Help
Alfie is around 6.5 months now, and has been getting better and better... until now... Last couple of days ive found alfie's behaviour to be pretty bad:- * hyperactivity - despite being in the park for over 2 hours * barking in my face - normally does this to tell me he needs out, but is just doing it for the hell of it * destruction - chewed the plug off of the hairdryer, peeing all over the house, ripping up newspapers and magazines we've also noticed co-incidentally that he seems to be humping pillows and cushions... is this a co-incidence? can dogs be on heat this young? I dont know what to do, and i cant explain this behaviour because he is well excercised and well fed... yesterday for example he was in the park for about 2.5 hours, and well tired by the walk home, indicated by the fact that he wasnt pulling on his lead.. he slept for about 20 minutes and then became hyper for the rest of the night.. |
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| Could the hyperactivity be something you are feeding him??? Some puppy foods are full of coulourants and additives!!
George went through the descructive phase, remember he is just a puppy and the rule in his head is - if he can reach it it's his!! Try tiring him out mentally! Play games with him where he has to think or change his routine or even the way you walk round the park! Stop change direction without warning! It worked for George!1 |
Vicki & George wrote: Could the hyperactivity be something you are feeding him??? Some puppy foods are full of coulourants and additives!! I dont know - his poo was very soft lately, and so i took him off the pedigree meat, as i was told it might be too rich for him, and put him on a different brand. I also cut down the amount of food he was getting in each meal, and have been giving him more biscuit than meat... Last night he managed to jump up to the counter and pull the sugar bowl down to the floor... he was munching sugar when i got to him.. this didnt help the hyper thing im sure haha, but he was already hyper before then.. George went through the descructive phase, remember he is just a puppy and the rule in his head is - if he can reach it it's his!! I think what we need to do is just make sure nothing is in reach, except his toys... i think we were perhaps lulled into a false sense of security because his behaviour has been so good up till now.. forgetting that most pups do go through a "bad" phase... i dont think that removing his "run of the house" privileges is tha answer though, unless of course this behaviour continues, because he has been very good up till now. Try tiring him out mentally! Play games with him where he has to think or change his routine or even the way you walk round the park! Stop change direction without warning! It worked for George!1 I think im going to take him to the park twice a day instead of once now.. once when i come home from work and once before bed time, this should tire him out a bit more.. and me... |
| Has he been neutered? If not it may be time! Just like humans, thbose darn hormones can cause some off behaviors. |
| My first thought was the same as Ginny's. Has he been neutered? If not, that would be my bet as well.
Laurie and Oscar |
| really? already?
i wasnt sure what age that came but i thought it was older than 6 months.. im not even sure he's grown a proper set of [parts] yet to have removed haha ok i'll look into that... any other suggestions? |
| 6 months is the standard age, and also the age when the hormones start to kick in. Some people neuter earlier and there are some who wait till 1 year. But 6 months is the "average age".
Testicles are present pretty early, if his are not "apparent" they may be undescended, which the vet can diagnosis but he will still need to be neutered. |
Richy wrote: really? already?
i wasnt sure what age that came but i thought it was older than 6 months.. im not even sure he's grown a proper set of [parts] yet to have removed haha ok i'll look into that... any other suggestions? Only females go into heat. Males just have internal hormonal changes, which could account for changes in behavior. 6 months is a pretty standard age for neutering. |
Tasker's Mom wrote: 6 months is the standard age, and also the age when the hormones start to kick in. Some people neuter earlier and there are some who wait till 1 year. But 6 months is the "average age". Testicles are present pretty early, if his are not "apparent" they may be undescended, which the vet can diagnosis but he will still need to be neutered. ButtersStotch wrote: Tasker's Mom wrote: Well, I guess a couple important questions need to be asked....... does he actually have an erection or is the inner part of the penis simply exposed (aka lipstick). For some dogs, in a relaxed state the red part of the penis will relax out and it is normal. BUT, it can also get "stuck". Difficult as it may be you may need to check to make sure that there isn't hair wrapped around preventing retraction. If it is simply relaxed and "hanging out" it will most likely retract if the dog starts to walk or if you touch his underbelly. Maybe it's one of those four hour viagra things  Wow, Ginny. You know a lot about dog wieners. There you go again!!
Heeheee! (just kidding!) |
| Hey, I've had ALOT of years experience dealing with MALES!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Usually 5-8 months is when they are about as bad as teenagers. All of a sudden they don't seem to understand a word you are saying, they are testing your limits and rebelling everything you say or do.
How do you walk him? Does he always sniff at the ground? If so, you can make him not to - using a gentle leader or Halti - and let him sniff after 5 min. walk. or only when you get to the park, so sniffing becomes a reward for him. Here you are mentally challenging him. Give him a Kong for mental exercise. Puppy proof the house, use Apple Bitter, etc. When he pees in the house make sure to clean it up with an odor neutralizer! I hope this helps with your little "Sugar Pup!"  |
| Thanks guys.... i have more updates though..
seems his behaviour is all back-to-front.. normally we shut the bedroom door at night so he cant get in, but he opens the door a few times, and i put him back out... this pantomime goes on for a few times until he gets bored, gives up and goes to bed.. last night we left the bedroom door wide open and he didnt come in at all.. id know because he climbs up on the bed when we're in.. so, i took him to the park after work, he walked brilliantly on his lead all the way to the park, sat at every kerb until i said "cross over" to cross the street. This in itself is unusual. So in the park he is his usual well behaved self, he played with other dogs, and then came back to me when i shouted on him. he walked pretty well on the way back home, although the nearer we got to home he started to pull a little.. he was definitely tired out though.. so we get home, and he sleeps for like 1/2 an hour, and then gets up and the madness starts again.. he started barking at me, so i took him out for a pee.. this was repeated a few times until i realised he didnt really need to pee, so i ignored his barking to see how he'd react... he jumped up on the couch and leaned toward my face and was barking in my face. i gently pushed him down off the couch but didnt say anything, kept ignoring him. he climbed up again and kinda lunged at my face; in hindsight i think he was just going to lick me or nudge me, because i didnt hear the snapping of a jaw, so im 99% sure he wasnt trying to bite.. so this time, i hit him on the nose and he immediately calmed down. then he started barking again, and when he realised he was still being ignored he peed in the corner of the room. this time i put him to bed, and every time i turned my back he followed me, so i put him to bed again.. after a few times he realised he wasnt gonna win and went to sleep. i recently changed his diet but its been changed back to normal, and i wasnt sure if changing their diet can affect their behaviour? he also knocked the sugar bowl off the counter to the floor and ate sugar before i got to him, but his behaviour was "bad" before the sugar thing... another interesting thing happened 2 nights ago, when he was acting this way my girlfriend tried to play with him but he wasnt interested, and when i started to play with him, the bad behaviour stopped and he was content to play for some time, until i stopped. this leads me to think that he is either looking for more attention from me, and believe me, he gets a load of my attention already, or that he is testing and rebelling against me the latter seems more probable given what others are saying.. so you think i should consult the vet about neutering? i also think that i need to get a little more strict with the alpha dog type stuff, ie re-inforcing that i am the boss. i was also thinking about removing some of his room access privileges.. someone suggested to me that if he has the run of the whole house, perhaps he now thinks that it is his territory and this could have something to do with it.. any thoughts? |
| 1) Get him neutered NOW
2) Go back to the basics of training, CRATE HIM 3) Enroll in an obedience class Look up, "Nothing in life is Free Training technique" on the internet and follow it. You dog needs to be crated when not being directly supervised, freedom is earned by good behavior. |
It could just be the male hormones in him. Edgar went through some MAJOR BUTT HEAD months until I couldn't take it any more (Basically he lunged snapped at my face because he was mad for not getting his way and I made the appt. that day.) . We got him neutered and then he calmed down A LOT! Now he is just his sweet ol' self laying around everywhere wanting to be pet 24 hours a day.  |
| Nigel is coming into his brat stage at almost 5 months. They can be good as gold until that time, and you think they are all trained...then, suprise! It is what I call the adolescent crazies. A crate would be a wonderful thing for you to have now. I don't trust them out of it unattended until they hit a year. My last one tore up a large portion of the carpet in the house at 6 months...housebreaking is just the beginning. |
| I agree that going back to the basics and an obedience class is a great idea after neutering. I have a male that was insane at this stage in his life as well but by being consistent with training as well as continuing with exercise he grew out of it and learned how to be more polite. KONG toys are great. Also, training should be a FUN time for him - once he realizes how much attention and affection he gets when he does what you ask he will begin to transfer it to his regular life outside of training sessions.
Neutering will help dramatically!!  |
| Hello all,
Firstly, thanks to everyone who gave advice on this thread. Secondly, i got to thinking that this might have all been caused by Alfie "testing" me a bit, so i decided to get tough with him. Since then, i have employed a 3 strikes technique, whereby lets say alfie is climbing on the table to steal biscuits.. I stand up and say "off" till he climbs down... This is allowed 2 times, and on the third strike he is out.... ive been making him goto his bed and stay, and not only does it work (he will lie for at least 1/2 an hour, and ocassionally if i dont tell him to come back out he gives up and goes to sleep) but his general behaviour seems to have improved greatly.. It almost seems like he realises that he needs to behave or he gets put to bed, and so he's cool. To balance this, i have also been making more play time available, and ive also started walking him at 6am, since im up at that time anyway, drinking tea and smokling cigarettes before work, i thought i might as well us the time.. Hopefully this will get us both fit, and also tire him out so he can sleep when i goto work.. he certainly seems to enjoy it... and also, he seems to be walking brilliantly on his lead.. no doubt i'll be back on at some time with some other new problem, and so with that in mind i would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to respond, and especially all the people who have ever sent me private messages, means a lot. finally, i apologise if i appear to only take from the forum and dont give in return, but this is because i wouldnt feel right giving advice unless someone specifically asked me, because as you all know i am no expert. thanks again guys, we love you Richy & Alfie |
| I'm sorry things are not going smoothly - but I have a suggestion. I wouldn't use the 3 strikes you are out method - that is not a concept a dog will easily understand. It needs to be more cut and dried. You will get better results with a 1 strike you are out response.
It is actually confusing him to give him time outs only every third time. It really should be everytime. Then the pattern is clear, if it is done in a timely manner. Timing is everything. If it is more than moments after the behavior you don't want, he won't link the punishment with the crime. The extra walking is wonderful. I would attribute any better behavior more on the extra exercise! It has so many benefits - you get out with him (which he will love), you are bonding with him, you can also do a little training while you are out, and you get some of his excess energy worn off. Plus you are getting a walk too - that is an extra plus. Keep up the good work! |
| Yeah that makes sense i guess
i'll give that a try, thanks... and they say humans are more intelligent than dogs? why do i have so much trouble getting into his little head? haha |
| Hi,
You have my sympathies and egads does this ever sound like Merlin at that age!!! I had planned on showing Merlin and hesitated about getting him neutered, but finally did at age 10 months. The longer you wait or older the dog is, some behaviors become established - like leg lifting for example. I sometimes wish I had the neutering done sooner. My suggestion would be to get Alphie neutered too. I also had Merlin in obedience classes and that helped too. The neutering did help. Good luck to you. Marianne |
| I have no good advice to offer as far as training is concerned. But, I have experienced at one point or another almost everything you have described with my dogs.
The good news is they all grew out of it! Hannah was a complete wild child hellion for the first two to two and a half years of her life. She grew out of all of the annoying and destructive behaviors. But she was a real test of our patience especially for my husband. His breaking point was when she consumed two large living indoor trees. I've also experienced my sheepies each one of them at different ages bark at me persistently for one thing or another. It's almost as if they go through a phase where they need to rule the roost. My dogs have went through phases for all sorts of things like waking me up in the middle of the night barking to go outside several times for no reason just to do it. Hannah recently went through a few months of barking at me and pushing around her food bowl. She's recently stopped and believe me she's never been underfed. The good news is that too goes away. And then may reoccur in a few more years with an entirely different barking behavior for no logical reason. I've just learned to roll with it and have tried various methods of dealing with it. It's just been my experience that when you really love your dog they sense that and these behaviors eventually lesson or blow over, so hang in there I'm sure it will all eventually be fine just keep trying the advice you're given and don't lose hope. I think at different stages of their life you may have to try different approaches to how you deal with them. Alfie sure is cute, I think you need to post more pictures! |
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