Losing the will with my teenager

[TeenagePup]

My 11 month is driving me insane.

He used to be so chilled out but now if we're not doing something he will very rarely chill - he will sit and stare at me and bark / whine continuously. He knows "lie down" but he will refuse.

We can't use our garden at the moment but we take him out at least 4 or 5 times a day (1 big walk around 1hr, 1 shorter walk and then a few walks down the road so he can go to the toilet)

He sleeps from about 8/9pm - 6am at night.

This morning he has got up at 6am, been our for a toilet walk, had breakfast in the form or a frozen stuffed hoof, had an hour walk in the forest, been to the pet shop so had a good sniff around and had another toilet walk down the road. And also had a chew and a play at home. In between all that he's slept for a total of about 2 hours and is now just yelping, barking, chewing things and generally being naughty.

Please tell me what I'm doing wrong - too much? Too little? I just want to leave the house to get a bit of peace

It's possible you're doing too much with him. It's not good for him to be always entertained on the go

He needs to be encouraged to chill out more and relax by himself.

Oh and ignore him when he whines and stares at you.

Sorry, but it does sound like he’s decided you’re his personal assistant and entertainer! Young dogs have a lot of energy, but also need to learn to chill out.

Does he know a command like -

on your bed
go lie down
basket

• calmly repeated until he settles?

@FlemishHorse he used to know "lie down" and "bed" but he seems to have forgotten them

He's 'forgotten' the commands because he's a teenage dog, that's not unusual, just keep reinforcing them and they will return; also happens with recall.

He's pushing boundaries.

You're doing too much and he's becoming overstimulated.

Tether him to your side so he can't run off and be stupid and just ignore him. He needs to learn to settle down.

You say you can't use the garden? Is there work going on? That could be unsettling.

Ours are always a pain for the first days when we have work done.

During good weather we always have the door to the garden open, once it gets cold we have it closed, they can take a while to settle to not having constant access.

And also as other says, he may now find himself over stimulated.

What breed?

He’s a teenager- my vet used to say they literally go backwards when they hit the teenage phase.I also think it’s too much. Literally ignore the whining and get on with whatever you were doing. Our youngest ddog would ‘demand’ to play ball etc whilst we sat down to watch tv in the evening- drove us nuts 😂 we would hide his toys in the end. It’s a phase that passes but you do need to almost retrain them all over again

We have a border collie who is like that, will walk and play forever. Particularly in the evenings he is bad, in and out, up at the window barking at everything going on. What we do now is put a spare lead on him and keep him tethered close by and he will lay down and sleep. I don’t know why, but it works. He also is probably playing up, due to garden situation, one thing my boy doesn’t like is change.

Quite crate time ? Is he just failing to self settle when he’s tired ?

The second you see him settle, reward with a treat and name that behaviour, eg "good settle!" Or "good chill". Then it can become a command like anything else.

Thanks for the advice and reassurance. Perhaps it's normal teenage behaviour and/or garden unsettling him.

I keep reading that if they bark excessively then they're bored so I wonder if I'm not doing enough with him.

And without him being able to go in and out the garden as he pleases I am constantly second guessing thinking he's trying to tell me he needs the toilet so eventually I take him out again so I'm probably teaching him that if he keeps barking ill take him out.

Not all dogs bark if they are bored.

And you might be right. He might want to go in the garden. That's what he is trying to tell you.

How long until he can?