Author Topic: 8 month old lunging and barking at me  (Read 1854 times)

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Offline Sarah7795

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8 month old lunging and barking at me
« on: July 17, 2022, 05:17:49 PM »

Hi I posted on here a few months ago looking for some help mostly with puppy biting. The advice was really useful and did help a lot to reduce the puppy nipping, however we are still having some issues with our boy - he is 8 1/2 months now so has his adult teeth but is still quite mouthy in general although much more gently and doesn’t dig in just will put his mouth round my arm if I lean over him to clip on harness or will mouth hands when over excited - always gets very mouthy when he comes up on sofa for cuddles etc.
He has recently reverted back a bit to jumping up and biting clothes or whatever he can get a hold of when excited which I had just put down to him being a teenager as his recall etc has gone backwards too.

 What is really worrying us is he has started to bark/lunge at me again. As a pup when he got over excited he went through a stage of running around lunging and barking at me in the living room when I would be on the sofa - I just ignored him or if I could get a hold of him I would put him into his crate and he seemed to have grown out of it, but this last week we have had two bad incidences of this behaviour.
 Usually I can tell he is being playful as he has been on a walk/ been playing when he does this however the other day he was chewing his crate cover and I said no and went to move him he turned around and barked at me and jumped up towards me trying to bite and bit my trousers - he didn’t snarl/growl or anything but we hadn’t been playing beforehand.He was running behind the sofa and getting very OTT with excitement and I told him off - he started to bark and lunge up at me and run about - he jumped onto the sofa - didn’t go for me or anything just jumped back down - but I was quite startled and I didn’t really want to move as the behaviour felt quite aggressive. Again today he did the same thing, this time brought on because I had a phonecall and he ran and jumped on top of me so I set him gently off the sofa. Again barking and lunging at me and attempting to nip me but no snarling etc. I was able to get hold of him and put him into his crate when he jumped on the sofa but when he is running around the living room he is impossible to catch and I don’t want to chase him as when I stand up he sometimes takes that as an invitation to start jumping and nipping.
I am really concerned about this behaviour as I am very unsure if it is just over excitement and normal or if this is aggressive. I tried to find any posts with similar problems and couldn’t really which concerns me. I have a young niece and nephew who at the minute I feel I wouldn’t be happy to have in the house with him. It’s really getting me down as obviously I love him a lot but this behaviour is a major concern and would love if anyone had any advice on what we could do to stop this.

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: 8 month old lunging and barking at me
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2022, 11:05:56 AM »
Hi! From what you’ve said, I‘d suggest that its very much adolescent behaviour, he‘s trying to push the boundaries but you need to talk control now otherwise he‘s going to end up getting the upper hand. Firstly, I wouldn’t allow him on the sofa at all until he‘s learnt to behave himself, my dog spends a lot of time on the sofa BUT, its a privilege and he has to get down when I ask him to. I taught Humphrey by putting treats on the floor and giving a command (off) and hand signal when he jumped off to get the treat - as he started to get the idea, I‘d give him the command followed by the treat and eventually I could leave out the treats altogether. If you’re sitting on the sofa and he tries to get up, put your hand out to stop him and only allow him on when he’s quiet and not jumping around. (We respect the dogs‘ quiet place, i.e. their beds, they need to respect ours too!  ;)
I personally would also try to avoid either telling him off of trying to get hold of him when he‘s racing about as I think it just makes the situation worse, he treats it all as a big game. I would try to completely ignore him, turn your back and don‘t speak or even look at him, go out of the room if necessary but every reaction on your part just fuels the behaviour. Cockers are by nature excitable, so my tactic has always been to try at least (not always successful admittedly) to stay as quiet and calm but also authoritative and consistant as possible.  „Zoomies“ and ‚a mad five minutes“ are pretty normal but biting and jumping up and wanting constant attention are, for me anyway, not acceptable and if left uncontrolled now will be harder to deal with later.
- one last thought, its a good idea to start and teach a „go to your bed/ blanket/ box or whatver which you can use when visitors arrive or when the doorbell rings or you‘re on the phone etc.
 :luv:

Offline Sarah7795

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Re: 8 month old lunging and barking at me
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2022, 03:20:57 PM »
Thanks so much for your reply I will definitely start doing that with the sofa! Dobby has always thrived on attention so I definitely need to stop giving him a reaction I know it’s wrong but sometimes it is so hard  >:D :005:
I am hoping to start teaching him to settle on a mat - wish I had started earlier as he really does struggle to settle but we will see :005:
Thankyou for your help!  :lol:

Offline Pearly

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Re: 8 month old lunging and barking at me
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2022, 01:36:53 PM »
I echo what Jayne has suggested but would like to add that at 8.5 months he is effectively a teenager with hormone surges that will either be triggering the behaviour or adding to it. 

Give him clear boundaries and don’t reward the poor behaviour - even shouting is attention to the attention seeker! A couple of months and he’ll settle into a lovely adult dog.

Offline sophie.ivy

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Re: 8 month old lunging and barking at me
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2022, 10:51:13 AM »
Great replies and I totally agree with the shouting is attention to the attention seeker! I found that out with my girl during her teenage rebellion at 9 months (still in it at 11 months, but nowhere near as bad!) Whenever she felt ignored (normally when I was on a work call) she would go and find something cheeky to do that she knew I would react to! Normally looking me dead in the eye whilst she slowly pulled the towel off the radiator or put her mouth round the remote...it was quite hard not to laugh sometimes!

I stopped shouting at her to leave it or no, which often fell on rubber ears, and instead starting training an in (and out) cue for her crate. It didn't take her long to pick it up, maybe a couple of weeks of practicing using treats as lures, and now when she's up to no good, I point to her crate and ask her to 'in'. Praise and the occasional treat for a good in. Sometimes when she's done something really cheeky and she catches me looking, she'll take herself into the crate like 'i know, i know'. 

I promise the adolescent stage does get better - they are just struggling to control themselves with a flood of hormones and new feelings! Teaching an alternative behaviour, like a settle or in the crate/on your mat, will hopefully help to distract and bring pup back down.

I have absolutely no tips for recall as everything I'm doing/have done hasn't worked and my girl is back on the long line for the foreseeable! >:D

Offline Sarah7795

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Re: 8 month old lunging and barking at me
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2022, 10:01:54 AM »

Thanks for your replies it’s reassuring to know he isn’t the only one having a teen rebellion >:D
Dobby literally does the staring at you while doing something he shouldn’t - his current fav is stealing coasters - I remember our puppy class trainer telling us dogs don’t do anything purposely to annoy you but sometimes it’s hard to believe  :005:
I have a settle mat ordered so hoping to start that asap - but not sure how you teach a release cue for mat/crate so he knows when he is allowed to leave?
He started the barking at my partner last night + we just turned and started talking to each other ignoring him + he stopped almost right away!