Bored 7 month old puppy!
I have an absolutely wonderful 7 month old OES. He is my first OES, and I am completely in love with him and the breed. My husband and I both work from home and are able to give Barney all the attention anyone would ever want. He's definitely a velcro dog, thus the name, "The Barnacle." Since I do work from home, I'm having an issue dedicating enough time to work and not to the pup! We do everything you're suppose to do to wear out an OES...30 minutes of intense fetch in the morning followed by two 15 minute sessions of training, an hour and a half obedience walk with a stop for on leash fetch at the park, I own every food puzzle available, 4 different types of raw hide chews, we go to puppy school, have play dates with other puppies, etc. Even after all of this, he will still come up to me at my computer, put his fuzzy muzzle in my lap and whine until I pay him attention. He is super smart and knows what he is an what he is not supposed to do. He does the things he is not supposed to do to get my attention. I try to ignore it, but when he's digging up the couch, it's hard to ignore. I have the kitchen gated off so he can see me while I work if I put him in there for meals, etc., but he most of the time barks, whines, or licks his paws obsessively until I let him out. HELP! |
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| Sounds like you are doing lots of fun things with him so it is not a lack of exercise. It sounds like he has a bit of separation anxiety when you are not paying attention to him. You could get a crate and put him in it when you want quiet time, you could put a bone in there so he has something to do. He will probably whine and fuss to begin with (important not to pander to this) but will eventually get used to it. I see this at agility trials, a new dog will whine and bark trying to get the owners attention but after some trials they get used to it and end up napping in their crate. I find it is best not to talk to them, no reassuring words as I find it increases anxiety if you are trying to soothe them. You need to be firm that when you need to work, it is his rest time......I also work from home so it is the same for me. After a while he probably will not need to go in the crate but lie quietly near you but it will take a bit of consistency to get there. My OES will sometimes come and visits me when I am at the computer, I will give him a quick head rub and then say "that's it" and then turn away from him and gently push him away. He'll go back and nap until it his time for fun. |
| MontyQs, Thank you so much for your reply! I will definitely try a variation of this by keeping him in the kitchen instead of a crate. He has had problems with being kept in his crate since he was a tiny thing. Separation anxiety issues. He would throw up from being so nervous even when we were sitting a few feet away from him and worked on gradually increasing crate time with treats and wonderful goodies. The trainer at his puppy class recommended tethering him to me while I work at a desk and giving him a frozen kong to calm him down and focus on something else. I'll try both things and see how it works! I think he's definitely hit adolescence. Each week is a new wave of great things and not so great behaviors. We'll get through this! Thanks again! |
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