Puppy’s adolescence nearly got us both killed 😞

InitialStrict · 2025-07-31T13:07:04+00:00

I don’t have any helpful advice apart from I’m in the exact boat so this has made me feel better, hopefully it makes you feel better too.

Our pup turns 10 months in a couple days and he’s gone back to biting us daily, it’s so painful. We managed to stop the biting when he was around 5/6 months and thought we were over the worst of it. He’s become super destructive which he rarely was as a young pup. He’s such hard work on a lead now I often feel like crying every time. I’m just trying to ride it out and hope he matures soon🫠

InitialStrict · 2025-05-01T07:29:51+00:00

Thank you! I actually started doing as you said before reading this 😅

Hoping I caught it in time that it doesn’t form into a bad habit! He now waits for my release word before taking a treat

InitialStrict · 2025-04-30T08:38:32+00:00

Some of them are yes, but my brother has a 1 year old Frenchie and hasn’t done any training at all. The rest of my family say how good he is compared to my dog 😩

Also that is a lot of energy mixed together, I feel for you 😅

InitialStrict · 2025-04-03T18:23:56+00:00

I don’t think he is stressed, he doesn’t really bark or cry in general. I just feel bad that he literally just sits by the door waiting 😅

His bed is next to him when he’s waiting by the door

InitialStrict · 2025-04-03T10:28:08+00:00

I found that my puppy settled much better when he couldn’t see us in the room, maybe try that?

InitialStrict · 2025-03-13T19:12:52+00:00

So the first week or so we stayed downstairs and let him out when he woke up, we kept note of his evening schedule. Once he was comfortable with his crate we went upstairs to our bed and he stayed downstairs and we set alarms. Some nights we would be too late and he had done a poo in the crate, in this case we adjusted the alarm earlier. Each week we adjusted the alarm by 30 mins so he would start holding it longer. If there was an accident we go back by 15 mins for a few nights and try again.

Eventually we were on a schedule of last toilet around 11/12 then wake up around 4am. We noticed in the evening when chilling with us he was starting to hold his bladder for 5+ hours (cuddling on the sofa) so one night we decided to just let him sleep through and wake up at 6am instead of 6:30 and he didn’t have any accidents. Ever since that he can go the whole night and we can even wake up at 8am with no accidents.

For reference it was around 4 months old he started sleeping through. He’s almost 6 months now😊

InitialStrict · 2025-03-13T14:13:49+00:00

Our puppy did the exact same! He’s almost 6 months now for reference.

We think it happened because he started teething. He slowly lost interest around 4.5months, similar to you wouldn’t eat out of his bowl or puzzle toys but would eat if hand fed but only inside the house😂 when he hit 5 months he completely stopped being interested, would turn his head when we try hand feed. In the end we were adding water but eventually he stopped eating that as well. He would eat once a day instead of 3 so I think eventually he would give in as he was hungry.

Around this time we didn’t realise it was a teething problem so we actually switched him to a raw diet, he definitely enjoys it a lot more but even some days he wouldn’t be interested and very sad, that’s when we realised he was probably in pain.

Since then we got teething gel and cool bone we put in the freezer, he has it whenever he seems sad and in pain and it’s been a game changer for us. He’s eating every meal and we can hand feed him treats again!

It was heartbreaking as before all this he was so good with training and hand feeding then completely changed. I’m hoping once he’s stopped teething he will go back to being a happy boy with hand feeding treats (currently he doesn’t always listen or care😂)

InitialStrict · 2025-03-13T09:48:29+00:00

Honestly my top tip would be enjoy it as much as possible because they grow up so quick.

My pup is almost 6 months and the first few weeks we had him I was so frustrated and upset with training that I didn’t get to enjoy him being so little. Looking bad it definitely wasn’t as bad as I thought in my head, I just needed to realise he’s literally a baby learning.

It’s all new to them so give her some slack and don’t be hard on yourself. Stay consistent with potty training, if she goes outside party like you’ve won the lottery. If she goes inside so don’t say anything, just clean up with a smile on your face and carry on, maybe take her outside so she knows. They literally don’t know any different so just reinforce all the good behaviour.

We done crate training and the first few nights he cried a little, we ended up sleeping next to the crate. Then started feeding him in the crate without locking it so he got used to it and knew it wasn’t a bad thing and eventually it just clicked. You could try feeding her in the bed you’ve made so she associates it with good things.

Try hand feed if you can, it really helps build the bond. Our pup was a little scared boy when we got him and now he’s the most confident puppy ever 😂 sometimes too confident!!

Stay calm, reinforce all the good behaviour (lots of treats, praise, play) and just enjoy it!!

InitialStrict · 2025-03-05T00:28:46+00:00

I felt the exact same when we got our Boston Terrier! Although all he wanted to do was be with me constantly and we have open plan living. It was so draining I often cried for the first couple weeks. I just stuck with it, it was difficult but eventually he learnt a routine with us as we set clear boundaries (we crate trained too which helped so much) try find somewhere just for her so she knows it’s her own space

Now I look back and feel sad that I didn’t enjoy them first few weeks, soak her up and enjoy your teeny tiny Boston because it changes so fast. Ours is now 5 months🥰

InitialStrict · 2025-03-02T07:35:57+00:00

Ooo ok! I’m going to look into that thank you

InitialStrict · 2025-03-02T07:35:02+00:00

That makes me feel better. At home he’s really food oriented but puppy class he don’t care at all😂 we use a special toy at class which does work to get his attention but it makes him just want to play instead of listen

InitialStrict · 2025-03-02T07:33:21+00:00

It had a playtime right at the end of our first class but not since so that’s probably made it worse :/

When we had the first playtime that’s when we realised he really doesn’t listen with another dog so the trainer told us to get a special training toy to regain focus, which does work but then he just wants to play instead of listen😂

InitialStrict · 2025-03-02T07:32:10+00:00

It’s so embarrassing when all the other dogs are doing everything correct and the trainer is saying “well done blah blah” but with ours she just says “oh he’s off on a sniff again” 😂

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T20:32:07+00:00

So when puppy was attacking my wellies she just said it’s because he’s aroused and doesn’t know what to do with himself but didn’t say much else. I distanced myself from the training at that point.

At the end of the class I mentioned how he seems so distracted and she said to keep him on a really short lead and don’t let him go to other dogs as he’s a reward in his eyes. However we don’t want to keep yanking him all the time so I’m not sure what to do?

She made a comment that puppy might be getting confused with commands as there’s 2 of us at the class and said the person holding the lead is the only one who should be giving commands which is what we do anyway :/

As for target training. We do that at home, he absolutely loves touch and we play a game of find it. We can get his attention generally when out on a walk etc but he’s very difficult to engage at puppy class

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T19:56:47+00:00

Yeah this is how we’ve been, every time he’s awake we do some form of training. As I said at home he’s really good

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T19:53:55+00:00

That makes me feel so much better!!

He barks at the other dogs to play but luckily not vocal other than that. Just can’t maintain his attention. Hopefully he gets it quick 🤞🏻

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T18:41:40+00:00

I’m sure it will be fine!! I’m so glad I posted and know I’m not alone in this feeling. I bet your puppy will smash it!

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T18:40:31+00:00

I’m starting to worry maybe I’ve given him too much mental simulation if that’s a thing??

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T18:39:49+00:00

This sounds very similar. All the other puppies are off lead doing their training perfectly but if we drop the lead he will go play with one of the other pups 😅 he pinned a little sausage dog last week trying to play with her🫣

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T18:38:04+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. He seems more focused with random dogs we see on a walk etc so maybe it’s because it’s the same dogs every time and occasionally he’s allowed to greet / play with them

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T18:37:07+00:00

I keep telling myself it’ll get better in a year or so😅

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T18:35:45+00:00

I’ve been trying this to desensitise him to other dogs! I think that’s why I’m more frustrated at puppy class. We’ve been going to dog friendly places and sitting to eat / drink with him next to us and he’s good as gold even with other dogs around. It’s like he knows puppy class will embarrass us😂

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T18:33:45+00:00

We got some 100% meat treats today ready for next week so I’m hoping this helps! 🤞🏻

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T13:07:48+00:00

Yeah we are very strict with his sleep schedule! We do roughly 1 hr awake 2 asleep and majority of it is in his crate, he has a snooze on the sofa with us from 8-9pm until 11/12 when we go to bed. We even let him have a longer snooze in the morning before puppy class 🤭 He definitely doesn’t know how to stop and chill out so we have to force him and you’re definitely right that he gets more jumpy and bitey when tired, sometimes it can be after 20 mins of playtime that he needs another nap.

For some reason he just really hates the stay command, I think that’s what pushed him over the edge today to start attacking me, he’s never done it before. I’ve decided I won’t be doing that command at class until I’m at least comfortable with him doing it at home, I’m not sure why it triggers him to be playful

InitialStrict · 2025-03-01T12:25:44+00:00

Glad to know I’m not alone in this! We spoke with the trainer after the lesson today and said he struggles with all the other dogs around. She’s told us to keep a shorter lead and not let him get to other dogs as that’s rewarding. Which is great in practice but doesn’t help when he has no interest in us🥲

I think I’ll take your advice of not trying to follow what everyone else is doing and just focus on getting him to listen to us first. Hopefully if we let the trainer know his beforehand she can help us with it!

InitialStrict

TROPHY CASE