HELP!!! What to do when a puppy is being bad?!

[Samantha & Charlie]

Tonight has made me lose it to the point I'm crying. Charlie (4.5 months) has been acting up like crazy today.

 

It all started with Charlie's training class. We had to cut it short because he was not listening and did not want to do any of the commands.

 

Tonight, I took him out for his nightly walk and it was a disaster as usual. He does not listen during the walk and I thought if I got him a gentle leader, it would help. Wrong. He always tries to walk extremely fast to the point its not even enjoyable to walk him. All he does is choke himself basically. This has been going on for a few weeks.

 

When we get inside, he pees 3 times within a 15 minute span. He NEVER has accidents anymore, and if he does, it's like once a week. He didn't even alert me that he needed to go. He just went in the same spot for each of those 3 times.

 

Then he just starts acting BAD. He got crazy hyper and started running around the house super fast. I don't know where he got all this energy because he has been super tired all day since after his training class. However, he walks completely normal at training but is horrible when we walk around our community.

 

Is there anyway to discipline him? He needs to know this behavior is not acceptable. My husband thought we could get him a different crate (other than where he sleeps) to put him in when he acts up.

 

I hope this post doesn't trigger negative responses. I'm just at my wits end. Usually I can handle him but he has been super bad tonight. I'm not getting rid of him so please don't throw that out. I just have no idea to punish him correctly, or if that's even an option.

[Lindsay n Archie]

Just know you're not alone!!!! I think like 95% of us puppy owners think our dogs are crazy :) they get better. Mine acts super crazy when he has had too much stimulation of activity. We use the prong collar, it's the only thing that works for our walks. Archie is almost 10 months .

[Samantha & Charlie]

I just let him out of timeout and he goes right back to the spot where he previously peed and goes again. I have a hard time believing its a UTI since it JUST started happening tonight. I took him to the vet on Friday because of stomach issues and again on Monday for a hot spot (to make sure it wasn't a bite). I will be so upset if I need to spend more money on another visit.

[Vivian & Mojo]

My heart goes out to you and I understand. My puppy was a wild biting jumping little demon. I cried plenty and was heartbroken at how misbehaved he was. I was given much good advice on this site and am so thankful because slowly between the advice, his getting older and neutered he has calmed down so much but is still a work in progress.  .

The most important advice was to stop whatever we were doing when he acted up, if walking stop and change the mode to training so good to have training treats in your pocket. The walk must end if puppy is out of control or behavior will continue.

This also applied at home, switch to training mode and distract from the unwanted behavior. Engaging in a tug of war over power is a lose lose situation. I set up my puppy to win and if puppy is food motivated its easy. Doodles are very smart.

I also use his create as a rest period not as a punishment and would calmly bring him into the create with the attitude its good to rest.

For me I never punish just correct and build on the relationship between my puppy and myself so he chooses to please me. It took a lot of patience and time but it paid off.

Now my Mojo is 18 months old and starting up some rebellion so I'm getting my training treats ready and stepping up the pace.

I wish you luck with Charlie he is absolutely adorable.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Love this post! Extremely well said!

[Anita - Thunder, Noodle, Sparky]

He shouldn't choke when he is on his gentle leader - it is only around his nose and not his throat. Is it on correctly? Sparky used to buck like crazy and have a temper tantrum with the gentle leader.  We use the commend "wrong" whenever they do something we don't like and then try the task again. It would take about 7 houses or so to get him to stop bucking. Around 10 each night Sparky would get a second wind and run around the house like crazy and body slam us and anything in sight. We just laughed though, so he wasn't naughty, just C-R-A-Z-Y! I never laughed so much in my life. I am sorry you are not getting laughs from your guy, but they will come! Also, you don't want to crate for punishment. I would work on treats - lots of treats and positively reinforce his good behavior. Mine love to be good boys and girls and they just wiggle their butts whenever they are told how good they are. Find the positive in everything they do. Hang in there - it will get better. Talk to your trainer some more and see what they have in mind for positive reinforcement for commands you want. I was going to suggest UTI as well but if you ruled that out I am not sure what it would be. 

[Samantha & Charlie]

I'm sorry...he is using PetSafe Easy Walk Pet Harness. I didn't know the correct name for it. And it's not so much choking, but it's like he is because when he is done with walking, he is completely out of breath. I'm not ruling out a UTI but he was just at the vet on Friday and Monday. I just didn't know this could come on so quickly if it is a UTI. Is there a reason they get them? He is also on several medications, so I don't know if that is causing this. He is on prostora, metronidazole, and drontal. I started Drontal tonight for him. Maybe I need to look up the side effects.

[Nancye50]

I'm so sorry he's giving you such a hard time!  Baxter is my first puppy in 12 years so I'm relearning everything.  He's the first one I've had that I haven't gotten punishment advice.  It's a hard mindset to break & I'm still struggling with it, especially when he jumps on my kids.  I wish there was a "no tolerance" option for certain things!

Overall it sounds like you're in a really negative cycle, that's so hard!

[Samantha & Charlie]

Thank you for the positive comments everyone. I don't want people thinking I'm a bad puppy owner or anything. I don't hit him and I have really never punished him other than saying NO. I think he needs more discipline than that though because it seems he is trying to get away with things now. But Drontal doesn't have any side effects that I need to be concerned about for this situation.

[Linda And Loo]

Samantha, I agree you are not alone! I have had days when I thought about paying someone to take both dogs and then going out and buying a fish for a pet!! I am happy to tell you those days have passed! When things got bad, I put them in their crates with a chew toy and then I would give myself a time out from them! I would do something that I enjoyed doing, nothing to do with the dogs. Usually I returned with a better frame of mind to deal with their undesirable behavior! Sometimes you can do everything right and still not get the desired behavior. On those days chalk it up to puppy behavior and remind yourself tomorrow is another day and they will be another day older! Hang in there!

[Samantha & Charlie]

I've read that putting the dog in a crate when they are being bad is the wrong thing to do, but some online articles suggest that. We were thinking of buying him a crate that is just solely for his bad behavior, so he doesn't become afraid of the crate where he sleeps. Is that necessary?

[Linda And Loo]

When I put the dogs in their crates, I make sure I do it in a calm manner, even when I am mad at them! A few deep breathes help and don't slam the crate door shut! Then just walk away! I would give them a chew toy and most of the time they would take a nap! Now all I say is crate time and they waiting for me to close the door and I am off doing errands! They love their crates! If I am really busy around the house and I have lost track of them, they are usually asleep in their crates! RB turned 2 April 1 and Loo will be 2 on Dec 20. We have a 2 story house so we have crates downstairs and crates in our bedroom.

[Bob Johnston]

right or wrong we put sophie in time outs in her crate when she would go crazy. It seemed to work to calm her down because she eventually would take a nap. The best part was It gave us a time out to which made putting her in her crate worth it.