Max is a 7 month old red lab mix (possibly hound but not entirely sure) rescue that we brought home at about 4 months old. Although he has come a LONG LONG way with his puppy crazies he still looses himself at times and we aren't quite sure the best way to go about it. We have tried time outs in the bathroom, but it became impossible as he would instantly run the opposite way when we would try to pick him up thinking it was some kind of fun game! We tried simply ignoring him but it would escalate and he would jump and nip at us which became quite painful. We tried removing ourselves from the room but he would follow while pulling at our clothing and nipping. Attempts at distracting him with toys or training doesn't seem to work either. Like I said, he definitely has gotten better, but I think he still doesn't quite get it. There's usually no telling when he's going to turn (zombie/devil style). He was great all day today and then BAM, the devils spawn appeared. Luckily it doesn't last as long, and the frequency of these episodes has declined magnitudes. He acts out sometimes when he can't do something He wants, like lay on the couch with my other half and I late at night(There's just not enough room). He sleeps in a large chair and loves it. He used to sleep on the love seat next to our couch with a warm blanket but chose the chair over it later on. As far as the couch issue goes, I suppose i could train an alternative behavior, like get on your chair. But He doesn't have the patience to stay for an extended period of time. He gets plenty of exercise, attention, and training. I am just wondering the best way to go about this. I have read just about EVERY post on the forum relating to this. Thoughts and input would be greatly appreciated!
Here is lots of good advice - https://www.thelabradorsite.com/excited-puppy/ Use lots of tasty treats and do plenty of bouts of training during the day with treats. Then, when the pup goes into hyper mode, you go into training mode - not forgetting the treats. This works, it isn’t an instant fix, Mollie was twelve months old before we stopped having to go into training mode often to deal with her hyper snappyness.
Thank you Boogie! I will work on that a bit more. If I can catch it before it escalates too much, I am sometimes able to snap him out of it with training, even if just starting out with a simple sit. I will try to keep a better eye out for that devilish look in his eyes just before he turns. And thank you Mags for splitting up my wall of text into paragraphs! I am writing from me cellphone and hadn't noticed how lengthy my post had become.
Yes, and super-duper tasty smelly treats like tripe sticks are great for when they do turn loopy. I found a tripe stick used for a bit of training followed by a filled and frozen Kong worked well with Mollie indoors. Out on walks was harder, I’d turn my back and wait for her to calm down, then treat. But my coat got a bit of a battering She’s now working hard at Guide Dog training School with excellent reports, so they do grow out of it .
I am glad to hear there's a light at the end of the tunnel! Max is incredibly smart, but I think that's his problem. He generally learns new tricks in a span of five to ten minutes. I was worried that giving him attention would prolong the problem or make it worse but I will give it s go and be more persistent about it.!
