7mth old puppy driving me mad!

babymonty

My little boy is 7mths old and is driving me mad,

Firstly he is wrecking my garden. He is ripping all my plants out and thinks its a great game. Any suggestions how to stop him, been putting him on a lead today but he wants to go in and out every 2 seconds and I'm not getting anything done.

Secondly he gets really excited and starts barking and growling at me, I think hes only playing as his tail is wagging but how do I stop him it sounds really aggressive.

Thirdly he is constantly jumping on the side stealing anything he can get hold of. (worried he will grab something he could injure himself with!!)

Lastly he jumps up all the time.

He is a lab cross, but he seems to be getting worse instead of better. I walk him every day and do 3 miles with him monday to friday and about 10 miles at the weekend. Does he need more exercise? (he doesnt go off the lead although his recall is good, he goes deaf when he sees another dog!!, another problem if someone has got the answer!!) He's getting me down as I seem to be constantly shouting at him. I wont get rid of him, I will do whatever I can to sort him out.

Some kind, helpful advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

Quinny_2

Sounds familiar.

Our cross,Stella is 11 months and she still does the things that you list,and to date we haven't found a solution yet.

I'm guessing that the novelty will wear off eventually,and I know that's not much use to you at this time.

Has he got plenty of toys to play with?

f1re_cr4cker

maybe you could take him to puppy obedience classes?

Frugalista

He sounds like a normal, healthy (albeit mischevious) pup to me .

Have you tried joining a training class? This would not only teach him some basic obedience & manners, but would also get him used to being around other dogs in a controlled environment. Also, you would learn training exercises to do at home, which would help to distract him from his current hobby of "property development" . Ask at your vets for details of training classes - or even ask other dog owners (who appear to have well trained dogs) if they know of any local classes.

As for his walks - I personally feel that 3 miles a day/10 miles at the weekend is too much for such a young pup. At this age his bones & joints are still growing and I would be worried that you were overdoing it. I think you will find that as soon as he "starts school" and receives more mental stimulation he should calm down a little.

Hope this helps. Good luck

ali-t

babymonty wrote: »

My little boy is 7mths old and is driving me mad,

He is a lab cross, but he seems to be getting worse instead of better. I walk him every day and do 3 miles with him monday to friday and about 10 miles at the weekend. Does he need more exercise? .

I agree with the other posters about the mental stimulation which can be more tiring that exercise. the general advice is that pups should have 5 minutes exercise for each month of their life at each walk so at 7 months he should only be getting 35 minutes at a time. there is a chance that his hips could be damaged from over exercise so I would suggest training classes and short training sessions and shorter walks until he is older.

HTH

boiler_man

Can sympathise being the owner of an 8 month old boxer pup. He likes tearing items in the garden - garden furniture covers, trampoline enclosure etc. He also likes pulling plants out of any garden container. Tried dog training but he got so distracted by the other dogs he would not do anything asked of him. He will only behave for treats (and as long as there are no distractions). Good luck with your quest to tame him - and let me know if you find any miracle cures!!

(In the meantime we love our pup dearly and put up with the odd mishap)

remembered_nights

We have to keep putting stuff up higher and higher - she smashed a plate the other day from a surface we thought she couldn't reach yet

Paparika

Has he had the snip yet?

angel13

i had a manic border collie pup who was unbelievably naughty for me - especially off the lead. hed grab anything and run off - food well anything! he ate at least 12 bags of wood chip that i had put down in garden and any plants whatsoever. any plastic he would grab run off with and eat as quickly as possible. got through about 12 towels and sheets and god knows what else as any material he saw he would rip to shreds literally including any beds and eat!
oh and would eat shoes and ahy washing he could get hold of - last time he grabbed my underwear to eat he got a ppair of knickers stuck on his head and that was a deterent that seemed to work as how embarassing when there are dogs next door that can see :rotfl:

have you trained yours youself yet? as in time it will pay off. we went to training classes but stopped going as waste of time as they told me they couldnt help :rotfl:(my son and puppy were too much for them ) i needed help with him off the lead and not coming back to me and they couldnt even get him to come near me in a confined room. 6 months of training and me being in tears about how bad it was going started to pay off when hed stop rolling in dung etc as i had cheese sandwiches and crisps in my coat - dog treats never ever worked! :rotfl:

my dog is 4 now and unbelievably well behaved he doesnt do anything naughty anymore. weve in a rented house and hes never damaged anything here and weve been doing flower beds. he likes to run from one to the other of us and see exactly what we are doing and then goes and checks the plants each day rather than replanting them. so hang in there they do get better mine took till he was about 2 and a half for it all to kick in. off the lead he is just brilliant - only downpoint is he pulls like mad on a lead but as we have no other bad behaviour and not even any barking unless theres a hot air balloon he thinks about to land in the garden thats ok

he now has a double duvet of his own to sleep on and tons of towels as he no longer rips or eats material but realises it is comfy and cosy and as for washing it is his obsession still but in a nice way. he goes with me to the wash basket makes sure i realise when its done and then goes with me to garden to hang it out then when its dry goes to airer to check ive done it right ))))) winter he gets depressed but watches me use airers instead! partner does washing sometimes but dog doesnt like that as much and will constantly stare at me as if to say hes not doing it right come and do it .... he is of course right as partner is useless with pegging let alone anything else so the dog knows best :T

as for walks try shorter walks but lots more activities to use his brain. now my pup is older he abdsolutely loves his toys and doesnt destroy them so hes got about 30plus all over the place. and we hide biccies in the garden so he has to hunt for them. the toys are his main thing as he adores them now hes all grown up.

i put my puppy experience down to all little boys are devils for me as my son was the same till he reached 10 and now ive got two well behaved teens. thank goodness as im all worn out

Topdogfran

It all sounds like perfectly normal behaviour from an intelligent pup who hasn't been taught what is expected and has been rewarded (all be in not on purpose) for the 'wrong' things, when those things are very normal dog behaviour.

I think you need help and advise to get things back on the straight and narrow. More mental stimulation (I bet he's fed from a food bowl right?) and training rather than long walks.

cariad

Lots of good advice above- training will tire out your pup- teach new tricks.
buy some educational toys ie kong and balls that you can place food in them which will mentally stimulate your dog. He needs to be tired out mentally. You can add dog food in the kong and place in freezer, the pup will lick the kong - keep them busy for ages. Lots of strong plastic bones- not rawhide as it can cause problems internally. Sounds a normal little pup to me- have one of the same! Remember if you feed via the toys to reduce the food in the bowl
as you don't want an overweight dog. Good luck!