Hi guys, Just looking for a bit of advice on a few issues which have cropped up with young master Stanley. 1. He's still biting. Not as much as he was and definitely not as hard but it's a bit different now. It seems to be when he's frustrated - for example if I tell him no, or to stop jumping up he snaps at me. It doesn't seem aggressive but more of a tantrum - I'm not really sure what to do about it? 2. Sometimes when we're walking him he turns absolutely radged. We'll be walking along one minute nicely, then boom! He's jumping at me, grabbing the lead, running around like a mad man. I just try and get him to sit and do some basic training - sits/paw/down etc until he calms down, then we walk again. Is that the best thing to do? 3. He never seems to want to settle down anymore. He's on the go 24/7 and on a night after he's been walked/fed/trained/played with it would be nice to chill and watch a bit of tele with a cuppa. I've been putting his lead back on and telling him to go to bed with lots of treats for staying there and some nice rawhide chews/dentastix - eventually he dozes off to sleep. Is that ok? I feel a bit tight having him on the lead. Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to make him any worse. This puppy training is much harder than I thought, I don't think me & OH are naturals at it, dog runs circles around us
Don't worry, you are not alone and your puppy is a typical Lab. The biting is very normal, and it will eventually go away but you just have to suffer through it for awhile. The jumping up and snapping is his way of saying he wants to play. Try to redirect or just ignore it. Do you have a crate? That's a good way to help Stanley relax in th evenings when all you want to do is put your feet up. Often pups get energized in the evenings, I'm afraid. But a crat and a frozen Kong go a long way to sanity!
I'm not sure where I read this. But I still use it on a daily basis. Whenever someone wants to play with or pet the puppy I hand them his knotted rope. It has been a godsend. No one has been "bitten" since we started doing this. Kids, grannies it works for everyone. You can use it to push him away or let him lay on your lap while he chews it and pet him. We also took advantage of these moments to gently rub his ears and tail and feet to get him used to vet visits and dealing with his human niece and human newborn baby sister. It's worked miracles for us.
I don't tell my puppy 'no' or stop her jumping up - I just ignore her. Unless you have actively trained the word 'No' to mean something, turn towards me etc., and proofed that against him being excited enough to be jumping around, he probably thinks the attention he is getting from you is part of playing a game. My puppy is also not the best at settling down in the evening (having my older dog around makes this worse than it otherwise would be, I think). I don't think you have to have a puppy running round needing constant attention to stop them getting into stuff in the evening. Providing they have company and enough activity in the day, I think it's fine to put them on a lead, in a crate, or put them on a mat with a kong - I think it was @Oberon who used the term 'shut up treats'. Betsy gets lots of 'shut up kongs'.
1. Try to ignore the 'temper' biting, it will deminish over time - it's a phase they go through. Distraction with some training can help. 2. The crazy dog when out and about stage I remember well with Tatze, it's usually when they are over excited. You are doing all the right things, this too will pass! 3. I use the lead for 'settle' time until it becomes a habit. I had to do it with Bruce (11 months old) at first for a week or two, as he wasn't used to having another dog around and wanted to play with Tatze 24/7.
I used to hate the evenings when I wanted to settle down and watch TV and read and the puppy would be wide awake and wanting to play, in my mind, the worst part of having a puppy! However, at around 6 months they give this up and sleep In my experience anyway and I have had 6 puppies over the years.
Thanks for your replies We'll just keep preserving and hopefully keep seeing improvement. We bought him a harness today aswell, we've never needed one before because he doesn't usually pull and just trots along next to you, but with the mad moments appearing thought it was best for him & us. He's not a massive fan at the minute, hopefully it will grow on him!
We've used a harness with Loki from about 11 weeks and he's fine with it. At first he tried to wriggle out of it a couple of time but is fine now. I find giving a treat after putting it on an taking it off helps!
Very similar here! How old is Stanley again? Bessie is just four months. She does settle after her evening crazies, but from around 6-8pm she's a wild thing. And with my two dogs I find more often than not lately I'm separating them and putting her in the crate because they get so overwrought together. And same with biting ankles and lead, going nutso, on a walk. For B it's on the way home. Overtired or overexcited, not sure which, or both, but I just stand there and ignore while she goes wild, then move forward when she stops. Takes a while to get through it.
