Coping with my 1 year old pup

[januarybabyboy]

Hey, this will be my second post, all I seem to do on here is moan so apologies..

I've got a lovely one year old male cross breed, he's a Lakeland terrier/ cocker spaniel mix. He's got a lovely temperament and isn't aggressive to other dogs/people, but he does get very over excited and jumpy, which we're working on with training.
He's been to puppy training school but I find he behaves much better with my DP than with me, I think it's my partners deep voice and more authoritative manner, which I try to copy and doesn't seem to work with me..
He's also become extremely destructive when it's comes to the house, he was recently neutered, and almost since having to wear the cone of shame for a week, he's managed to eat our sofa, rip up the newly laid carpet on the stairs and the rug in the lounge. ( he's only allowed downstairs) he's also learnt how to get into our kitchen bin and tries to eat all the contents.
I'm really struggling with him as I'm 39 weeks pregnant and it seems to be when he's left downstairs for any short amount of time he starts behaving like this.
I'm panicking as I won't be able to constantly be with him when my baby is tiny.
I'm giving him an hours walk off the lead and he has tons of interactive toys to play with not sure what else I can do and I just feel like it's all left up to me as my DP goes off to work everyday and then comes home not understanding why I finding it so difficult.

Has anyone got any recommendations or tips to help entertain my dog? Or just some reassurance that this is a phase

[catndogslife]

Some ideas:

1. Your DP needs to take your ddog out for a short walk before he goes to work!
2. most dogs try to raid the bin! Don't put anything edible in it! We have a food waste bin system in our area and it all goes outside in the front garden asap! For the rest you either need a smaller bin inside a kitchen cupboard or one located where he can't reach it.
3. Don't understand why your ddog isn't allowed upstairs. You may have to try using a crate for short periods.
4. Toys you need to play with your dog not expect them to play be themselves.
5. Neutering it takes a while for hormones to get back to normal after the operation. Sometimes regressing to puppy-like behaviour e.g. chewing can occur. It took our dog approx 1 month to return to normal after the operation.

[TheyAllFloat]

Over excited at jumpy at 1 year old is not brill but not that unusual. With that one, training and time will most likely help.

However, for much of the rest of it it really sounds like he needs more than he's getting. One hour long walk is not a lot, tbh. Even if you cannot walk for more time, just splitting it into 2 x 30mins might help a little bit. Otherwise the rest of the day is just too damn long with nothing happening for him.

There are also other ways to keep him entertained and his mind working and people will come along with some great suggestions but things like:

• find your food. If you feed him kibble then start to hide it around the house rather than give it in a bowl. If you start to incorporate things like a sit/stay while you do it then he also has to think about that as well as finding his food. You should make an effort to be part of the search party and it is especally useful if you occasionally point out a bit of kibble that he's missed - he learns that paying attention to you is rewarding. We now play an especially advanced version of this in whcih I do it in the eveing and turn the lights out so he must use his nose. But I am evil

• hiding a toy in the same way and then having a couple of mins play when he finds it

• train while you boil the kettle. If you always have a little pot of training treats ready to go then you can use that time to teach fun little tricks in the kitchen.

• hire a dog walker, even if it's just a couple days a week. It'll be a different type of walk to the ones he does with you, will be with other dogs and so the variety may help

Also, 1-2 years is an especially tricky time when lots of dogs find themsevles given up to a rescue. It's going to be even harder with a newborn so your DH massively needs to step up. His days of working 37.5 hours a week (or whatever) and having free time are over

[januarybabyboy]

Hi, thank you for the replies! I'll start trying out some of these tips!

We did have a dog walker, which I'm probably going to invest in again, more as he so loves being walked with other dogs.

I'm going to persist with the training, especially jumping up and look at changing our bin/ the way we use it.

I'd love to let him upstairs but due to us already having a cat, it's the cats sanctuary being able to go somewhere away from the dog, he isn't aggressive but our cats quite nervous and not very good at sticking up for himself.

I'm getting on DP case at helping out a bit more, I think I'm just getting a bit overwhelmed and feeling like a rubbish dog owner, I'd never want to re home him

[sillysmiles]

At 39 weeks pregnant your OH should be taking him out for a walk in the morning before work anyway as - what is going to happen when you have a new born? You aren't going to be able to take him out early and a morning walk might chill him out a bit until you do have time to take him out again.

[TheyAllFloat]

Fair play to you. A 1 year old cocker/lakeland cross might overwhelm anyone, let alone someone 39 weeks pregnant (congratulations btw).

[Bigmango]

We have a 10 month old Lakeland and a 20 month old toddler. You’ll see I posted recently about him. It’s been massively challenging and in retrospect, a bad idea. My partner has always done a quick (or long depending on what my day was going to be like) morning and evening. You dh needs to be doing this as a bare minimum. You might also want to look into doggy day care so you have an option if you need respite.

I would also do as much reading as you can on dogs and children. It’s been a huge wake up to me how difficult the relationships can be. Our two get on well, but he is not a fan of other children (probably because he has first hand experience of just how unpredictable they can be). Have you got him used to the pram and all the other equipment that will be around?

I have found the Dog Training Advice and Support group on fb to be absolutely amazing. It has units of information on dogs and children that are brilliant.

Have you tried frozen kongs, slow feeders and lickimats? Unfortunately puppies do prefer playing with us but I find short sharp bursts work well - if I’m feeling particularly lazy I just put a tug rope around my ankle. Destructive behaviour sounds like boredom more than anything.

You don’t need to be firm or authoritarian to get him to listen to you. I use a kind of high pitched excited voice teamed with lots of tasty treats. It’s still a huge work in progress but we are getting somewhere. There is definitely a reason why they say don’t mix babies with puppies though - it’s really hard.

[Bigmango]

Just seen you have a cat too! Wow!

[Booboostwo]

What kind of training technique did your club use and what did they teach you to stop him from jumping up? One of this most effective techniques is this:

You approach the puppy, if he jumps up you fold your arms and turn your back. Wait a few seconds and turn back around, if he jumps up repeat but walk away this time. If he keeps all four feet in the ground, click and treat. No need to say anything (in any kind of voice!). As he gets better at this make your approach more exciting, e.g. use squeaky, exciting voice, move your arms around etc. Repeat with many different people.

Try crate training him, that will help with the destructive behaviour and is a useful thing to have especially with a baby on the way.

If the destructive behaviour started with the cone it may be because of stress. Many dogs find the cone stressful and it can make them fearful.

If the destructive behaviour only happens when you leave him alone you may have the beginnings of separation anxiety. This is a serious problem which can escalate quickly, so suggest you get a professional behaviourist to help if this behaviour continues.

If you can’t walk him for longer/more often try exercising his brain. Teach him new behaviours for fun.

[Girlintheframe]

We have a bin that locks. Totally saved my sanity otherwise the entire contents would on the kitchen floor!