know if this tip will help, but when Benson was around the same age mark, he got very excited at times and I think he found it difficult to control his exuberance..so when that happened we went into "training mode". So got him to think about something different, and changed his focus from whatever he was doing...we would then use a clicker or "good boy" followed by a few of his favourite treats It took a few goes admittedly, but generally would work!
