Battle of wills with a 6month pup

[maccie75]

Hi There

I have Marco who is 6 months on the 1st April (where did the time go) LOL

He seems to in the last couple of weeks had his first signs of testosterone kick in and at the moment we seem to be in a battle on most days with his rather excessive behaviour.

He is a lovely dog and has a very sparky personality which I wouldnt change but he just seems to be try to rule the roost a bit, if he jumps up whilst we are eating it takes several goes to get him to stop it, if you try to push him away he tries to mount your arm or leg and hooks his front paw quick harshly over you to try to compete with you trying to get him to get down. I have tried shouting, rewarding, seperating him from us but nothing seems to work before if he was in trouble he would settle and come to you but now he runs off and does wall of death around the sofas!!

He has started barking quite a bit as well which at the right time if fine, but not at leaves in the road outside!! I have put up some voiles to stop him reacting to things outside. My neighbour said the other day he was barking the house down in the afternoon when I was at work ( I work 2 days a week so my dad pops down in the day to see him for a bit) but the rest of the time im at home/he is out with me. He has regular exercise, is on good brand of food and doesnt bite us he just seems to want to be in charge!!

Any suggestions
Debbie

[rwasinski]

Our little boy is 7 months old and is a comical enthusiastic fluff monster.

I'm not so sure that it's because he wants to be in charge, I think he is just maybe testing the boundaries, but he has always been an eager, throw himself into everything kind of doggie who is difficult to strictly discipline - not that we would want to completely, because we love his enthusiasm!

We are consistent with our boundaries and try to stay calm and steady and we guide him in his behaviour. He knows what we expect from him and what is unacceptable.

Time out is a few mins of ignoring him (which he doesn't like).  What we also do is divert the unwanted behaviour into behaviour we do want, so if he is getting carried away, we distract him with a command we know he knows, like sit, paw and stay, and reward him for that behaviour instead - I have found this does calm him down when we need him to be calmer.

[Mudmagnets]

Hi there

I think I remember reading that your OH works away some of the time, is the behaviour worse when he is away? sort of testing the boundaries - can i get away with more with only one adult hooman about.

It should not make a difference - but you never know 

[Nicola]

He seems to in the last couple of weeks had his first signs of testosterone kick in and at the moment we seem to be in a battle on most days with his rather excessive behaviour.

He is a lovely dog and has a very sparky personality which I wouldnt change but he just seems to be try to rule the roost a bit, if he jumps up whilst we are eating it takes several goes to get him to stop it, if you try to push him away he tries to mount your arm or leg and hooks his front paw quick harshly over you to try to compete with you trying to get him to get down.

Well Caoimhe is a girl and you've just pretty accurately described what she could be like when she was that age (and still occasionally now). It is/was nothing to do with her wanting to rule the roost or anything like that, she's just a full-on, very enthusiastic and very determined little dog. She's now 14 months and this behaviour has mostly stopped, we've been very consistent in dealing with it calmly and not rewarding it by giving her attention when she's doing it, we did pretty much the same as rwasinski has described. Caoimhe still has her jumping jack moments and she is a very persistent character, much more so than the other two, but she has learned what is acceptable and what isn't and she soon calms down.

[JaspersMum]

Yep one here too.  Charlie is 10 months old and full on - he needs time out for a few minuttes to restore sanity and then he's fine.

The plus side for us showing him is his confidence in the ring.  He's unfazed by anything 

[Hurtwood Dogs]

As the others have said, it's very normal and just make sure you don't reward him with attention when he's bouncing up at you. If he's a problem at meal times I'd crate him or put him in a different room. I hate dogs pestering when we're eating - as I wouldn't pester them when they're eating.

Sometimes young dogs can get too much stimulation - it's important for them to have some down time during the day too and can help them be more relaxed. Does he have a crate or an area you can pop him in to chill out if he's being a pest?

[K1m8]

another one here to!! dodger is just over 8 months old now & he tests my patience every day recently!! it takes several attempts to stop him jumping up and if you tell him off he barks back at us! he tries to hump my bitch lola about ten times a day! im hoping he will grow out of it soon otherwise ill be getting him netured once hes a year old

[*Yvonne*]

Ben is exactly the same 
I'm fed up of hearing the word "Down" 

I'm just hoping it is a stage he will grow out of!

[Mrs B]

We've got a 5 month old (Cinders) who tests our (mainly my) patience daily at the moment.  Getting her to stay in her bed when we are eating is an absolute nightmare!  Hubby seems to manage to get her to stay there more than I do, which is good but when he is working away and when it is just me and her it can be a pretty testing time.  There have been times when I wanted to cry with frustration.  Then hubby comes back and she is as good as gold (not all the time, but mostly!). 

Cinders has also now decided she no longer likes having her feet wiped when she comes in from the garden.  She will go to the conservatory door when she is ready to come in and when I go over to her and try and calmly coax her into the house she either runs off or sits there barking at me.  One night it took me 20 minutes to get her into the house and even then we ended up with muddy paws on the settees because I wasn't quick enough!  A friend of mine has recommended I try and bribe her with a treat when she wants to come in.  I used to bribe her with her fav toy, but even that has stopped working now!

[Mudmagnets]

Cinders has also now decided she no longer likes having her feet wiped when she comes in from the garden.  She will go to the conservatory door when she is ready to come in and when I go over to her and try and calmly coax her into the house she either runs off or sits there barking at me.  One night it took me 20 minutes to get her into the house and even then we ended up with muddy paws on the settees because I wasn't quick enough!  A friend of mine has recommended I try and bribe her with a treat when she wants to come in.  I used to bribe her with her fav toy, but even that has stopped working now!

Don't know if this is possible for you, but I put down some old towels down at the door for them to walk on as they come in and that helps.  Then I just chuck them in the washing machine (towels...not dogs )

Doesn't completely solve the problem, but does help with damage limitation.

[Chedi]

Dylan's terrible at the jumping up at the table, whether we're eating, or not! When we're eating he goes in his crate to solve that one, and if he starts barking in his crate we cover it up with his blanket we use. He gets he message that we're not interested in him when at the table - and it is slowly working as we dont always have to cover him up, and sometimes, he'll even go in their voluntarily and just watch us with the crate door open..

Also with the barking, putting him in the crate with the blanket over it really does solve it. Its his kinda safe place, where when its covered up it means nap/sleep time. He has his toys/bones/balls in their and his water bowl too, so if he does wake up when we're asleep or out then hes got something to occupy him.

I cant really beleive how we coped 3 months without a crate! It solves loads of problems, and he likes it in their too - and its a place to store his water/toys too..