Hello everyone! I would love a little advice and maybe some reassurance if possible? My six month old Betty pup has recently become unable to switch off in the house. Long gone are the days when she used to sleep peacefully most of the day when nothing interesting is happening. Now we are constantly on the go. She gets plenty of exercise and we have lots of training sessions during the day. But between these times she just can't seem to relax around us. She is still biting out of excitement (and when she does, whatever attention she was receiving stops, but she will come after you and snap at your thighs). She will play with her toys until she gets bored and then begins to steal every cushion or shoe that inadvertently is left out. I am unsure how to let her know that these are unavailable to her, but her toys (a vast collection!) are. I am a first time dog owner - please tell me this is completely normal, or please tell me I am expecting too much, or please tell me if I am missing something? I had thought by this age the biting would have improved, but because she is still biting, if anything worse than ever, I am really concerned this is going to carry on into adulthood. Thank you very much in advance!
Sounds like you are overdue for some peace and quiet, you poor thing. The high energy and nicking stuff are normal, and it's definitely not at all unheard of for biting for resurface during periods of excitement. My guess is that it's not totally clear to Betty that biting is not ok (and I'd also guess that she finds it a great deal of fun). Have you tried 'time outs', where Betty is shut in another (safe) room when she bites? That can help make the message clearer. Sometimes if you just move away it can look to the dog like a fun chasey game. Removing your attention totally by putting her (or yourself) on the other side of a door can get the message across better. As far as cushions etc go, just keeping them out of reach is the best approach. With her toys, keep 2/3 of them in a cupboard, and rotate access to 1/3 of the toy pool at a time for a week. That keeps the toys interesting and more desirable. Does Betty get to play off lead with other dogs much? Are there any day care options in your area that'd give you a break at times? We still use day care at 3 yrs of age and it saved our sanity in the first year. A good thing to do is to reward Betty with food treats any time you see her relaxing. Even if it means disturbing her to give her a treat. In your training, practise lots of self control exercises like waiting quietly in busy environments, or stays, or even just sit down on a bench and do nothing but wait till Betty settles, then reward her by moving on with the walk (wait a bit longer before moving on again the next time). Try teaching her to settle on a mat at home. Do you use a crate at all? She is not too old to be introduced to a crate for rest times. I know what it's like to have an exuberant young Labrador and so do most of the people on this forum, so you're definitely not alone and we all understand how tiring it can be.
We are going through this with Ella right now so I feel your pain! Our house is starting to look uninhabited as we've put EVERYTHING away to stop her stealing it! Ella's biting is also worse than it was about a month ago but not as bad as the crocopup stage thankfully. I've found she's most likely to get mouthy with my husband (he winds her up more) and when she's really tired. When this happens I use time out (for Ella not my husband - although there's an idea ) We also have a mat that she needs to be on when she's in the house (if we haven't invited her onto the couch for a cuddle) so in a psycho moment, if she stops and calms on her mat, we will reward her with a treat or a frozen Kong to give us an extended break. Good luck, we WILL make it through ☺
I think everyone goes through this stage but it does seem to last for ages! Max is now almost 2 and 90% of the time he's an absolute gem but he too still steals cushions if he hasnt had a long enough walk or training session. I've heard that house training lines are good for this, dog attempts to run off but a quick catch of the lead and run no more, however if Betty is anything like Max when he was a puppy she'd chew it! I agree with everything Oberon said but i must add that the dog on dog play is an excellent way on tiring out your pup as well as her learning how to control her mouthing as dogs wont tolerate it as much (just check it is a friendly playful dog). I should also recommend dog training classes, they were an amazing and couldnt recommend them enough, so much so that i've decided to start Max up again on training/agiltiy classes next month. Max and I often play "find it" in our house which I find is an excellent way to drain some of that extra energy, we hide either food or toys around the house for him to find. Start it off with something simple, put your dog into a stay and show your dog the treat then 'hide' it somewhere easy for the dog to see then release your dog to sniff it out. I must add that the more times i've played this game the better Max has gotten at it, he can find anything...ANYWHERE! Perhaps try a small stag bar, she'll be less inclined to mouth you if shes got something of her own to chew. They're quite pricey but last for months! I'd recommend a small stag bar thats cut in half (showing the yummy stuff inside rather than a whole stag bar). They dont smell like pizzle sticks either which is a bonus!
