6 month wall
That was then. She turned 6 months this week, and admittedly we did travel for the July 4th holiday, but she seems to have forgotten everything we had learned. She jumps on me when I walk in the door, I fought for 20 minutes to get her out of the bed last night, she refuses to come back when called and she jumped the seat and tried to climb in my lap when I got in the car. I would expect some regression when we go to a new place, but thought she would get back in line when we returned home. Is this common for the breed? Is there a slip back into stupidity adolescent phase? I am just working on being consistent in retraining the things I thought we were really close to having down. She was so smart the first time around and it didn't take long to pick up on anything and now I get the impression she is being openly defiant. Teens  any advice is appreciated. |
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| She's getting to the age now where she's going to see what she can get away with. She'll start to see if there is a way she can get what she wants without having to completely commit to what you taught her. Asterisk is terrible at it, when I ask her to sit, she'll hover on the ground because she wants to do the least amount of effort but still get the payout with the treat. Sounds like she's just being a typical puppy. Make sure to re-enforce and she'll begrudgingly get the idea that she has to do what is expected to get the reward. |
My immediate thought was "you're far from getting that behaved dog you want."  Horrible thinking, but true for many people on this board. We did tons of training and I'm EXTREMELY persistent. With both dogs ...nothing changed until about 1.5-2 yo. Then most of the behaviors we didn't like ...just left. |
| Ditto to Mrs. J Takes about 2 years for the brain to fully engage.....then you find yourself missing the "challenges." |
Frankie is 1 year and 3 months old. He has a trainer work with him at daycamp 2x a week. Frankie went for his lesson yesterday, and the note the trainer left me was Frankie seems to have forgotten everything he knew.  She started from scratch with him. He finally rememered.  They sure are characters Lisa and Frankie |
| Sounds about right. At 6 months we swear their brains fall out thru their ears. Luckily they don't go too far away so they are able to recapture them a short while later. |
| Kenzie too was great until about 6 months then defiance and selective hearing set in! Typical "teenager" - every day is a challenge, pushing boundaries and trying us out. I can read him like a book! I'm looking foreward to the prediced change at 18 months to 2 years, but I will miss it in a way! Nik  |
| Hudson was evil puppy right from the start. He did puppy classes and obedience classes and you name it...he did it. We didn't start with a sweet, nice dog. We started with Satan in a small, furry dog suit...he was known as the bucket of naughty. We kept working and working, and NEVER saw progress. Then, one day, just about a month or two before his second birthday, I said to my husband, "Something's wrong with Hudson. He hasn't been evil in weeks. Did you take him to an exorcist behind my back or something?" And he's been sweet, and reasonably obedient, and respectful, and a real pleasure to be around ever since. That magic age was just about two years old. They really do receive their brains for their second birthday. So, yes, your six month old is perfectly normal. She's an older child now, and you have her teen "years" ahead. And then, one day, about a year and a half from now, that sweet six month old will come back to you, but much bigger and fluffier. In the meantime...lots of chocolate (for you) will help YOU cope. Hugs to Annabelle! |
Be careful not to make promises the breed can't keep  Two is a common age for members of the breed to gain a brain. Sybil got hers at age four. I saw glimpses that it was coming once she turned 3, but she just kept teasing me with it. Her sister, Macy, in contrast, was born perfect. As was their great aunt Belle. Some times you just get lucky. Or maybe it averages out to age two in a litter They do go through an adolescent rebellion stage. Once they get past that they come up with new and innovating ways to make you wonder if they'll ever grow up. The day you realize they have, even though you may have been praying for it for YEARS, is actually a rather sad and meloncholy day. To prepare for this day make sure you have a box of "bad puppy" memorabila, remains of devored remote controls, polaroids of the bruises you sustained when they jumped on you and slammed you into the wall, you get the picture. Once you walk down that memory lane the sadness over lost puppyhood passes pretty quickly Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: Be careful not to make promises the breed can't keep Two is a common age for members of the breed to gain a brain. Sybil got hers at age four. I saw glimpses that it was coming once she turned 3, but she just kept teasing me with it. Her sister, Macy, in contrast, was born perfect. As was their great aunt Belle. Some times you just get lucky. Or maybe it averages out to age two in a litter They do go through an adolescent rebellion stage. Once they get past that they come up with new and innovating ways to make you wonder if they'll ever grow up. The day you realize they have, even though you may have been praying for it for YEARS, is actually a rather sad and meloncholy day. To prepare for this day make sure you have a box of "bad puppy" memorabila, remains of devored remote controls, polaroids of the bruises you sustained when they jumped on you and slammed you into the wall, you get the picture. Once you walk down that memory lane the sadness over lost puppyhood passes pretty quickly Kristine And I got the puppy brother who didn't lose his brain.  Trade off was puppy hair that took forever to leave....but I DEFINITELY will take a brain that stays over slow hair anyday.....   |
Mad Dog wrote: ... The day you realize they have, even though you may have been praying for it for YEARS, is actually a rather sad and meloncholy day. To prepare for this day make sure you have a box of "bad puppy" memorabila, remains of devored remote controls, polaroids of the bruises you sustained when they jumped on you and slammed you into the wall, you get the picture. Once you walk down that memory lane the sadness over lost puppyhood passes pretty quickly Betsy, who is now known as "MissBHaving" turns 2 Tuesday. While I didn't keep the items she destroyed, I did keep a running list, with associated purchase/replacement costs. The big ticket item was $54k++ for my broken tibia and subsequent surgery. I don't yet have a complete total, as I am still in physical therapy. The most recent item will be the glass in the large window in my living room - that gets replaced Monday morning, so I don't yet have final figures on it - I am hoping it is under $500. And we couldn't love her more.....but I am REALLY looking forward to Tuesday and hope she evens out at 2 - or I might insist she get a job!  (And WHEN will this dog grow some leg and head coat! Oye!!!) |
| Yup, six months is about the time mine started to "forget" everything she learned. So, consistent training is a constant. She did start getting more of a brain around 16 months (miracle!), though it was not a consistent brain, more like the light bulb went on - she was good for a while - then it would go off and she was truly a naughty child in a dog suit. The other day, she "snatched" a flip-flop from my bedroom - took her 1 second to find it and start running around the house. Snatching is her favorite game these days. But this time when I told her to drop it and sit - she DID! I retrieved it before it was completely destroyed and she didn't raise a fuss (and I didn't even have a treat...). AMAZING. We are now 18 days away from her 2 year birthday. Not that we're counting the days or anything.... |
Mad Dog wrote: Be careful not to make promises the breed can't keep Two is a common age for members of the breed to gain a brain. Sybil got hers at age four. I saw glimpses that it was coming once she turned 3, but she just kept teasing me with it. Kristine My kelsey finally grew brain cells after 3 years I thought she was slow, but sybil takes the cake All I can say they all develope differently (Brain wise  ) and welcome to the Teenage phase  (Let's hope the duration of that aint too long  ) Some go through that quick, the dreaded adolescent stage, others well we hope sooner rather then later  Time to get back to basics and a strict routine with what you want from them as far as patients with training and a good routine There no longer the baby pupper so they do learn fast what they can get away with so more time needed at this stage especially with training and a good routine for them, so good luck and we hope the naughty stage aint gonna drag on for too long |
| We still have a long way to go with training for Mady, but she had a brief spell around 7 months where she was suddenly *terrible*. The worst, and most frustrating was a day at the dog park. We were alone at the park, so I worked on some training commands and she was doing great. Then another dog, a puppy she loves to play with came by. They had a fun play session, then the owner had to go, put her on leash and left. I tried to get Mady on leash, she would have nothing to do with it. She wasn't running away, but she wouldn't let me get a hold of her. Just kept dancing around and around me. She wouldn't listen to me or any command. I tried leaving the park, she wouldn't really follow. This went on for nearly 20 minutes and I was furious and frustrated. When I finally got a hold of her, I put her leash on and marched her over to the wire fence. I tied her leash to the fence, walked 20 feet away, sat down and ignored her for a good 15 minutes. After that, her behaviour improved greatly. But I understand that training will always be an on-going matter. |
| Lol Baba - I can really empathise with that situation - it usually happens to me when I want to go to work and it's 6am in the morning and he's been chasing birds around the local school playing field! He thinks it's a game when I try and put the lead on (normally he's ok)! I'm sure he knows exactly what he's doing and that I haven't much time! It usually takes about 20 mins to "pursuade" him! Nik |
| Actually, now that I think of it, Mady's brain has fallen out recently. At least with sit-stay. That was one of the first things she learned and was good at. I could make her sit-stay and walk 30 feet away and wait for a few minutes, she wouldn't budge. But just the past week or so, it's like she's completely forgotten all about it, I'm having to start all over with it again... |
Chauncey was an evil puppy from the day we carried him in the door. His nickname was the furry alligator. We won't even discuss how stubborn he was. Thank goodness he was cute, it's the only thing that saved him quite a few times. Training was difficult, he has never been food driven. Then.....suddenly one day, when he was around 3 or so, the light came on. It was right before a vet's visit for a kennel cough booster, I was afraid something might wrong so I asked him to check him over and to check his thyroid panel. Everything was normal, it was just my little alligator found his brain.  Hang in there, it does get better. Kathy |
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