10 month old pup has me on my knees

[Puppystruggles]

We got our puppy last winter. He is a mini schnauzer cross. We had wanted a dog for a while, heard of an accidental litter locally, mother is a pedigree schnauzer and father was a rescue terrier mix that lived next door. I met both mum and dad, they were lovely, the family was lovely, everything seemed fine there. Both DH and I grew up with dogs, DH's family had gun dogs.

A month after getting pup, a close family member fell suddenly ill and died this summer. This year has been brutal. My eldest child is a teen and also developed severe anxiety due to school issues- part of the reason why we got the dog when we did was for my teen, to help their issues leaving the house after covid- their life fell apart due to the lockdowns. It was always on the cards however.

We are an outdoorsy family, we live in the country, beautiful areas to walk in.

Pup is a lovely boy, very loving and affectionate, but he is absolutely wired. He is on high alert every second when we are out on walks. He has hit his teens- I had him walking nicely and greeting people well, but he has now developed a habit of barking, lunging and going absolutely berserk when out on walks, mostly towards other dogs and runners, cyclists. He has started pulling like a train, his recall is shot to pieces, and although he has calmed down a lot in the house, he is a cheeky fucker around food. We have been working with this, but today I was walking across the room holding a bit of cake, and he lept from standing to snatch it out of my hands. He is very barky when out and about, just yells his head off for no reason. Walks are no longer a pleasure, we are doubling down on training but it's one step forward one back. No more nice family walks in our local national trust place, it's stressful for everyone.

When people are round, he just goes berserk, I put him on a house line and he barks his head off, tries to bite the line and pull it off because he'd much rather be jumping on everyone. I put him out and he just tries to batter through the door. We had a section of the garden fenced off and a pet flap so he could have 24/7 access to that area, the little sod jumped a 5 foot wall and escaped, so now we are trying to get higher fencing and gates in situ. The second part of the garden isn't wholly secure, we are working on that. We now can't even walk into the garden without a complex Fort Knox arrangement.

When he is calm he is lovely, and seems to really pick up his settle/quiet commands, and I think hurray! But nothing, nothing in the world is more attractive to him than socialising, and nothing is more interesting than other people and dogs, and he gets overestimated at the drop of a hat.

He is great in the car, no separation anxiety, toilet training took a little longer but is fine now, the one day we are all out of the house from 9 to 4 he gets a dog walker in the middle of the day.

I just feel like I'm not coping. I feel like every second of the day and every decision we make revolves around the dog to a massive extent because his behaviour takes so much managing. My hobbies of gardening and walking have basically gone out the window, I can't move from room to room without factoring in the dog because he is constantly on high alert for what he can steal or where he can bolt to. I can't have people round because he is a nightmare. I can't chat to people when walking him in the village because he goes berserk. I can't just walk into the garden without him going nuts barking and trying to follow. I had a spell of poor MH in my mid twenties, which hasn't been an issue for years and years, but for the first time since, I can feel it slipping. Since we got the dog really, but I don't know where the puppy blues stopped and the difficult time with our sick relative began. I don't know if I'm overreacting to normal teen puppy behaviours or if the other unexpected events of this year are making me irrational

The trainer we had as a puppy has moved and there are no trainers locally that I'd trust I don't think, so I've been trying my best with books, YouTube. I really have. I feel like I've let our pup down and I've failed as a dog owner and I've ruined everyone's lives and our previously calm home life.

There’s lots of online training available or training books on Amazon.

the dog teen years are difficult but short lived.

One recommendation I’ve read is to stop feeding time and instead use kibble as treats when they obey commands. Means having a little kibble bag attached to jeans so it’s constantly at hand.

Then when chatting to people in the village put her in sit and feed her kibble every 30 seconds while sitting nicely.

with jumping up to greet guests ask everyone to completely ignore dog and turn their backs until dog is sat nicely. Reward with attention and treat. Don’t bother with the training line or putting him away

mental stimulation and long walks.

I've tried the kibble, it works to a point, but if he's excited enough then he has no interest.
We have had some success with the turning backs method, he will calm down and sit, but then once everyone is in and sitting down he's back to bouncing everywhere- though if the visitors stay long enough, he will settle and lie down, it just takes ages. That's why I have to put him on the line, not everyone wants a dog bouncing on their head for half an hour per visit.Friends have a similarly aged pup, and it will come and say hello, and be a little jumpy then it loses interest and wanders off. Mine assumes he IS the interest.

And also the amount of people who come in, you say "could you ignore the dog please, we're teaching him not to jump up, could you just ignore him" and they stand there with sudden selective deafness, fussing him and encouraging him more! Arggh

Have a look on the ABTC website for someone local to help you. Everyone on there has been assessed and uses only positive methods. this page helps you work out which type of practitioner you need. Quite a few trainers/behaviourists will do an initial assessment then work with you remotely these days, so they may not need to be very local.

As you already know, teen dogs are a pain in the rear, training can go to pot and it feels like things will never settle down, but with calm, patient consistency this too shall pass.

He’s a mix of two very lively, alerty, generally quite barky breed types, so what you’re seeing is his instincts kicking in, alongside the usual teenage arseyness.

If he is 100 mph 24/7 then he you need to work on capturing and building calmness and calm activities that will tire him out, such as scatter feeding, snuffle mats, calm brain training puzzles etc. That said, I would get professional advice, as without actually seeing his body language etc, when he gets worked up, it would be impossible to know what his motivation is, eg sometimes what looks like exuberance can be anxiety driven or what looks like reactivity can be lead frustration and you really need a professional to assess that for you.

Re your secure garden area. You shouldn’t need to re-fence it. Just add some anti jump measures on the top. You can google for options, but anti-jump angled brackets that lean inwards with fencing wire threaded between them or diy roll bars are both quicker, cheaper and easier to sort than a whole re-fence.

Re him affecting your MH, can you afford for the dog walker to take him out a few more times a week, just to take the pressure off you for now? Regardless of the reasons underlying his behaviour, if your walker is happy to take him, can handle his behaviour and he likes going it would probably benefit both of you.

I think excessive first thing in the morning is key. A good run for a least an hour you can use a long line while you are practising his recall but he may just need wearing out more

Exercise

I hear you OP.

As a dog trainer I hear this a lot and some dogs are just hard work!

I would strongly advise getting some 121 training in rl. I know you say there are no good trainers near you . (if you want to pm me rough area I may be able to help) but even if you have to travel 121 face to face support is so much better than online training.

Half of my job is often counselling the owners and making things work for them rather than just training the dog. Sorting out a specific plan for the household that is realistic and the owners see some results quickly.

A good trainer can make a huge difference to your situation and be there to help you on the days when you have a bad walk. These walks can be soul destroying and you need support to get through them and turn them around.

No advice OP but I totally understand you as im in the same situation only I have a 15 month old border collie who reacts to everything, pulls like a train and his recall is now very hit and miss ..... DH took him out this afternoon and came back in 10 minutes absolutely fuming and declared the dog needs to be rehomed - he hasnt acknowledged him since 😫 ...... people keep telling me hes a teenager and will grow out of it, but I wonder at what point does that happen - if ever - or is this the dog weve now got to live with.

He sounds massively overstimulated.

Stop walking him in busy parks where you'll encounter other dogs and people. Either find a quieter route or hire a private field. Focus on getting his heel work and recall much better before you take him anywhere with a load of distractions.

If you have a friend with a well behaved dog, arrange to meet up in your garden or another quiet space. Don't let them bound up to each other. Practice turning them away from each other or walking past each other. Making them sit while you have a natter. They don't get to interact at all. Then say goodbye. The aim is to teach him to be calm and steady around other dogs, that they are not exciting playmates.

You do not need a dog walker to take him out in the middle of the day especially if you're walking him in the morning and evening. Just get someone sensible in to let him out for a wee in the garden. Contrary to popular belief, dogs don't need huge amounts of exercise.

He has to learn that visitors are none of his business. Our dog is kept in his crate when people visit. Sometimes I'll let him out to say hello on a lead, sometimes he stays in.

I agree with PP that you need some 1-1 training. Avoid anyone who says your pup needs "socialising" - the opposite is true.

And if he can't be trusted not to behave like an idiot in the garden, don't let him. Take him out on a lead to do his business then straight back inside.

His life needs to be a whole lot more boring.

www.wylanbriar.com/behavioural-information/the-terrible-teenage-stage/

This is worth a read. Other useful articles on same site.

That sounds really difficult @Puppystruggles . If it's any consolation, my pup was at his worst at 10 months. He had a couple of incidents of destructive chewing which he had never done even as a tiny teething puppy. And he was a bit of a nightmare with guests in the house. He is so much better now at 14 months. I do think they sort of lose their minds a bit in the adolescent stage (much like human teens).

How are you training calm/settle? Does he know how to stay in his own place? Have you tried the attention game?

With other dogs and runners/cyclists, can you take him somewhere he will see them from a distance? So before he reacts, you can give him treats to help him form positive associations. And then gradually you can move closer.

Sorry if I'm suggesting things you've already tried! I agree with PPs that a good trainer would be well worth it if you can find someone in your area.

Hang in there!

This sounds very very normal for a teenage dog. Believe me, I work with dogs and my own dog had me in tears when he was in his teenage years. I cried a LOT and really, really regretted him. But, we persisted and he came out the other side and he's absolutely fine now. It's hard, but give it time and lots of patience and you will be okay

I have a few questions: How much exercise, sleep and brain training does he get, on average, in a day? And how much time does he spend just relaxing? Do you give him access to things like frozen kongs and natural chews?

The reason I ask is that teenage dogs need a LOT of sleep. Way more than you would imagine. And they'll fight you every single step of the way. We put ours on a short metal/chain lead and tethered him to us when he wouldn't settle. He couldn't bite the lead, he couldn't run around and chew things or destroy things and we ignored any barking. Eventually, he'd settle, and after a few days of doing this, he learnt that lead = naps (we used a command). Then, we could get rid of the lead and just say "Go nap" and he'd go.

Exercise wise, too much of it can lead to a dog that's over-hyped and over-stimulated. At 10 months, I would try doing about an 60-90 minutes of exercise split across 2-3 walks. I always did a long morning walk with mine, and then one or two shorter walks as needed over the rest of the day, but I also made sure no two days were the same so that he didn't get used to set times.

After walks, he ALWAYS gets a chew or lick-mat of some sort (make sure to take this off his daily food allowance). Chewing and licking are both calming behaviours and mine very quickly got into the routine of walk, chew/lick, nap. He's four and a half now and that' still his routine after his walks!

As for the barking - you have a mixture of two very naturally, barky breeds - both Schnauzers and terriers love the sound of their own voice, so you might need to get the help of a trainer to tackle this one.

Best of luck with everything - it WILL get better, I promise!

It sounds really difficult. Definitely try and find a trainer for some one to one sessions, or a behavioruist on the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors website.

It does sound like he is over stimulated. If you aren't doing it, I would look at, slow walks where he can have a length of lead (not an extending lead, but 6-8ft normal lead works well) and sniff around, ths will tire him out and wind him down much more than fast road walking or running off lead. Also, as has been suggested, keeping to quiet areas, away from people for now might well help.

You can also try and help teach him impulse control with a game called 'it's your choice'. It's basically where you teach the dog desirable behaviours, but without having to give a cue. So, for example, if a puppy is jumping up at the worktop when you are preapring food. Ignore it. As soon as the pup sits, throw a treat on the floor in front of him. Repeat lots. The dog will learn to choose to sit when you prepare food because that is what is rewarding and you won't need to cue the sit, he will just do it. After a while you can educe the frequency of treats and eventually only give the odd one one the behaviour you want has been reinforced enough. You can use this in lots of scenarios.

I have a few questions: How much exercise, sleep and brain training does he get, on average, in a day? And how much time does he spend just relaxing?
I was wondering the same thing. It sounds as if he needs to learn to settle down and chill out a bit. You can work on slowly building up a down-stay, until you can leave him in one when you're out of the room. It does take a long time with some dogs, though, and it's much harder when there are distractions, so you have to build up either duration OR distance OR distraction each time, not all of them at once. I found it was helpful way of getting a young dog so chilled (or bored!) that she just fell asleep.

It's basically where you teach the dog desirable behaviours, but without having to give a cue. So, for example, if a puppy is jumping up at the worktop when you are preapring food. Ignore it. As soon as the pup sits, throw a treat on the floor in front of him. Repeat lots. The dog will learn to choose to sit when you prepare food because that is what is rewarding and you won't need to cue the sit, he will just do it.
I can vouch for this. I sort of did it by accident, but my dogs know that if they are pitas in the kitchen they get sent to their bed and the carrot trimmings and meat offcuts will not come their way. So they devote all their energy to being well-behaved.

Some puppies are just much harder work than others.