Puppies Suddenly Going Off The Rails

[Tilly]

When my 9 month old hit the teething and 6 month stage he went from reasonably obedience to a complete handful.

From day one we worked on his obedience etc so he learnt come, sit, drop, toilet, his name, heel, wait, and his food command (wait to eat on command).

When he went through teething he stopped coming when called and then he turned everything into a battle of the wills ... and it became a case of my battling to get one step ahead of him. He is now settling down again but we had to go back to absolute basics and start his training from scratch again.

[Serket]

That's also around the time of the second fear period commencing.

She's 2 now and still does it, but only at home or in our cars. My husband takes her to the tip with him cos she barks at the bloke on the gate and he waves them in for free. Then they go home via MacDonalds and she gets an icecream cone for doing tip duty.

She went to dog shows, obedience club, beach, lake, lots of socialising right through that particular period when she started her protective barking, so it wasn't through lack of outings. But it's very, very typical of an Aussie. She's your best little wigglebum friend though, once she realises you're not there to steal our stuff!

Gypsy has recently started barking at strangers when they come to the house (but not people she knows), and the builders working next door - she sounds quite savage actually for a breed people typically think of as cuddly and cute rather than guard dogs. I don't think it helped when my uncle jumped the back fence at Christmas and gave her a fright :D, after that she started barking at the builders next door when they arrive in the morning, since she's seen now that it's possible to jump over the fence and 'invade' the yard

Anyway, I'm happy for her to bark to alert me to strange people nearby and strange noises, as long as she stops when I tell her it's ok. She's very social otherwise, and will be everyone's best friend if they'll let her - she's never been afraid of anything - storms, fireworks, loud noises, new people, dogs, etc.

[Cuchulain]

:) O...M...G! You people have just scared me sh!tless! :D :D Here was I congratulating myself because I thought I was perhaps getting a handle on Max's need to chew on people. In the last 2 days he has only chewed me once and my dad once the day before yesterday (compared to 4 or 5 times a day!)

Please excuse any typos- cut my finger on the garden clippers this afternoon and it won't stop bleeding.

[tdierikx]

I forgot about the chewing on the house stuff... I must fix the hole in the kitchen wall and put in new door frames... errr!

Suggestion: my neighbour brought home a chunk of railway sleeper for her Goldie/Lab cross to chew on... it worked a treat, and they don't have house damage... *grin*

T.

[~Midniara~]

My 4 year old Lab girl is STILL pushing boundaries... but she's been doing that since she was 10 weeks old... I'm used to it now...lol!

T.

i was going to say, I dont think Atlas has made it out of his teenage years

He pushes the boundaries every day with me, I feel so bad having to be on top of him every second of every day, but life would be shit if I let him get away with everything he tries!!!

I have a dog like this. He turns ten this year.

[poochmad]

Ah, teenage 'years' - it can almost do your head in and I can understand why a lot of teenage dogs are dumped if the owners have no idea it's the time to up the training and above all remain calm!

Jindi is currently going through her teenage period, but she's nowhere near as bad as Henschke was! She seems to be a calmer dog all round, so at least we're not back where we started.

The good news? It does pass - Henschke is now 18 months and is a gem.

[ellz]

Yep, sadly some never come out on the "good side" of adolescence.

Old Reginald Stafford remained juvenile until he was old enough to start going senile.

[Bubitty]

Cripes this thread has scared me witless now!!!!!!

Currently Bit Bit is like:

Halllooo Mum! What can I do mum? Sitting and ready mum! What do you want me to do mum? Wotcha want? Wotcha want? I’m sitting!!!! Waiting for instructions mum!!!!!

I don’t want my darling puppy to turn nooooooooorty!!!!!!!! *wails*

LOL I have started to teach her to weave through poles at the park just to test her focus outside cuz I’m all paranoid now!

[The Spotted Devil]

Cripes this thread has scared me witless now!!!!!!

Currently Bit Bit is like:

Halllooo Mum! What can I do mum? Sitting and ready mum! What do you want me to do mum? Wotcha want? Wotcha want? I’m sitting!!!! Waiting for instructions mum!!!!!

I don’t want my darling puppy to turn nooooooooorty!!!!!!!! *wails*

LOL I have started to teach her to weave through poles at the park just to test her focus outside cuz I’m all paranoid now!

Stop worrying and do some baking Bub She will be fine Ziggy hit 18 months and I was amazed at how much he settled down and grew a brain! I actually missed the madness for a while but every ounce of training and effort I had put into him suddenly appeared. He's inside most of the time - never chews, digs, destroys anything except the odd cat toy

OT but many trainers recommend no weavers at all until dogs are fully grown as it puts too much strain on growing joints

[Bubitty]

OMG TSD I didn’t know that!!!! I thought walking through poles in a zig zag was harmless!!!! Yipes! I’ll stop then!

Bitty is actually better than Bubby in terms of chewing. Bubby will chew and take the face off all toys given to him (which is fine as this is why I buy them) but Bitty hasn’t even wrecked any of her toys! All the toys she accumulated since puppyhood are perfectly in tact (LOL only rain damage as she likes to sneak them outside).

Edited January 5, 2010 by Bub

[Aidan]

Cripes this thread has scared me witless now!!!!!!

Don't worry, they are much stricter on checking ID to buy ciggies or booze these days. You'll be fine so long as you guard your own stash. I only recall my dogs getting better at adolescence. Until then it was all chewing and piddling on the carpet, even the odd smashed window. All got better when they got lanky.

[persephone]

Yep, sadly some never come out on the "good side" of adolescence.

My Hamlet is such a one he's still a crazy

[Aidan]

OMG TSD I didn’t know that!!!! I thought walking through poles in a zig zag was harmless!!!! Yipes! I’ll stop then!

Stagger them:

(edited to remove pictogram that didn't work)

Edited January 5, 2010 by Aidan

[Bubitty]

Cripes this thread has scared me witless now!!!!!!

Don't worry, they are much stricter on checking ID to buy ciggies or booze these days. You'll be fine so long as you guard your own stash. I only recall my dogs getting better at adolescence. Until then it was all chewing and piddling on the carpet, even the odd smashed window. All got better when they got lanky.

Well she’s very lanky now and I think she’s really sweet and requires less supervision.

Mind you I really miss my fluffy, brainless, piddling little fluffball!!!!

[Bubitty]

OMG TSD I didn’t know that!!!! I thought walking through poles in a zig zag was harmless!!!! Yipes! I’ll stop then!

Stagger them:

(edited to remove pictogram that didn't work)

What is staggering? I'm not making her run through them or anything.

I feel so guilty now! I didnt even teach her to increase her speed when she fetches toys for me because I was worried about her running even though people tell me the object is to get the dog to run out really fast and bring the toy/thing back really fast.

[Aidan]

What is staggering? I'm not making her run through them or anything.

That's where you stagger the poles so your dog can go through them in a straight line. I tried to draw a diagram before but it didn't work. I'll try again, imagine the grass is X and the poles are O:

OXXXX

XXXXO

OXXXX

XXXXO

I feel so guilty now! I didnt even teach her to increase her speed when she fetches toys for me because I was worried about her running even though people tell me the object is to get the dog to run out really fast and bring the toy/thing back really fast.

I think the risks are greatly overstated. I would do them fast but keep repetitions to a minimum.

[Bubitty]

I usually line up 5 toys so she does them one after another as I send her off. So you reckon its ok to increase speed and just do 5 rounds?

With the diagram, the weaving things I use are already planted in the ground (at the dog park). Hmm but in your diagram does this mean that she would just run straight though those poles through the grassy strip in the middle?

[FionaC]

from about 10-13mths was difficult ... it felt like everything we had taught him disappeared from his brain .... his recall went to pot and his behaviour on obedience field looked like he should have been in beginners class .... but we just put him back on lead, went back to basics, didn't let him off lead in public places until his recall came back and just gave him a break from class ... came good at 13mths and has been powering along since ...

[Aidan]

I usually line up 5 toys so she does them one after another as I send her off. So you reckon its ok to increase speed and just do 5 rounds?

I would, YMMV! Does it look like less than she would do playing of her own volition? Maybe do 3, then take a break and do another 3 later. I'd be interested in seeing some hard science on something equivalent, it's always smelled a little bit overcooked to me. Be sensible, but not paranoid.

With the diagram, the weaving things I use are already planted in the ground (at the dog park). Hmm but in your diagram does this mean that she would just run straight though those poles through the grassy strip in the middle?

Yes, the pup runs a straight line through the poles. I don't know if it's the currently "in vogue" method for teaching them but it was always a good one I thought. You start with a nice clean channel down the middle, then bring the poles in little by little (at an appropriate age). I don't compete in agility, I seem to recall something about entering on the correct side? You might want to look into that if you plan to compete later.