Hello, Since bringing our rascal Rufus home in August, these forums have been so beneficial. Again I find myself looking for advice from you... Rufus is now 8 months old. He’s been in and out of the crocopup stage from 8 weeks... and seems to have regressed back into this stage in the last week or so. I’m pretty sure I can pinpoint all the triggers that result in biting (or trying to bite) 1. When playing tug/ general playing gets too rough/excitable. 2. When he’s attention seeking...starts off with a nudge, sometimes a nibble them he starts growling and snapping. I’m looking for reassurance that this is normal?? (naughty, but normal?!) Last week when we were out walking on lead amongst lots of off lead dogs he jumped at snapped at my arm... frustration? Have continued with time outs or walking away when he becomes bitey, or sometimes it’s easier for me to leave the room. Or if playing redirect to a toy. I’m worried that this behaviour will never end... Also, I’d be interested in knowing your daily routines. How often do your pups snooze? What time is your last let out for a wees at night? I’m trying hard to not extend the 5 min walking rule by too much per day, but some days we do by 10 mins or so... Does this rule apply until the pups are a year old? How many walks per day (within the 5 min rule allocation) Any tips on recovering from neutering? Have made the decision with my vet to have this done in 6 weeks time when I’m off work for 2 weeks. I know this is a lot of questions... I really do appreciate and value your responses in advance. Trina
Hi Trina , re the walks first , the five minute rule is only a guide , so giving a little more isn't going to matter at all , and at 8 months old it matters less than it did at 4 months of age . I tended to ignore the guide once Sam reached around 10/12 months of age , especially as most of his walks were on soft ground ( fields and woodlands ). Last time out for wee at 8 months was about the same as adult , as bladder control is now good ( we hope ! ) so mine have always gone out last off at around 10.30 p.m. The biting will subside , honestly it will, you are doing all the right things to discourage it , keep the faith ! Re castration , dogs are usually well over this operation within a few days, but should ( hum ) be kept on lead only for a week to ten days, then its back to normal !
I never had the snapping thing with my dog, but I've been on the forum long enough to know that it's completely normal - it just means that you've got to knuckle down with your training. Selina had trouble with her dog doing this, and started a really helpful thread in the Training Logs section titled "Cassie's stop mugging me log" I think. That might give you some ideas! Re routines - A LOT of snoozing. I also loosely followed the 5 min rule with Xena for our morning walk, but then she'd get a short evening walk around the block too. Our routine is very similar now at 22 months as it was at 8 months, except due to my OH's change in work she gets less evening walks: She snoozes after breakfast, then we walk mid-morning, then she snoozes again until 3ish, then we have a game of footy, more snoozing, evening walk (she only gets this 3 nights a week when my OH is off work), then more snoozing. But if the weather's nice and we're out and about in the garden or working around the house then she's out and about with us, pottering around. From what I understand, males recover from neutering much faster than females do with their spay, so your 2 weeks off should be fine!
We are following the 5 min rule (roughly) but having 2 walks a day, plus playing. At 16 weeks Caspar has breakfast, snooze for about 1 hour, walk, snooze 1-2 hours, lunch, a bit of play, short snooze, afternoon walk, then short snooze and play until after evening meal. He will sleep most of the evening and go out at 10.30 - 11.00 for last wee. If we are up late he sometimes puts himself to bed but I always wake him to take him out. I get up around 7.00 and do not sleep later on weekends any more, not until the pup can hold for longer. When fully grown I would expect to be out withe dog a couple of hours a day, split between 2 or 3 walks. We have not started this one having a late walk around the block and I would prefer to keep it that way.
My pup does not sleep nearly as much as I would expect. I wish I could get her to snooze like that. We put her away in her pen sometimes to force the nap but she still wants to pay attention to all of the noises in the house.
I do put him in his crate for the post walk morning nap, otherwise he just wanders about not knowing what to do with himself, as his preferred sleeping position is on someone's lap, and this is when we need to get things done. I should add that the more they sleep, the more they sleep, even though that seems counter-intuitive.
One more funny thing about this post, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. The dog in the original post is named "Rufus". That happens to be my name (and my son's name) as well.
It takes a long time for the "I'm bored, time to snooze" mode to kick in. Xena can be in a deep snooze but the second she hears an outside door open she's up and investigating. They do eventually learn to ignore you when you're doing housework etc, give it time
