Puppy help please

[LadyCatStark]

Hi, we could really do with some help with evenings with our puppy please! In the daytime, he’s great. He’s still hard work but we appreciate he’s only a baby (9 weeks old) and we (well most I) have managed to get him into a good routine. He sleeps through the night and he’s 90% toilet trained with just the odd wee indoors by accident, so he’s great in that respect. He’s a constant biter/ chewer but he’s improving and this morning he didn’t bite me or even mouth for a whole hour! He understands sit, stay, here, off and leave when a treat is offered 😂. He gets plenty of training, food, play and naps during the day.

The problem is that from 4pm to 8pm he goes crazy! He just wants to run around like a mad thing and bite as hard as he can and chew the house to pieces. I think the trigger is DS and then DH arriving home, which is obviously really exciting but he can’t then settle. I think he gets over tired and just gets worse and worse and worse until he flops at 8pm. We’ve tried popping him nicely in his crate for a nap, which works perfectly in the day time but he practically shrieks at this time. Trying to play with him makes him even worse. Trying to do training is pointless and would probably be counter productive as he’s gone past the point of being able to listen. Everything we try makes it worse actually! We try distracting him and try saying “off” or “leave” which he gets during the day but again he can’t listen and we can’t just allow him to destroy the house and garden!

Has anyone got any tips on how to manage this time please as poor DH and DS are only seeing the horrible side of him and is a real shame because he’s lovely during the day? It also means they’re not bonding as well as I am with him (I’m WFH, they’re out at work or school). I really think the best thing for him at this time would be a nice sniffy decompression walk but he can’t go for a walk for another week and a half and I can’t carry him when he’s like this as he bites my face.

@LadyCatStark I know M-Pup is younger than Billy so we might just not have got there yet, but I find a sniffy walk in a neighbour's garden does wonders for her of an evening... With there permission obviously! Do you have friends/neighbours/family nearby you could impose on for a week so Billy gets a couple of new (safety!) spaces to go?

And I would ignore pet shop lady and get him some chews. M-Pup loves her split Antos antler... These are controversial because of the risk of tooth breakage, but labs gnaw rather than biting, so I made the call to let her have one and it is the best thing to keep her entertained during a bitey phase, and it is mess-free enough that I'm happy for her to have it in the lounge.

@MonaChopsis all of my neighbours have dogs of their own! This also means there isn’t anywhere he can really go that other dogs haven’t been. I’m holding onto the fact that he can go out for little walks on Friday, only 4 more days now...

Last night we had a bit of a street party and he came out and behaved impeccably we were very proud of him 😂 lots of neighbours wanted to say hello and he didn’t bite any of them!

Billy has been biting since day one so maybe you’ve just got lucky and got a non biter??

@LadyCatStark we have also definitely got a biter Heard plaintive cries from DD last night and M-Pup had bailed her up onto the garden table and was desperately trying to climb onto a bench so she could continue terrorising DD!! Labrador puppies are notoriously bitey, but they do genuinely need to have time chewing, hence me recommending a split antler.

We've also had some success with tuff lickimats, I quite often give one to M-Pup of a bitey evening and it helps calm her down... She doesn't like peanut butter, but really loves a smear of Greek yoghurt and some Ella's Kitchen veggie mix. I've got a couple of 'Toppl' bowls coming, and plan to freeze M-Pup's dinner into them in advance, just kibble mixed with Greek yoghurt etc, and am hoping that will keep her active and engaged of an evening too rather than a bitey nightmare!

But mainly I just repeat to myself and DD "it's all just a stage, it's all just a stage"

Yes he likes his likimat which he has at tea time with some primula and a little of the meat we’re having for tea (steak being his favourite 😂). We give it him then to try to get some peace while we eat!

He does enjoy a frozen Kong with baby food in (but he gets own brand, I’m too tight for Ella’s kitchen 😂). He also enjoys a small pot of frozen yoghurt. I’m saving these for during the day at the moment as, being a black lab, the poor thing has been getting very hot these past few days, which incidentally seems to have calmed him down as he’s too hot to bother biting!

He’s been a pain this morning though so I’ve tired him out with a good game of frisbee! I did find myself saying in my best baby voice, ‘will you just stop being such a dick?!’ 😂

I always thought because Labs had soft mouths that they wouldn't bite so much.

Our pup is coming to us in two weeks and I need to stock up on chews. Apparently the hide chews aren't ideal, are antlers the next best thing?

@RoSEbuds6

I always thought because Labs had soft mouths that they wouldn't bite so much.

Our pup is coming to us in two weeks and I need to stock up on chews. Apparently the hide chews aren't ideal, are antlers the next best thing?

He is getting better at mouthing softly but when he bites, it hurts! He’s also ripped quite a few pieces of clothing with his needle teeth! At least he doesn’t do the grabbing clothes and shaking thing anymore though! He had his first walks today and it’s wiped him out 😂

@LadyCatStark how did you decide what to feed your LP, I like the idea of raw feeding, but not sure how easy that is to manage/source or whether it is really expensive. Dry kibble seems a bit soulless to me, but then I do have a tendency to overthink things.

@RoSEbuds6 he has the kibble that his breeder was using but he won’t eat it unless he has something more interesting in it! I mix in (really well) a little grated cheese, finely chopped hotdog, chicken, egg or the most exciting food ever: fish (the fishier the better 🤢). This morning I gave him just kibble as I was worried he’s eating too much person food and he threw it all over the kitchen 😂. This evening, I found myself scrambling a single egg just for him!

We had exactly the same scenario at exactly those times, and I promise you it does get better (after getting a bit worse first maybe!). We have a nearly 17 week year old lab and she does get a bit hyper in the evenings sometimes but nothing like the biting, jumping, eating our feet, ripping our sleeves of the early weeks.

Here are a selection of things that worked for us:

• wearing sturdy shoes in the house to protect feet
• using a lick mat with spread with peanut butter or goats cheese to keep her busy but calm
• lots of chewy things - yak stick and coffee root were great.
• popping her in her pen with a some treats/ hidden kibble to find (only worked if we got her in at first hint of tiredness, but we got better at seeing the signs.)
• toys with hidden treats to keep her busy and focused - best for us was a dumbell type thing from zoon which you stuff treats into either end. A kong was too exciting (it bounces and rolls) and revved her up even more.
• scattering treats around the garden for her find.
• letting her out into the garden on her own to race around like a crazed thing.
• I never got this quite right, but I tried to make sure she had enough sleep but also enough stimulation with short training sessions.

I think things turned a corner when we could finally get her out for walks. We waited until she was fully vaccinated but our vet seemed appalled we hadn't been walking her sooner. He considered the risk where we are very small weighed against the benefits.

Honestly it will get a lot better sooner! x

For the biting we now do the fold your arms, look away and ignore technique. It works brilliantly and she gives up straight away, but it took a while to embed. The yelping thing never worked for us.

Thanks @ilovesushi. Things have got a million times better since he’s been able to go for a walk/ out of the house and garden! His biting has calmed right down but he’s started doing this little nibbling thing which I think is is him trying to groom me 😂. He’s much happier to pop into his crate for a nap and takes himself there when he’s tired.

We were proud of him today as he went off his lead for the first time! Actually, I’m more proud of us for being brave enough to let him 😂.

Glad to hear things have turned a corner! Well done with going off lead so soon! It is nerve wracking but they love it!

14 week lab owner, she has calmed down every so slightly but still gets overexcited then the zooming with mouth open starts.. I’ve tried lots but now put bi fold door between us
we have lickimat and kongs frozen but be interested in suitable chews.. she’s loved ice cubes in hot weather.
We have a slip lead and she’s raw fed. Generally is a good pup but from working line and VERY high energy.

@ilovesushi it was DH that was brave enough to let him off! I wouldn’t have been if I’d been on my own with him!

Hi all,

Our cockapoo boy came home with us a week ago (aged 9 weeks, 10 weeks tomorrow) and generally we've been so happy. He's so loving, mostly (!) receptive to toilet training but he won't go into a crate and really struggles with sleep and anxiety (I think).
We have a bed for him in a pen in our room quite close to the bed and normally he sleeps on average 1.5 hours before whining (not always for the toilet), needing to be taken out for the toilet and just generally crying. Last night we thought we'd keep him in his pen and see how he got on without us for a minute. We stood a metre away where he could see us but went berserk. Generally howling and then hurling himself at the pen door to try and get to us, it scared me so much. Then after that he had a poor sleep in his pen no matter what we did. I'm really close to breaking point and don't think I can handle this, can anyone give us any advice or pointers please.

What happens if you don't use any crate or pen? Our dog is just allowed to sleep wherever he wants. Unless yours chews the house at night, could you just let him out of the pen and settle wherever he wants?

i thought the idea of crates was that you left the door open?

Hi both,
We leave his crate open for food in the day but the pen (around 1.5m diameter) is closed at night as we worry he may hurt himself as his teething is so bad right now!
We may try him in bed tonight but the past few times he still wriggles and tries to jump down. Please tell me this is normal?! I get so jealous and sad when I read about pups sleeping through the night at a similar age... I'm cracking up!

@Jonesy2190 my cockapoo is 11 weeks so I’m not in a position to give much advice but we have cracked the night time sleeping.
Crate is in the living room, I don’t have a pen as there’s no space. The first night I slept on the sofa and had her on the floor next to me in her bed. I during the day I gave her lots of treats in her crate. For a week I slept on the sofa next to her crate. I didn’t leave her to cry as it just didn’t sit right with me, but I also didn’t give any attention when she cried. I waited for a break in any whines before comforting her. She woke up roughly every 2-3 hours in that first week.
After a week I went back to my bed and left the camera on so I could watch her. She still whined to get me up for the toilet twice a night and would cry when I put her back in but only for a few minutes so I ignored. I wouldn’t have let her get distressed though.
She now goes in her crate at 8pm. I wake her for her last wee at around 10pm. She had a few nights of sleeping through until 5/6am but has been waking up once or twice for the toilet again. She generally makes no noise now when going in at 8, or after a toilet break.
But she won’t voluntarily go in her crate in the day, I have to lift her in at night too. She also can’t be left alone in the day either.m as she cries as soon as she can’t see me. I really need to work on that.

@Pumpkin5piced thank you! It's really nice to hear the routines of other people too. He detests his crate in the evening, and when we first tried he went crazy and could have hurt himself so we took him out.
Last night we changed the structure of the pen and left his door open. He settled by on the floor by his bed and seemed to sleep better overall. Took him out for a pee break and he takes a while to settle back in, even if I don't talk to him or anything. He whimpered a few times but slept on and off until 5.30. At 5.30ish we scooped him into bed and he slept until 7 in DH's arms 😂 a miracle! As the change was so vast yesterday we said we'll try this again tonight and see if he settles, it's so hard isn't it. I would say I definitely have the puppy blues!

I’ve tried laying with her on the sofa in the morning for a bit of extra sleep but she’s far too excited and just jumps all over me and tries to eat the sofa.
My advice would be to just try and stick to the same thing and hope she gets used to it. Each to their own, but the cry it out thing isn’t for me. Luckily I never had to make that choice as she was ok with me next to her for the first week and then only ever whimpered for a few minutes.
Now, if she cries and it’s just the odd noise every few seconds with the space between cries getting longer, I leave her as I know she’ll stop.
If the cries get longer or more frequent I know there’s something wrong, like she might need the toilet or something.

I’ve just left her to do the school run for the first time ever! She’s fine, went to sleep, woke up and cried a little then went back to sleep. My older daughter is actually in but I don’t think pup was aware.