How’s everyone w an adolescent puppy doing?

[abugah]

Checking in…what improvements have you seen? What is frustrating you? What if anything has regressed? How old is your pup and what kind?
Mine is a 7 mo papillon. Not yet neutered-vet wants me to wait a yr til his growth plates close since he has a loose knee.
For improvements-he’s housebroken, yay!
Regressions-basic commands that he picked up as a little baby he no longer wants to do so I’m going back to step one of training sessions like I did when I first got him. Also major fear set in once he hit 6 months. It’s like a switch flipped and not for the better, I don’t get it. Not only is he barking at every person and dog he not only sees but hears-for example he’ll be outside for potty and hear a neighbor 3 houses down talking loudly and go into a loud annoying scream bark and I cannot for the life of me get his attention back on me to quiet down. “Quiet” is just one command in a long list he used to obey and is now out the window. But he also is afraid of stuff that has been here since the day I brought him home that never bothered him before including but not limited to the garbage can in the driveway, a bag of treats on the kitchen counter, my mom, setting down my jug of water too loudly on the table. All these things set him off into a shrill scream bark I have to pick him up and walk away from just to get him to stop. I’m at my wits end! Last night I took him out for his 11pm pee and I have solar lights in the back that change color at night. Have had them for the entire time I had the puppy and he has never even acknowledged them. Last night he saw them change color (like they do every single night) and he lost his marbles.
Another frustration is he still puts literally everything in his mouth so walks are useless as I’m stopping every foot to yank him away from something or pull something out of his mouth. I thought this would stop once he got all his adult teeth but no improvement what so ever and leave it and drop it mean nothing to him outside. I bought a gentle lead so we’ll see if that helps at all.
How’s everyone else doing with the teenage stage?

 

[sunsh2ne]

@abugah My 6 month old's new hobby is to scratch and play with the carpets. He did this a while back as well, but now I just can't distract him from it. So I thought, maybe he's tired. He slept for an hour in his crate, I let him out, and he went RIGHT back to the carpet. I then somehow got him to chew on a bone for 15 minutes, so I thought he had calmed enough down to roam the room again. No, back to the carpet. Fun times! Not sure how to handle this lol

His loose leash skills are also gone so it was extremely embarrassing showing up to adolescence class at a new school. The teacher understood of course but all other dogs walked nicely next to them and mine was a literal menace.

I can't wait until next year when he can settle and when he can be in the house without watching him every second while I need to study for an exam.

 

[patrick_m]

@sunsh2ne bitter apple spray helped me with this stuff

 

[livebyfaith777]

@sunsh2ne My golden started doing this with our carpet around 8 months. He did actually succeed in making a hole. He was absolutely obsessed by it. Like it was the best thing in the world. I dont really know when it stopped but he doesn't do it anymore

 

[sunsh2ne]

@livebyfaith777 There's hope

 

[abugah]

@sunsh2ne Omg same! Thanks for reminding me lol. But his digging is his bed, prob only because I don’t have carpet but it drives me nuts! I’m like are you bored? Crazy? Both?! What are you doing! I sometimes have success redirecting him w a toy or training session but it’s hit or miss
He also has started chasing and biting his tail. I’ve inspected it from one end to another and see nothing wrong w it

 

[sunsh2ne]

@abugah Right! It's like, are you tired or do you need more stimulation? The tail biting has become less here (knock on wood), I think after I gave a bit more mental stimulation. We train on a field once a day and do a lot of playing while working on impulse control. I don't see any results of impulse control but he did become less obsessive over his tail

 

[abugah]

@sunsh2ne So interesting yours did the tail thing too. I’m going to try to up the mental stimulation w him. It’s hard because he used to love lick mats and snuffle mats and now he won’t eat anything off the lick mat and he tries to rip up and destroy the snuffle mat. Sigh…I am going to up his training sessions since he’s been a brat w commands so fingers crossed that helps

 

[sunsh2ne]

@abugah Good luck!

Yeah the lickimats never worked here. He’d choose play over food every time so he doesn’t lick, he just throws it through the room. He basically only gets his Kong in his crate otherwise he’ll throw it on the floor (which is really smart but so annoying ).

 

[abugah]

@sunsh2ne

 

[anaju]

@sunsh2ne Yep, 6 months and mine has started digging in the sofa and is obsessed with the cushions for some reason.

 

[stelz]

@abugah Going for walks was great at the start but has now become a chore.

He doesn’t like going far away from his den, so he stops after about 50m and wants to go back. So now when I leave, I carry him for about 5 minutes and he walks back, or drive him far away and then go for a walk away from home.

It’s not something he’s terribly excited by, so hoping he’ll get over it or I figure out how to make it fun for him. I’m trying to avoid making it treat-focused as I tend to do better with vocal reward timing. I always mistime when treats are/should be given and he becomes dependent on them.

 

[abugah]

@stelz Same! I gotta work on my timing too

 

[stelz]

@abugah Practice makes better! I keep telling myself that.

 

[abugah]

@stelz So true

 

[patrick_m]

@abugah my pup turns 1 in 4 days and i am still just so tired and frustrated. he doesn’t eat the walls anymore and is definitely on a schedule but he doesn’t know how to self settle and has a lot of anxiety. i’m too tired emotionally and physically most of the time to do much training.

i’ve had to dig up and toss rose bushes and lemongrass because he insists on eating it all. now he’s just eating roots because i don’t have soil to refill the holes.

some days i’d love to just sit and cry and let him do whatever he wants

 

[abugah]

@patrick_m I feel this so much! I’m exhausted all the time. My puppy? NEVER seems tired and fights naps and bedtime every day. I still have to crate him for naps because he will not nap outside the crate on his own and turns into a maniac when he doesn’t nap.

 

[patrick_m]

@abugah yeah mine can’t handle the crate. he has serious confinement anxiety. idk what happened to him as a baby but yeah his struggles become mine because i’m a pushover. and then i feel like im a failure cuz i haven’t trained enough and the loop continues…

 

[creekwalker]

@abugah Oh man I feel you. I have an almost eight month standard poodle. And on the up side, she’s become more cuddly lately and, after a brief period of returning to super puller, has become pretty decent on the lead most of the time. But then on the other side, when she’s home, she barks at every leaf that blows by and every breeze past the window. Recall has always had it’s up and down moments and she still mostly comes when called, but has gone back to not letting me get anywhere near her if she thinks it’s time to leave the fun thing we’re doing. We’re also have some problems with food fussiness, but it’s still up in the air if that’s adolescence or if there’s something else going on (vet scheduled for Wednesday)

 

[abugah]

@creekwalker Good luck! Praying it’s just pickiness . The struggle is real isn’t it lol