Need a hand hold, Puppy Blues...

[BaconAndAvocado]

My 10 month old Lab pup is a dream in so many ways - he’s loving, always friendly, utterly gorgeous but lately I’ve been feeling very low, frustrated, generally rubbish tbh!

He’s regressed and now wees on the kitchen floor in the night, he pulls like a rhino on the lead and I now have an inflamed ligament and can’t use my left arm very well.
He ran off from me I’m the park yesterday and I can’t leave him for very long now as he wees. The vet thinks it’s separation anxiety so I’m slowly building up his time alone but he used to be ok with being left for a couple of hours.

Luckily, I work from home so I don’t have to leave him alone but I’m starting to feel trapped and often long for my life pre-dog.

Add to this that he’s our first dog so I really have no clue what I’m doing.

Offer of sympathy/empathy gladly accepted and please somebody tell me it gets better!!

Hey there, sorry to hear it’s feeling like regression. I’m no dog expert, we are expecting our first lab baby next week.

Out of interest. What kind of exercise and training are you giving him? How is his recall and response to simple commands like sit, wait etc? What is he like with other dogs? How is he around food?

I believe dogs have “wonder weeks” like babies do, perhaps he’s due a development leap soon?

Un-mumsnetty hug of solidarity!

Bit difficult, but AwkwardPup was on high dose steroids from 9-15 months & peeing every hour or so. We were knackered.

I bought some washable puppy pads (I tried to avoid the disposable ones as they often contain pheromones to encourage them to pee on the pads) so that clean up was less arduous.

Do you have a camera? We have a cheap Eufy cam that you can also talk through - it meant I could see what was actually happening when we were gone.

We realised he wasn't coping with being left as well as we had thought so have scaled back to more frequent but shorter duration for a bit. I can talk to him too, so if he shows signs of being restless or worried like standing near the door, I ask him to go to his bed, which seems to help.

*bit different

If it’s any consolation OP I grew up with dogs and chose a lab as my first pup- it’s “a lot of dog” to cope with, a total baptism of fire….. It’s hard and I struggled! However, he’s the best dog I’ve ever had.

How much exercise does your dog get? Have you Kongs and so on? Has the dog had any training? I used a halti lead for pulling, goes over the nose area.
You may need to start over with housetraining, has anything happened to make the dog regress? Change of routine?

He has a 1.5 hour beach walk in the morning and a shorter walk to the park in the late afternoon, about 45 mins.
He can sit, “leave”, respond to his name but much more successfully when he isn’t playing with other dogs!
He LOVES to play and is very sociable.
He’s fine around food and doesn’t get aggressive.

I’m hoping your “wonder week” is true........

I felt exactly the same as you 13 years ago. I was tearing my hair out with my chocolate lab boy, I even got a dog trainer to visit the house. He did eventually settle down, became house trained etc but pulled on the lead all his life no matter what I did. However, he was the gentlest most loving dog and my best friend in the world, who got me through some difficult times and having said goodbye to him 8 weeks ago, I'd give anything to have those crazy puppy days again with him. Good luck with your pup.

Suzi888 baptism of fire is a perfect description!

Yes, he has kongs. He had the basic group puppy training but was very distracted by the other dogs.
I’ve tried using a GenCon which is a kind of halti but he scratched his nose until it bled to get it off. Other dog owners have advised me to persevere but I feel terrible when he’s bleeding!
I ordered a Dogmatic lead which is the same idea but it’s more padded so 🤞🏻

When he pulls on the lead it’s no pleasure at all!

Other than maybe hearing a loud noise when we’ve been out , I don’t know what has changed and there’s been no change in routine.

He really is a lovely dog and I know we’ll get through it but I’m finding it really hard right now.

Considering getting a 1:1 trainer. Very pricey but may be well worth it.

Oh I’m so sorry to hear about your dog passing. Sending a hug.

Thanks for the words of reassurance.....other than the pulling, weeing, lack of recall...he really is a dream.

Since you mention seeing the vet, I guess you have ruled out a physical cause for the weeing? It may be related to separation anxiety as you say (in which case the issue needs careful handling), but it could also be a habit that he has developed based on location. Is it possible to leave him in a different room in the house?

I have a 10 month old Australian Shepherd who is a dream in many ways but is currently displaying some adolescent behaviours that are a bit trying. So I fully understand what you’re going through. Solidarity!

certainshepherdpups the vet took a urine sample and ruled out an infection.

I’ve scrubbed and scrubbed where he weed....

The separation anxiety is a weird one as he’s happy to be alone if I’m upstairs or in the other room.

I’ve just got back from the beach with him and every time he pulled on the lead I stopped. It actually went quite well. No idea if he’s learnt anything from it but I’m feeling a lot more positive.

Solidarity indeed 👊🏻

I have to keep telling myself that everything is a phase!

There's a lot in your pos but to me, it mostly sounds like minor teenage issues so please don't feel too worried or disheartened!

He’s regressed and now wees on the kitchen floor in the night

Is he shut downstairs at night and does he have a way of telling you he needs the toilet, or does he have no choice but to go on the floor?

I would set up a camera and find out what's happened when he goes - ie. is he trying to tell you but can't, or does he just pee? Find out if there's a regular time he goes and set an alarm to wake up and take him out so you try and break the habit. I would also triple check that he's going before bed - mine used to pretend he was weeing, and then wake me up at 3am absolutely desperate

he pulls like a rhino on the lead and I now have an inflamed ligament and can’t use my left arm very well.

I would stop using the head collar - you say in previous posts that it makes him bleed which won't be making walks enjoyable for him at all. I would buy him a good quality harness with front and back "D Rings" and a double ended lead. Clip the lead to both rings to give you more control. Then it's just a case of training him - but at least this way he won't be able to yank your arm off and cause you even more pain!

He ran off from me I’m the park yesterday and I can’t leave him for very long now as he wees. The vet thinks it’s separation anxiety so I’m slowly building up his time alone but he used to be ok with being left for a couple of hours.

If he's running off (very common for teenage dogs - I remember my beagle disappearing off after a deer for an hour once!) then you could try a long-line attached to his harness so you can stamp on it and stop him bolting. You can get them off eBay or Amazon.

Re: Separation anxiety - many dogs go through a secondary fear phase so it could be that that's what's happening with him. Do you leave him with the radio or TV on for company? I would also try leaving him with one of your t-shirts as well as a stuffed Kong to keep him busy.

Good luck - and remember, this too shall pass! :)

Thanks fairylightsandwaxmelts

Yes I always leave the radio on when I leave him and give him a kong.

I’ll look into that double ended harness.

He doesn’t make a noise when he wants to go out, he just stands by the back door!

so nice to know it will pass!

we’ve had a much better walk today and every time he pulled, I stopped and when he didn’t pull I praised him.

Stopping with pulling definitely works. We have an adolescent spaniel and he can pull like a tank. But I've learned a few tricks to get him engaged and loose lead again. We practice decent lead manners every day and he still has times where he's appalling.

Secondary fear period could be the reason why pup has started to wee and be anxious. Might be worth a read up?

Teenage dogs are hard work!!

I'm with you I have a 14m old lab and tbh the last 7m have been hard I regularly cry and feel like I can't cope. I wanted a dog I could take anywhere but he's so hard to control we have to limit where we go (no crowds) so there's so much we can't do especially as he can't be left for too long.

The lead issue the only thing that has worked for us is a canny collar. It's not perfect but it does stop most of the pulling. We are currently working with a behaviourist on pulling, jumping, barking and mouthing. Wish us luck!!

It sounds like your walk went really well today @BaconAndAvocado. Another technique to discourage pulling on the lead is to choose a few landmarks along the path (a house or a tree or whatever). You start walking and if he pulls you go back to the beginning. Once you can get to the first landmark without him pulling you move on to the second and so on. It takes time but I've found it really effective with my pup. Just stopping didn't work well for him. He's so curious about his surroundings that he's happy just to stop and look around. 😅 But he didn't like retracing his steps so this method reinforced what he needed to do in order to keep moving forward. You can also just change direction if he pulls, but I liked the landmark technique because it allows you to really see your progress.

Another owner of a teenage lab here (14 months). I have had a dog before but an immaculately behaved dachshund, so a very bouncy, friendly, non-stop lab is a bit of a shock! A couple of things that really help me out are sending her to doggy daycare twice a week. It gives me a break and she gets loads and loads of playtime with other dogs. We also do agility classes which we both love. She is a working breed and super bright so the mental aspect of it is great for her. Sending sympathy and good luck. It is supposed to get better soon!