I am really struggling with our puppy

[NCforpuppyhelp]

Help please!

We have three dogs - two small ones who have no issues and one large crossbreed puppy who is 7 months old now.

Puppy is housetrained and knows lots of commands e.g. sit but has so much energy he can only do a command for a second before going back into crazy mode. I WFH mostly and only go in when DH is home so the dogs are rarely left alone. Puppy needs strict supervision at all times as he will swallow whole anything he can fit into his mouth. He runs around and knocks both children and adults over all day. He has a crate for his safety at night but of course he can't be in that too often, although the crate is the only time he and we are safe. He is not nasty and has never bitten or growled, but will bulldoze anyone or thing in front of him as he is very big and strong and oblivious. He does not at any point lay down for a cuddle etc. He absolutely flattens the other dogs. The dogs are walked but the smaller ones can't manage the same speed or walk length as the puppy who wants to run fast which causes issues. I do take the puppy for a long run of a few miles 2-3 times per week but I am too exhausted to manage more often and it doesn't seem to make a difference as he has just as much energy after. Daily life is becoming so hard as he's harder to supervise than a toddler and I'm struggling to work when he needs so much supervision. I expect to have to dedicate time to a puppy but its been continual for five months and training isn't improving things.

There was a recent incident which has damaged my bond with him. I know he didn't mean it and it was instinctual but despite normally being closely supervised in the garden which in itself is exhausting, he managed to break into the rabbit run (which is fox proof and I am very surprised he got in) and he mauled one of the rabbits. Despite reinforcing the run and digging it down, he now breaks into the rabbit run daily even while supervised as he just refuses to come to call when trying to break into the run. Its an expensive run but where the damage each day is repaired its getting progressively weaker and I don't want to buy a new run as he will immediately destroy it. I tried putting a second cheap run around the first to protect it but he destroyed it in minutes. I can't keep him on the lead in the garden as he likes to run up and down the full length of our very large garden constantly and I think restricting his movement would just make his overexcitement worse. We can't have visitors anymore as he cant be left unattended while seeing a visitor and he can't be let out while visitors are here as he will hurt them with his jumping/continual running into people.

DH suggested speaking to the breeder about taking the puppy back. I've never rehomed a pet and I feel very ashamed to even consider it. I don't want the puppy to feel unloved or rejected. I don't know what to do but I've been reading about cross breeds sometimes getting bad traits from each breed and never calming down. For months I've coped by focussing on how this is short term and he will calm down, but this level of energy is something I've never experienced in a dog and I'm really worried its going to be forever.

We had a sprollie (Springer X collie); and a Labrador, both from pups. At 7-8 months they were a complete nightmare and I wanted to send them both back from whence they came.
Teenage dogs are a right handful and noone tells you!
Your doggie will calm down and grow up but in the meantime needs loads of exercise to burn off his energy.

It's all very well people saying "do scent games" or "he needs to learn to settle", but for a working mix like this, they need exercise as well as those things. A kong or chucking some treats in the garden isn't a substitute for proper, off-lead, stimulating physical exercise. They're meant to be additions, not "instead ofs".

Their seems to be a bit of a trend recently in the dog community with people talking about how vital mental enrichment is - and yes, it is important, but it needs to be done on top of appropriate amounts of physical exercise. Working dogs like this need to be able to get off-lead, run and follow their noses. Restricting them to two loops of the same walk everyday is just not going to tick the boxes needed to get them to settle.

I walk a lot of working-breed dogs and while they all thrive on mental enrichment, they need that physical outlet too. They need to run, to sniff, to chase, to follow their noses - yes, the mental enrichment helps, but it's not enough by itself.

Am I reading this right, you have a pet dog and pet rabbits and your dog terrorises your rabbits and you are accepting of this?

He mauled your rabbit and gets in the pen daily… and you can’t do anything to prevent him from accessing it ? Crated for safety…

Please return to breeder whilst still young and cute enough to get an appropriate home.

Exercise is overrated, whilst young it’ll not stopping them going in for a kill. Walk him ten hours, he will still go for that rabbit pen. The alternative is you rehome your pet rabbits.

I would be rehoming the rabbits not the puppy.

He will calm down in time but the rabbits will probably always be something that cause issues. He seems to think they are the same as the toy ones my 10 month Lab puppy destroys for fun.

I'd do the same as @Twiglets1 . With a lot of work, you might be able to get a gundog puppy comfortable with pet rabbits, but if he's already hurt one, I wouldn't want to take the risk - and at the moment it's not clear that you're able to put in the intensive work you'd need to do (no judgement here, my puppy nearly took off my arm this morning when he saw a squirrel).

The idea that more exercise will fix this situation is misguided in my experience.
As others have said you need to change the style of his walks and engage with him.
If he wants to stop for a sniff try and see what's engaging him, it will help you provide enrichment at home when you understand what drives him.
And for goodness sake (from bitter experience!) put all your effort into teaching him to settle and switch off after a walk.
I don't know why it took us so long to work this out, why puppy would come home more wired after a fulfilling walk.
Simple question but does he know 'lie down' and 'in your bed'?
Not as a punishment but just to chill?

OP you may have left the thread, but if not it would be handy to know if he's working lines or not? Adolescent dogs can really struggle to settle and it can be even worse if they're working dogs and you've not taught them (ask me how I know - I'm typing this having had to get in the bed with the dog to get him to nap...)

😝 we have a Weimaraner so no 'show' or 'working' dogs.
They're all just weims.
But to the point, even now he's two, if we want him to have a nap during the day I'll invariably have to sit on sofa with him.
I believe in human children it's called 'contact napping' and it's definitely a thing in our house 😝

You are now in 'big dog territory'.
He's not doing anything wrong and to expect to get anything done WFH with ANY dog under a year old is living in cloud cuckoo land.
You are brave to admit the bond is broken and personally I think you should contact the (highly irresponsible) 'breeder' who sold you a dog that is basically made from two working breeds who literally bounce off the walls. People like your DH work friend who sell dogs like this to naive buyers make me very cross. They are just chancers trying to make money-no breeding experience at all. Good breeders will not cross these two bloodlines and also breed for temperament.
I have worked in rehoming/welfare for many years and it is brave to say you can't cope. No dog pines for its previous family for very long, they move on very quickly, especially when young.
Your main priority is to get him back to the breeder, who from respond your post is unlikely to be in a position to take him, or contact SpanielAid and see whether they can help.
Alternatively, and your heart has to be in it, hire a good behaviourist (not just a trainer) IDMT are good - and accept you are going to have a hard couple of years ahead.
For now, I'd put him on a house line (a lead about 1.5m long) and keep him attached or near to you all the time. That way you can correct everything he's doing. He seems to have had far too much freedom and any dog that age would be hard pressed to not to want to chase a rabbit. They are prey-more so to some breeds than others.
I sincerely hope you find a solution .

Absolutely this. You cannot replace physical enrichment with mental. You can add to it but you can't replace. When my young terrier was spayed and was on rest after about 10 days she was climbing the walls, even though she was back to obedience classes and I did as much mental stuff as either of us could stomach. She isn't a runner as such but she needed to just be a dog outside, in the countryside.

My OH WFH with ours fully flexibly (he works mainly alone, with the odd meeting) and still got very behind and had to catch up when I got home and took over. It's really really hard work. It gets better but then will dip again. Really we didn't begin to enjoy it until she as around 18 months and we're both dog people and know what we are doing!

The work/show split isn't anything like as pronounced (yet) in the HPRs as it is in a lot of other gun dogs, though I'd argue that is probably more pronounced in Weims than in a lot of the other HPR breeds. A lot of Weim breeders have zero interest in working their dogs, so the working traits (which can be bloody hard to live with if you don't do the right things for the dog) will inevitably be lost.

I was literally an hour ago talking a bloke who has field trialled and bred Weims, and he mentioned how he went to Europe to find a suitable stud for his last bitch, and the people who have bred his line on have done the same. The pool of good quality working Weims in the UK is pretty small.

You still get HPRs who win in shows and also worked and successfully trialled. Some people who work their dogs take them to Crufts to try to ensure that the working type remains the standard. This means that a lot of HPR puppies sold into pet homes are very driven, and this is where a lot of dogs and owners can end up with problems.

But yeah, the velcro-ness of a lot of the HPR breeds is pretty famous. My two have been known to come and find someone to sit on the sofa with them and look put out if the request is declined!

7 months is pure teenage stage. Ours was horrendous at this age.

Our walks from this age which is 15 months - and training still ongoing; her walks are not just a plod round the block. She's off lead walking twice a day (or on longline if we aren't sure of route) and during those walks she isn't just walking but doing engagement games, snuffling food, working on impulse control, sit/stays, fetching dummies, hide and seek, and sniffing. We also do gundog training, scentwork and obedience classes.

On days when I'm at the office she has a dog walker who takes her for a run around in an enclosed field for an hour.

In her younger months we know we have to work at this and we feel that due to the work we do, she's a very easy dog at home. Zero separation anxiety, copes on days I have to be in office, and settles well at night.

She's a working line lab and while we haven't decided if we will take her on shoots with friends, pet gundog training has been very good for her recently.

It's a lot of work but the good news is it isn't impossible and once you're in the habit almost becomes second nature!

Has he been to any dog training? My lab cross is 9 now but she was an absolute arse until she was 2!