10 month naughty Cocker

[hihelloitsnina]

So Chester is 10 months old and he's starting to test boundaries a lot. He has just been neutered last week and since then has become even worse (unsure if the testosterone is still coming out his system). He is being quite destructive towards everything, ignoring all commands, barking at us when we sat sit, wait etc, biting a lot more (more nips than anything). Just generally all around not being the best puppy in the world and testing our patience! I just was wondering if people could provide some advice! I love him and he's fantastically natured, he's just being a menace now! He is walked three times a day, should we up the walks? Should we introduce more play and mind stimulation? Much appreciation for advice or any stories of your experiences!

[bizzylizzy]

Hi! Not quite sure how much effect his neutering op will have had but I think 10 months is an age where they‘re starting to question everything - much like human teenagers, 
It can be a frustrating time but it does get better  - eventually ! 
Try as far as possible to stay calm but consistant, its so easy to give in especially when they give the impression of never having had any sort of training at all, - its all in there somewhere!! Mental stimulation is as important as physical exercise in my view and you can introduce lots of fun things into walks that will keep him focused and enjoying himself while you‘re training him. Humphrey, like most cockers, loves searching / retrieving and there are SO many ways you can integrate that into training sit, stay, down, heel etc. without having to walk for hours every day. Keep practising going to his mat or crate or whereever he goes and train him to stay there for a while but don‘t practise that at a time when he‘s been trying your patience, he‘ll interpret it as a negative and is unlikely to cooperate. Above all, keep training sessions short, always finish on a positive letting him do something, however easy, that he can carry out successfully and make sure he‘s getting enough rest.
Puberty is a bit like a cold, there‘s no cure, it has to take its course but a kind but firm approach will go a long way.

[Pearly]

Welcome to the teenage phase!

If you are very lucky this will only last for a few days/weeks.  At 9 months old my first cocker was a nightmare dog, running feral, nipping and generally being disobedient.  It took this forum, a lot of chocolate and some wine (until I met up with Patp on here and then found a lot of wine helped us both with our pups  ) to get through the phase....

I’d assumed that Pearl was now a fully grown dog.  She wasn’t spayed until 15 months old so no hormone imbalance to contribute to the behaviour.  In fact, cockers are still pups until they are the best part of 2 years old (behaviour) and 14 months old (physically - growth plates) wcs can take longer still to mature mentally and get to the right level of self impulse control needed for working (Coral is a work in progress at 4 years old).

My best advice is to go back to treating him as if he was 3 months old again.  Plenty of sleep - up to 18 hours a day - short bouts of exercise/walking and mentally challenging games in between.  Any poor behaviour, remove him from the room and calmly take him to his bed.  Only let him out when he’s quiet and calm again.  Repeat as often as necessary whilst consuming said chocolate and tipple of choice 

There are quite a few pinned posts on here that will help with the mental stimulation games (how to teach a reliable recall) and lots of posts covering the same topic you’ve raised.  However bad it is now, it does get better - how quickly is down to you and the consistency you and all those who come into contact with him demonstrate.  If you don’t already do this, set clear boundaries such as: not allowed on furniture or only allowed up if invited, humans before dogs in doorways (gates, gaps in hedges etc) if nothing else this is plain manners and also safer for your dog.  Now is the time for you to take control and show consitent boundaries so he is clear on what is expected of him.

Jayne

[Finvarra]

Re. The neutering, it does take a few weeks for the testosterone to fully disperse, so little more time needed in this respect.

Lesley and Dylan

[Leo0106]

Oh yes, the teenage phase.
I won't best about the bush, I believe at around 9-10 months old we literally had to go straight back to basic training again. I do believe Leo's behaviour got worse after his neutering. He certainly became more challenging but at 9 months was when things really declined.

Best advice I can provide is to very much act as though he is a young puppy again in training terms... Revert back to the basics, loads of praise for the right thing, ignorance for the wrong thing. We had to put all boundaries back in place, we couldn't be relaxed on anything!!! At 14 months old we finally found the breakthrough and since then things have only got better.

As bizzylizzy suggests, consistency is key.
Also where you mention extra walks, I would approach this with caution. Something we learnt was that Leo was very prone to negative behaviour bought on from overtiredness.. we tried too hard to tire him out with physical, fast paced activity and found that calm mental stimulation was the way to go. We started with extra command training, trick training etc. We eventually moved onto scentwork which is very slow paced but hard work for leo and he loves it.

Hope some of this helps

[Issy]

Oh I can empathise with you!! Poppy is 11 months old now and for the last week has been back in her crate to sleep after taking up interior design as a hobby ( eating plasterboard walls!!). We had opened the crate door when she was seven months old as it was too hot in there during the last heatwave so that she could sleep on the cool floor tiles with Smudge and until recently she was as good as gold. Luckily she loves her crate and has not minded the door being shut again, with a chicken stuffed Kong as bribery).
We, as others have recommended have gone back to basics and she is on an extendable lead when walked that I am trying to use as a long line so that she has no choice but to do what I ask recall wise and it has taken the stress out of walks. She is only off lead in fields that I know are secure and if I get signs from her that she is in the mood to engage and work.
We have had to enforce rest times again as when tired she winds her self up like a spring! Also she picks up if we are stressed so keeping life in general calm and quiet seems to help.
Chocolate and wine are definitely helping so can definitely recommend those  and just keep reminding yourself that this is a phase you can work through ( I do this on at least a daily basis. Lol) and that your gorgeous dog is still in there  .

[hihelloitsnina]

Hi! Not quite sure how much effect his neutering op will have had but I think 10 months is an age where they‘re starting to question everything - much like human teenagers, 
It can be a frustrating time but it does get better  - eventually ! 
Try as far as possible to stay calm but consistant, its so easy to give in especially when they give the impression of never having had any sort of training at all, - its all in there somewhere!! Mental stimulation is as important as physical exercise in my view and you can introduce lots of fun things into walks that will keep him focused and enjoying himself while you‘re training him. Humphrey, like most cockers, loves searching / retrieving and there are SO many ways you can integrate that into training sit, stay, down, heel etc. without having to walk for hours every day. Keep practising going to his mat or crate or whereever he goes and train him to stay there for a while but don‘t practise that at a time when he‘s been trying your patience, he‘ll interpret it as a negative and is unlikely to cooperate. Above all, keep training sessions short, always finish on a positive letting him do something, however easy, that he can carry out successfully and make sure he‘s getting enough rest.
Puberty is a bit like a cold, there‘s no cure, it has to take its course but a kind but firm approach will go a long way.

Thank you so much! This has really helped!!

[hihelloitsnina]

Welcome to the teenage phase!

If you are very lucky this will only last for a few days/weeks.  At 9 months old my first cocker was a nightmare dog, running feral, nipping and generally being disobedient.  It took this forum, a lot of chocolate and some wine (until I met up with Patp on here and then found a lot of wine helped us both with our pups  ) to get through the phase....

I’d assumed that Pearl was now a fully grown dog.  She wasn’t spayed until 15 months old so no hormone imbalance to contribute to the behaviour.  In fact, cockers are still pups until they are the best part of 2 years old (behaviour) and 14 months old (physically - growth plates) wcs can take longer still to mature mentally and get to the right level of self impulse control needed for working (Coral is a work in progress at 4 years old).

My best advice is to go back to treating him as if he was 3 months old again.  Plenty of sleep - up to 18 hours a day - short bouts of exercise/walking and mentally challenging games in between.  Any poor behaviour, remove him from the room and calmly take him to his bed.  Only let him out when he’s quiet and calm again.  Repeat as often as necessary whilst consuming said chocolate and tipple of choice 

There are quite a few pinned posts on here that will help with the mental stimulation games (how to teach a reliable recall) and lots of posts covering the same topic you’ve raised.  However bad it is now, it does get better - how quickly is down to you and the consistency you and all those who come into contact with him demonstrate.  If you don’t already do this, set clear boundaries such as: not allowed on furniture or only allowed up if invited, humans before dogs in doorways (gates, gaps in hedges etc) if nothing else this is plain manners and also safer for your dog.  Now is the time for you to take control and show consitent boundaries so he is clear on what is expected of him.

Jayne

Thank you so much Jayne! Oh don't you worry, a lot of chocolate and alcohol consumption has been happening hahaha! Thank you for the recommendation of mental stimulation games too!

[hihelloitsnina]

Oh yes, the teenage phase.
I won't best about the bush, I believe at around 9-10 months old we literally had to go straight back to basic training again. I do believe Leo's behaviour got worse after his neutering. He certainly became more challenging but at 9 months was when things really declined.

Best advice I can provide is to very much act as though he is a young puppy again in training terms... Revert back to the basics, loads of praise for the right thing, ignorance for the wrong thing. We had to put all boundaries back in place, we couldn't be relaxed on anything!!! At 14 months old we finally found the breakthrough and since then things have only got better.

As bizzylizzy suggests, consistency is key.
Also where you mention extra walks, I would approach this with caution. Something we learnt was that Leo was very prone to negative behaviour bought on from overtiredness.. we tried too hard to tire him out with physical, fast paced activity and found that calm mental stimulation was the way to go. We started with extra command training, trick training etc. We eventually moved onto scentwork which is very slow paced but hard work for leo and he loves it.

Hope some of this helps

Thank you so much! Yeah it's all been back to basics this week 

[hihelloitsnina]

Oh I can empathise with you!! Poppy is 11 months old now and for the last week has been back in her crate to sleep after taking up interior design as a hobby ( eating plasterboard walls!!). We had opened the crate door when she was seven months old as it was too hot in there during the last heatwave so that she could sleep on the cool floor tiles with Smudge and until recently she was as good as gold. Luckily she loves her crate and has not minded the door being shut again, with a chicken stuffed Kong as bribery).
We, as others have recommended have gone back to basics and she is on an extendable lead when walked that I am trying to use as a long line so that she has no choice but to do what I ask recall wise and it has taken the stress out of walks. She is only off lead in fields that I know are secure and if I get signs from her that she is in the mood to engage and work.
We have had to enforce rest times again as when tired she winds her self up like a spring! Also she picks up if we are stressed so keeping life in general calm and quiet seems to help.
Chocolate and wine are definitely helping so can definitely recommend those  and just keep reminding yourself that this is a phase you can work through ( I do this on at least a daily basis. Lol) and that your gorgeous dog is still in there  .

Ah yes Chester has some of those hobbies!!!! Thank you so much, constantly been reminding myself this every day