hELP WITH PUPPY BEHAVIOUR PLEASE!

[controlfreakythecontrolfreak]

My lovely 20 week puppy is great. she's done v well with house training, sleeping, learning basic commands etc. she's just coming out of a phase of being a bit scared and nervous of the world when we take her out but is generally calm and amenable....

BUT, in last week or so in the evenings she has a bit of a mad meltdown and gets v barky and bity with us (actually not with me but with dh and ds1). she is noisy and a bit scary. while she's doing this she is however wagging her tail.... she's certainly not afraid / scared when she's doing it.

is it being teenage? attention seeking? what?

what should we do with her? have tried distracting her with toy, putting her out of room for a few mins. (but hard to pick her uup when she's barking and nipping).

HELP!

Sounds a bit odd but have you increased her food? Pups grow so quickly and their needs change as they develop. Hunger can make the most placid puppy manic and is often missed as it seems unrelated. Sorry, have just skimmed your thread as meant to be working, so maybe this has been suggested/disregarded already!

hmmm. interesting. she's on hills science plan (puppy) and now it's mentioned maybe she does need amount increased which it hasn't been for a bit and she's definitely growing! the "madness" is always in the evenings, she is still having 4 meals a day, one at 6, last around 11. should I shift her to fewer now she's 20 weeks? she's definitely teething, puppy teeth are falling out. she had a lot of exercise today so will see if that is a factor.... many thanks for all your thoughts.

Should be 3 meals a day at 3 months, going down to 2 meals a day at 6 months. Maybe a bigger dinner will help her settle?

You really do need to look into Hills. There is a lot on the web, especially a site called something like Pet Food Analysis

Sorry. But you'll see what I mean. We used it for about a decade because our vet 'prescribed it'.

Also, teach a 'settle' cue; over tired puppies are like over tired children and can get quite wild. If she is getting plenty of play with toys, and company, as well as some physical exercsie then she should be very tired. Teach it when she is relaxed, tired and her needs are met (food/toilet/exercsise etc) and quiet; put her on a thin lead (or house line), sit down somewhere comfy (pref with TV in view!), ensure she has bed/mat and give her a chew/stuffed Kong. Place your foot on the lead so she cannot wander far; can get up, turn around but not leave mat/bed. When she settles with her chew, quietly praise her and sporadically say 'settle' with praise. Repeat and she will start to develop an 'off switch' when she hears the voice cue!

thanks for more replies.... aaargh re food. breeder was giving her "beta", when she had her puupy check vet said this was rubbish and hills was his reccomendation... can i not trust him? hmmm.

she is quite good at settling generally but perhaps i don't notice her getting overtired, in need of a nap.... when she started having a mad five mins tonight i got her to sit and then rewarded her which seemed to work in that it broke the spiralling unwanted behaviour... does that seem a good tactic or will she think she's being rewarded for the unwanted behaviour??

i do feel such a novice at this dog owning lark. appreciate the wisdom on here.

I think vets may get commision on certain presricp foods, could be wrong as not Vet or VN Anyone?

It is good to interrupt the behaviour with a cue she knows well such as 'sit'. Providing you are rewarding an appropriate behaviour (i.e. sitting) and not just flinging treats at her for being wild (which you aren't) then she will associate the reward with the calm, focused behaviour. If you are confident she has had her needs met (lots of appropriate play/exercise etc, toiletted, fed blah blah) then it is fine to teach her a more approprite way to behave in the house at these times. Do you use a crate? Or does she have a bed where she can be with you all, but quiet and left alone (I'm thinking children here). She won't want to go out to the kitchen for example if her bed is there and her family are in the sitting room, but she may need to be provided with a bed she will use to rest when she needs to. Don't worry, it always feels hard to start with - you're doing fine

she does have a comfy crate in the kitchen which she uses a lot (never shut in) and sleeps in at night but you are right re her wanting to be in living room with us in evening...

Our lovely vet 'prescribes' Hills, but it really isn't very good at all, scoring about one star in the food forums I linked to. We have politely declined any more of it. Much as I love him I do think he operates on commission.