Puppy seems to be changing

[bmthmark]

My puppy Jett is 8.5 months old and I've noticed a massive change in him over the past week.

A few things I have picked up on:

- Gone off his food which is very unlike him as he normally eats it very fast.
- Not listening to commands. He was very food orientated, but now he is not interested in food so is not bothered.
- Generally being very awkward, for example before bed we get him to go out to the toilet. Jett now decides he doesn't want to and will just make himself heavy and lay there  . Another example is I use to be able to get him to find something and he would bring it back to me. He still finds the item but he now just runs off with it, he brings it eventually but it takes a lot of effort. I would award him with a treat, but as he isn't bothered with food it is no interest for him.

I'm thinking its because he is growing from puppy to dog and hormones are high??
Its difficult to explain, I can just tell that he seems to have changed and is acting differently. He seems happy and still loves his walks etc.

With regards to the food I'm thinking about changing his food as maybe he is getting bored of it. He currently eats Royal Canin Cocker Spaniel Junior 3 times a day, I'm thinking about changing to Oscars.

Jett is my first dog and i'm wandering if this is all normal?

[ips]

More experienced than I will be along soon but sounds like normal teenage dog behaviour to me.....pushing boundaries and general dicking about. It will pass ..

My girl is also a fussy eater always has been and her appetite is low at the moment I have put it down to the hot weather.

[bmthmark]

More experienced than I will be along soon but sounds like normal teenage dog behaviour to me.....pushing boundaries and general dicking about. It will pass ..

My girl is also a fussy eater always has been and her appetite is low at the moment I have put it down to the hot weather.

Thanks - that's exactly it, he is pushing the boundaries and testing me. He knows exactly what he is doing and he is far too clever.

[ips]

Ha, yep they seem to know exactly what there doing 😁

Whatever you do don't chase him to get the retrieve / found item off him or this will very quickly become a fabulous game (in his eyes) of "catch me if you can" 😁 try turning your back on him and walking slowly away he will most likely come running to you then give lots of praise 👍

[Mari]

I agree it sounds normal. In the coming months you will likely have to go back to basics on a lot of training and commands he used to know perfectly. Especially recall tends to be a challenge in this period. Enjoy 

[bmthmark]

Ha, yep they seem to know exactly what there doing 😁

Whatever you do don't chase him to get the retrieve / found item off him or this will very quickly become a fabulous game (in his eyes) of "catch me if you can" 😁 try turning your back on him and walking slowly away he will most likely come running to you then give lots of praise 👍

Cheers I will do that.
I will have to tell my son to do the same as the pup steals from my sons room and then runs, my son then chases. You are right he then thinks its a great game lol

[bmthmark]

I agree it sounds normal. In the coming months you will likely have to go back to basics on a lot of training and commands he used to know perfectly. Especially recall tends to be a challenge in this period. Enjoy 

  I can see it happening already  -fun times a head 

[Finvarra]

Think Kevin and Perry  but one day he changed into a polite young man  .  Dylan was the same, changed from a clever sweet puppy into a cloth-eared naughty rascal. Recall was the worst, and lead walking. But we got through it, phew, and he's again a sweet clever boy, with only occasional relapses into naughtiness 

Red wine and chocolate is the cure 

Lesley and Dylan

[bizzylizzy]

Yes, Jett's definately turning into a teenager and all what you describe seems very typical, even including food "fads" etc. I was told to expect these sort of puberty problems at around 8 months and then again at around 2 years (so don't think you're out of the woods yet!!  )!!
The best thing to do in my experience is to literally Keep Calm and Carry On - keep up the training, stay determined and consistant  and don't let him get away with things. Its quite normal that as they get older they start to think for themselves, become more confident and question the rules - not much different to humans really but it really is a passing phase.....
Good Luck!

[bmthmark]

Think Kevin and Perry  but one day he changed into a polite young man  .  Dylan was the same, changed from a clever sweet puppy into a cloth-eared naughty rascal. Recall was the worst, and lead walking. But we got through it, phew, and he's again a sweet clever boy, with only occasional relapses into naughtiness 

Red wine and chocolate is the cure 

Lesley and Dylan

Haha thanks.

He was a sweet loving puppy and he did most things perfectly and now he thinks he is in control and does what he wants. At lunchtime today he decided to destroy the cats bed, for no reason at all (he did his bed yesterday). He knew knew exactly what he did as he ran up to me wagging his tail and flopped on to his side and looked at me as if the fluff and ripped up bed was not there 

So far recall is ok (but I am ready for this to go pear shaped).
Lead walking is a nightmare he just pulls everywhere, he has always done this and to be honest I doubt anyone can change this.

It sounds like they all go through this. He is a little monkey at times, but its hard to be angry at him

[bmthmark]

Yes, Jett's definately turning into a teenager and all what you describe seems very typical, even including food "fads" etc. I was told to expect these sort of puberty problems at around 8 months and then again at around 2 years (so don't think you're out of the woods yet!!  )!!
The best thing to do in my experience is to literally Keep Calm and Carry On - keep up the training, stay determined and consistant  and don't let him get away with things. Its quite normal that as they get older they start to think for themselves, become more confident and question the rules - not much different to humans really but it really is a passing phase.....
Good Luck!

Thank you, I will try and stay calm. I will definitely keep going with the training, its so easy to stop the training when he isn't engaging well but like you all have said this phase will hopefully pass.

[ips]

Re the lead pulling. I thought the same in that it was impossible and it took two years and many different methods BUT it can be done if you stick rigidly to one method and remain consistent. Trust me if I can get my puller walking on a loose lead anyone can. Look at the threads re lead training 👍 
Take my advice get it sorted NOW otherwise it becomes engrained and even harder to train out of them, I talk from bitter experience. With my next dog I would do no field training whatsoever until loose lead was nailed. You may think you can live with it but trust me you cant.

[bmthmark]

Re the lead pulling. I thought the same in that it was impossible and it took two years and many different methods BUT it can be done if you stick rigidly to one method and remain consistent. Trust me if I can get my puller walking on a loose lead anyone can. Look at the threads re lead training 👍 
Take my advice get it sorted NOW otherwise it becomes engrained and even harder to train out of them, I talk from bitter experience. With my next dog I would do no field training whatsoever until loose lead was nailed. You may think you can live with it but trust me you cant.

You have convinced me! I will not give up on the pulling.
How did you train yours to not pull? There seems to be loads of different advice on the net but I just don't know which one to try.
I've tried the stopping technique when he pulls and get him to walk back to me to heel, he does this for about 2 seconds then he is pulling again.

A puppy trainer I went to said to stop when he pulled and turn direction. If I followed that advice I would literally walk in circles 

[Londongirl]

Re the lead pulling. I thought the same in that it was impossible and it took two years and many different methods BUT it can be done if you stick rigidly to one method and remain consistent. Trust me if I can get my puller walking on a loose lead anyone can. Look at the threads re lead training 👍 
Take my advice get it sorted NOW otherwise it becomes engrained and even harder to train out of them, I talk from bitter experience. With my next dog I would do no field training whatsoever until loose lead was nailed. You may think you can live with it but trust me you cant.

A puppy trainer I went to said to stop when he pulled and turn direction. If I followed that advice I would literally walk in circles 

If you are serious about lead training, you have to give up the idea of normal walks for a short while because you need to apply a zero-tolerance policy on ANY pulling. Which may indeed mean doing nothing but walk in a circle for a couple of days. It's impossible if you are trying to get anywhere, so you have to do it while needing to do nothing except train, if that makes sense.

The first week I was seriously training Henry to walk nicely, we barely moved. You have to remind yourself this is all part of the process and he is actually learning something from it.

[bmthmark]

Re the lead pulling. I thought the same in that it was impossible and it took two years and many different methods BUT it can be done if you stick rigidly to one method and remain consistent. Trust me if I can get my puller walking on a loose lead anyone can. Look at the threads re lead training 👍 
Take my advice get it sorted NOW otherwise it becomes engrained and even harder to train out of them, I talk from bitter experience. With my next dog I would do no field training whatsoever until loose lead was nailed. You may think you can live with it but trust me you cant.

A puppy trainer I went to said to stop when he pulled and turn direction. If I followed that advice I would literally walk in circles 

If you are serious about lead training, you have to give up the idea of normal walks for a short while because you need to apply a zero-tolerance policy on ANY pulling. Which may indeed mean doing nothing but walk in a circle for a couple of days. It's impossible if you are trying to get anywhere, so you have to do it while needing to do nothing except train, if that makes sense.

The first week I was seriously training Henry to walk nicely, we barely moved. You have to remind yourself this is all part of the process and he is actually learning something from it.

Thanks - reminding myself its all part of the training is the key for me as it does get very frustrating.
Yesterday I decided to drop the lead completely (when he pulled) to see how he would react (in a safe area). It was interesting to see that he just stopped and looked at me and waited for me to pick the lead up again.

When I see other people walking cockers and they are being pulled as well makes me realise its not just me