Good day to all, Hope all is well with everyone. I am not concerned, but my 6 month old puppy is becoming a reckless little guy. He no longer feels the need to walk properly on the leash. He his not pulling, but walks from side to side and decides to sprint out of nowhere (had an easier time when he was younger). The bad boy now jumps on counters and chairs, and decides that he will not listen anymore. The other day, he took a slipper of mine, I took it away from him and seconds later went back for it. This went on for approx. 6-7 times, I wanted to make sure he undestood that he should not be doing this. In the end, it seems that no matter how tough or strict I am with him on discipline, house rules and behaviours.... it goes one ear and out the other. Any suggestions? Thanks
It sounds as if your puppy is starting his teenage months. These can be tough times to get through, and our pups really do try our patience. It's your job to realise why he's doing this. He's growing up and becoming more independent. He's losing his sense of complete dependence on you, so is trying new things for himself. His whole world is opening up before his eyes and is suddenly massively more exciting and distracting than it was before. There is really only one solution to this, and that is to go right back to the beginning with your training. He's not trying to be wilful or stubborn. He's not intentionally ignoring you. He's not being naughty on purpose. He's simply seeing the world in a new, exciting light. So, start your training again as if he was a brand new, 8-week old puppy that knows nothing, and build up slowly from scratch, introducing distractions slowly to proof against them. Here are a couple of articles on proofing: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/proofing-an-essential-part-of-labrador-training/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-obedience-training/
Fiona has hit the nail on the head.......he's reached adolescence I found that if I ignored any item Harley picked up, she would loose interest very quickly as it wasn't a game and I didn't chase her. If I did try and get the item or swap it for something more appropriate, she wouldn't let it go! What do you do or say when he jumps on things? Or when he pinches something?
