The good news is that it gets better! Our pup is 16 weeks old and sleeps all night, waking up around 6.30-7am. He is in a crate in our bedroom. Not so great for the decor, but we wanted him in our room so it works for us. He also hasn't had an accident indoors for 2 weeks. That includes visits of both of our parents places. I am also less cranky. 11-12 weeks was the worst Just make sure you are getting some time for yourself in all this puppy madness and it will be over before you know it. He still has his crazy moments, but it's a LOT better now.
So we are working the same problem. Little Zigster has been waking consistently at 5am. He doesn’t want out for a wee he even knows it’s not breakfast time he just wants a cuddle on the couch. I’ve plonking him in his crate for short periods at unusual times and rewarding for being quiet. This seems to be working as he’s now waking, barking once or twice, then going back to sleep. Getting up time is 6:30am at the moment and we are hoping to extend this out for an hour or so once he’s consistently quiet until wakey wakey time.
My black lab is just over 5 months, and seems to be going backwards with recall. The last week when out on walks, he used to be really good and coming back but now totally ignores me. I know he's heard me and knows what he should do because he starts to come back and then thinks 'nah' and carries on his merry way. Is this a 'stage' or do we need to start from scratch on our recall training? And also at certain ties of the day, I have no idea what causes it, but he goes mental. He belts around the house at full pelt, outside in the door's open and then back in again, sending anything in his way flying. And then he just stops. Is this normal?
Yep, totally normal! It's called the zoomies And my 2 and a bit year old Cassie has had a session this morning! With the recall get on it right away. At 5 months he's beginning to get more confident and realise that there is a whole exciting world out there - away from you! If you don't already have it get yourself a copy of the book Total Recall asap.
Thanks, I just bought it a couple of days ago, and am working my way through it. I'll try and read quicker! lol.
Hi JenBa and Harvey. I know exactly how you feel! Luna is 12 weeks old and we've had her for 4 weeks now which feels like about 4 years - it's like some sort of Puppy time warp. I used to consider myself a very patient person, but my patience is DEFINITELY being tested every day. I've also just started clicker training which I'm hoping will help. Keep at it - hopefully we'll be on here in a year's time saying how much easier things are
Ah so pleased this "zoomies" is normal, as my 5 month old choc lab does this mad run at least once a day for apparently no reason,she also makes a yelping noise whilst running at top speed!
Hi everyone! Monty is now 5 months old. His manic moments have really calmed down as has the chewing (apart from his obsession with the stairs), however we’ve started taking him off the lead now to socialise him a bit more. He’s fine with dogs he doesn’t know but we introduced him to my parents spaniel this week while they’ve been down here for holiday and he has been obsessed with biting the poor spaniels ears! Is this normal play? He doesn’t seem to get the hint at the moment when other dogs find this annoying. Will he grow out of this or do we need to speak to someone about training it out of him? I don’t think he’s doing it aggressively but I don’t want him to annoy another dog to the point it turns into a scrap! He’s very submissive to other dogs but seems to really be set on annoying the spaniel and our other family labs!
Our pup likes biting ears, especially floppy ears. He also likes sticking his face all the way in spaniel ears and having a good sniff. Lovely. I think as they get to know each other it will settle down, as long as the other dog has breaks and isn't forced to be with the puppy. My in-laws have a senior dog who doesn't really like the puppy and they have met 3 or 4 times. The last time the puppy annoyed him at the beginning but by the end they were peacefully ignoring one another. It might help to make sure the puppy has had some exercise prior to meeting the older dog so they are calmer. We have found that this helps. My main issue at the moment is that everyone thinks it's their god given right to approach your lab puppy and let him jump all over them etc, even when you are clearly training. There's one woman at the dog park who drives me mad. We keep our pup on lead at this particular park (unless there are two of us and it is relatively quiet) because it is close to a moderately busy road. She and her cavalier jumped all over Chewie today and she started to give me advice about letting him off lead. I have seen her dog run into the road while she ineffectually called him back and didn't look worried, so no, I will not be taking your advice. There ends my off topic rant.
I'm glad it's not just Monty! He did exactly the same with my parents spaniel, biting his ears and sticking his nose in them! We have an 8yo lab in the family too who also doesn't really like puppies and he does get quite annoyed by him! I'm hoping in time Monty will calm down a bit and they'll settle down together but I think next time we take them to meet I might give Monty a walk beforehand to tire him out a little bit! We do tend to separate them for a bit so that Charlie (8yo lab) doesn't get too stressed out! I know how you feel about other people offering advice! I regularly take Monty to our local park and have only just started letting him off the lead there as I know a lot of people wander in and leave the gate wide open. I always get people trying to offer me training advice which is great, but the reason I've kept him on is because I don't feel comfortable letting him off on my own! Luckily he doesn't wander off far so he's actually okay off the lead now but the same happens at our local beach which is quite big and next to a main road! It is really frustrating!
Koda now 14 weeks - we have had her for 6 weeks, agree with everyone else, feels like we have had her forever. I am currently on puppycation for 2 weeks. She has had moments as well, biting, going round the house up to mischief which is quite funny although naughty. She has managed to jump over the stair gate! Bit worrying that! We remember our Wilson who lived to 13 still having and moments running madly which is really sweet actually. I am not ready to,let Kòda off the lead yet in public places. She does play with friends dogs in their gardens though. So far she hasnt got obsessed with licking or annoying other dogs although she won't lie down by me at puppy training so having to constantly feed treats then. Find it quite stressful actually. I have lots of patience most of the time and she can be trying when in mad, bitey, seeking attention mode! These are in small snippets throughout day though.
So... I'm having a little resurgence of the blues. Chewie is great 95% of the time, but in the mornings he is a nightmare. He wakes up between 6 and 7, which is fine. I take him for a toilet break and a walk. I try not to make the walk too long because he goes out with daycare too (generally off lead). If we stop by the park he often meets a doggy friend or two. We also do some training on the walk and in the house. I try to eat breakfast and reward calm behaviour. We may play a little too. Once my OH is dressed for work I go and get ready, and then we give him his kong and leave him in his containment area, where he waits for 30-45mins for his daycare pickup. Lately he has been barking at me nonstop. No matter what I do. It seems like he is barking for attention, so I wait for a pause, then play with him. But he keeps barking. He reduced me to tears and a near panic attack this morning. I know he doesn't mean to make me feel bad, but ilI feel like I'm doing everything wrong. He doesnt do this with my OH at all. I wonder if he can sense that I'm tense and doesnt know what to do? That makes me feel even worse! And it makes me dread the "teen period" of he is like this at only 4 and a half months.
Mango is now 19 weeks (so like yours), and he barks at me for attention too. If I sit on the couch or the bed or on a chair outside, and play with him, or train him, he is all great. But as soon as I take my phone, or look away for 10 seconds, he starts barking. He has lately been doing it in the car too. He was great, went in the car with no problem, we went to our nearest dog park (10-15 min drive), but now he barkss whenever we stop in traffic. Walks have also become a problem. When he was waking at 5:30 we didn't meet anyone outside (who would be crazy enough to be outside at this time), now he wakes up at 7, we go out and meet a lot of dogs. If they pass us from the front it's fine, but if they walk faster and aproach from the back, he wouldn't move until they reach us. It is frustrating. It's not all bad, but he sure has his moments. He is good 90% of time. And he is very smart (maybe too smart), learns very quickly and is soooo stuborn.
Chewie also sometimes barks when the car stops... if the car keeps moving he usually falls asleep but in stop-start city traffic he can be quite annoying. Luckily my partner does most of the driving and is deaf! He is also really bright and I suspect part of this is that he is more opinionated now. The other day he whinged and whinged because I wasn't playing properly. Turned out he wanted me to roll a specific toy for him to chase. My OH had the thought that maybe in the mornings he is demand barking for the kong. I dont know how likely that is? I've never given in and given it to him early. My OH is going to take over long duties for a while to see if it changes things at all.
It is possible. Mango gets a Kong with his meal in the morning, just kibble in it. He always waits for it, does not leave his crate. Same in the evening, frozen that time. He is so used to it, be doesn't move just looks at me.
Monty is stubborn too! He's going through a phase at the moment where if he doesn't want to go somewhere he will lay down and flop so you can't pick him up/move him! It's really embarrassing at the park when it's time to leave! Luckily now we're letting him off the lead more he's stopped doing it a bit! Also, Monty used to bark in the car too, I drove him to meet my OH's work one day, it's a 5 minute drive and he barked non stop the whole way! He has stopped now and he lays down nicely on the seat or in my boot and doesn't make a peep so he will grow out of it once he's realised the car isn't the worst thing ever!
Just joined and it's really good to read these comments and know lots of people are in the same boat! Our pup is 10 weeks and bites us constantly. He also jumps up at the sofa constantly and when these 2 problems collide, my hands are bitten to pieces!! I know he's very young and we're very lucky in other ways (he sleeps through, very few accidents in the house). I just sometimes want Supernanny to come in & tell me I'm doing things right! We try to ignore bad behaviour but it doesn't seem to work in the evening when he's most hyper. I also worry that he then gets overtired because he doesn't know how to calm himself...hot weather & flies buzzing around him prob not helping at the mo either!!
Our pup is now 15 weeks. She goes through stages with biting now not as bad as when she was your pups age. Mainly hands and feet. Tug of war seems to help preferably long ones and distraction, pick him up and put in different place to get a rest and let him calm down. If you put your thumb inside his mouth to encourage him to bite gently it doesn't hurt then. They have mad moments when they grab clothes as well. You have to be one step ahead of them. It does get better. I got a chicken filled bone which she still has and bites. Plastic bottles as well. Throwing balls. As for settee, we had that as well. You can say No but like children it doesn't always work! I think it's quite hard to ignore bad behaviour and biting is normal puppy behaviour just praise all his good bits like when he is sitting down or standing on all fours and give him treats. Good luck.
