Is it common for puppies to backslide at six months old?

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

My goldendoodle puppy Barley Barker turned six months old on May 17 which seems to mark a strange change in his behavior. I'm considering changing his name to Bratty Barker. I've had him since he was 12 weeks ago. Up until recently, he has never been destructive. He's very gentle with his toys. He chews his plush toys just enough to make the squeakers squeak, and he likes to cuddle them. However, he's never ripped them up unlike our other three dogs. He's always had a laundry fetish and steals clothes, but he hadn't damaged any clothing. He just liked to carry it around in his mouth and have us chase him to get it back. The only thing he's slightly damaged is the area rug in the family room by pulling some of the threading on the braidwork. We don't allow this and redirect him to his toys, but it's not too big of a deal since we can flip the rug when he gets older. Also, he had seemed to be completely house-trained and hadn't had an accident in the house since he was four months old. He usually barks and whines at the front door to let us know he has to go out. As a result, I've gone from watching him like a hawk to giving him more freedom throughout the house.because I thought he was becoming a "big boy" now. His training has been going pretty well because I've had him in puppy K and advanced puppy K since he was 14 weeks old. It got to the point where his outside recalls were at 100%, even if he was in the side yard and couldn't see me. I was so proud of him, but I guess pride comes before a fall.

 

During the past week and a half, he has become surprisingly destructive and has seemed to have backslidden. This week he had two pee accidents in the house. Last week while sorting laundry, he stole my one and only black bra and chewed it up. Two days later my mom and I went to Kohl's. We brought the dogs with us since it was a cool day. I tried on and bought a replacement bra. When we put the Kohl's bag in the car, we ran into Dunkin' Donuts to buy coffee.When we came out, I noticed that Barley had something in his mouth. Apparently, he had rummaged through the  Kohl's bag. Out of all the stuff in the bag, he of course found my brand new replacement bra and proceeded to chew it and the plastic hanger. We hadn't even left the parking lot yet. Stupid us for not tying the bag shut, but he had never done that before and there was a chew toy in the car to amuse him. Then the day before yesterday, Barley stole a teddy bear from the top of a bookshelf. Unfortunately, this bear was a family heirloom. It was expensively custom-made from my grandmother's old mink coat. It was like a horror movie when I went into my bedroom and saw a glass eye on my bed quilt. Barley had pulled out an eye and slobbered all over the bear. I optimistically think it can be repaired and cleaned, but my mother was livid. Also, it's been difficult training him this week. He is barely listening to me and not coming when called, even turning his back on me. I feel like he's flipping me the paw.

 

Is this normal behavior for when a puppy turns six months old? Will it get better? Is it my fault? Is there anything I need to do besides being patient and waiting for him to grow out of it? I'm watching him more carefully until this "phase" hopefully  passes.

[Sandra Griffith]

Perfect!! Barley's lucky to have you. This stage is why I do not reccommend to my clients that they let their dogs have unsupervised freedom until their puppy is at least 12 months old (sometimes older depending on the puppy). The puppies so often seem to be such well-behaved perfect little angels and then it seems as though overnight they are posessed by the devil. I have experienced this same stage with my three human children (lol).

Apparently they were having this same problem in Kenya with the adolescent male elephants. Apparently when they reach that young adolescent age, the male elephants go off on their own. They are usually kept in line by the adult male elephants, but so many of the adults had been poached for their beautiful tusks that these young adolescent males did not have the normal supervision and were harassing other animals (such as the rhinos) and causing serious harm. Some adult bull elephants were brought in to be with the renegade adolescents and this quickly solved the problem.

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Ah, thanks so much Sandra! I'm trying to be a good puppy "mommy". I've had enough experience with my family's dogs to trust that this too will pass. However, too much freedom too fast= trouble so I'll continue being closely observant. I have been calling him the "devil dog" and "Bratty Barker" this week. During his wackiness last week, he accidentally knocked over a porcelain dog bowl and it shattered. He immediately grabbed a piece of it and I immediately grabbed him and pulled a piece out of his mouth. That scared me and reinforced the fact that I can't let him out of my sight. Also, all of the porcelain dog bowls have now been replaced with stainless steel bowls.

That's really interesting about the elephants in Kenya...and also very sad. I'm glad a solution was found to socialize the young male renegades, but it shows how people's greed has such long-reaching negative effects on other living things.

[Allen and Pamela Kerstetter]

Duke also has entered the terror stage, it was like he forgot all his learning curves to please and become the bad boy who is testing your patience. I notice this about the same age. Guess we will find out together , although Duke is now 8 months. Stuff toys are now in shreds but he still loves to play with them. So I sew them, he watches and waits, and then he can't understand why the stuffing doesn't come out afterward. So he finds a new spot to chew. Shoes are his fetish and it looks like Sneakers are the number #1 choice, flip flops are running a close second, underwear is bonus points. We have learned to put things on the top back of furniture for now. (not the underwear)

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Hhmm, we'll have to keep each other updated on our little rebels. Barley hasn't attacked his own toys yet, just my and my family's stuff. When he brings clothes, I've been "exchanging" the socks, shoes, underwear, sleep pants, etc. with one of his toys. Lately I've been finding his toys in the clothes basket. It seems he's begun his own exchange of toys for clothes.

[Sandra Griffith]

This is too funny! I love Barley's exchange. All laughter aside, trading for something better (to the dog) is the best way to go when trying to get back an item from a dog. Chasing them down and grabbing it out of their mouths can lead to two majour problems: 1) the dog thinks (and is delighted) that you are instituting a game of chase and will look forward to this game in the future 2) grabbing things out of the mouth can potentially lead to aggression issues. When trading try to trade for higher value items than the one that they have. Training for this doesn' hurt either: use 2 toys that are the same, give you dog one to play with, and then trade for the identical toy. Having said this, we all know that there will be times that it will be necessary to remove something from our mischievous dog's mouths (that cooked chicken bone for instance).

Karen Pryor in her book Don't Shoot the Dog tells of a zoo keeper working with chimps. The chimps were being trained and rewarded with carrot sticks. The trainers noticed that one of the chimps was not eating his carrots but saving them instead. They figured that perhaps he was just saving them to eat outside where he usually liked to enjoy his treats (the weather had been terrible so the chimp hadn't been outside in a few days). Nice weather finally came and the gate was opened to let the chips go outside. The hoarding chimp turned to the trainer and gave her the saved carrots as a reward for finally opening the gate so that they could go outside. Who's doing the training here?

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

I love that chimp story! That's adorable. It does seem like Barley is doing some of that.

Thanks for the advice about exchanging high reward items for clothes with Barley. My puppy K trainer did say I should go to the fridge and give him a high reward item such as cheese. I was concerned that since the "chase game" had become a reward, that food would become an even higher reward and he'd start stealing clothes even more often. So, I've been exchanging soft toys for clothes. However, I'll try food next time. I haven't been pulling the clothes out of his mouth out of fear of ripping them or pulling out puppy teeth; I want him to offer or release the items. So, I'll take a gentle hold of the item and say "Give." When he releases the item, I take it and give him a toy. Is that okay? I could start using food for the "Give" exchange.

[Sandra Griffith]

Sounds as though you are doing such a good job! Try working on the "give" cue on a regular basis (not just when you really NEED to get the item back). When he gives up the item, give him a treat. Also, sometimes have him give you the item, reward, then give the item back (of course make sure that it is an item that you are ok with him having) This way he will not always associate giving the item up with the end of all the fun. I do this frequently with toys (say at least 20 to 30 times a day). Try to physically manage items that you do not wish him to have by keeping them picked up and inaccessible to the best of your ability so that he does not get in the habit of getting things he should not have (I know, this is easier said than done...). It sounds as though you have a good trainer for advice.

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Thanks for the wonderful advice and encouragement Sandra. Yes, I think the trainer at the puppy K class is very good. She gives us written homework each week to review which I find very helpful. I'll do the "give" practice with him as you suggested. I picked up some high rewards for him today that I'll know he'll like. =) He's a good boy. My mom inadvertently taught him to jump up on us as a greeting. (She wanted him to give us "hugs" like our St. Bernard/Pyrenees mix. That got old fast with me.) He's started doing that to us and our trainer, who he now likes. So, per our trainer's advice, I'm working the "excuse me" cue with him. I took him to PetSmart today. I'm so happy. He didn't jump up on anyone, though I guess he wasn't doing that on a regular basis to strangers anyway. He sat quietly and let them pet him, and rolled over on his back for tummy rubs. Despite his brattiness the past couple of weeks, I think he's a good boy. I do try to physically manage items most of the time, but the main problem is my parents' bedroom. They don't like it when I close their door, but they leave their laundry hampers accessible at nose level and sort their clothes on the floor. I know now to sort my laundry when he's crated!

[Allen and Pamela Kerstetter]

What is the "excuse me" cue, it may be something I can put in our training bank to learn. In exchange , I give you the touch cue, where you teach the puppy to touch your hand with his nose,which we turned it into the Obama bump. We make a downward fist and he touch-bumps it with his nose when you say touch or bump. In return, he gets a treat (until it is just natural). That way if he is where you want to sit, you have him move elsewhere to touch the hand while you get your spot back. Example he bumps your fingers with his nose at the other side of the couch and you dont have to tug him to move. Its impressive to be smarter than the doodle.

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

IAh, I've learned that in my puppy K class but I've been calling it "Here". The Obama bump is cute! The only problem is that every time my hand is dangling, Barley nose-bumps it for a treat! Thanks for sharing ideas with me. I haven't been utilizing it as well as I should and I'll start using that to bring him in closer to me.

The "excuse me" cue is used to reclaim your space. It's useful for if your dog jumps up on you as you come in through the front door, or if you just need your dog to move. For example, it gets a little crowded at the kitchen sink while I'm preparing breakfast. (My family has four dogs.) You can step toward your dog's shoulder. As the dog yields, click and treat. (I'm doing clicker training with Barley.) When your dog starts to yield as soon as you step toward him/her, name the behavior "Excuse Me." I'm quoting from my puppy k homework: "By working with this gentle yield to pressure, your dog is learning to yield to people as they walk toward them, giving you time to cue your dog to "sit" and reward for proper greeting."

Another useful command has been "Settle" that brings the puppy to lay on his or her side. My trainer said that dogs feel naturally relaxed when they're on their side, and it calms them down at the vet or anywhere else I suppose. It begins while the dog is in a down position. Holding a treat, you can then bring your hand in and gently push against the dog's shoulder so he/she lies on his/her side. I then rub Barley's side and say "Good settle." You can also cue it with "Bang! Bang!" to play dead, or "1, 2, 3...you're hypnotized!" I'm boring and just do "Settle." It can also be transitioned into a "roll-over" cue by continuing your hand motion from the dog's shoulder in an arch to the floor on the other side. The dog follows the treat and rolls over.

[Lori]

I too am on the "I think it's normal behavior" page. Leo, our Goldendoodle, is now 10 months old. He's always been a handful and we refer to him as "the terrorist" but it seems to go in cycles. Right about the time I think "Gee, Leo is really turning out to be a good dog" he'll go and do some dastardly deed. He still LOVES to eat paper. I only crate him at night but when I'm out in the daytime he gets locked in the back hall/laundry area of our house. I've taken to calling it his office and say, "Go to your office Leo!" and about half the time he goes willingly and the other half it requires a pursuit - or a bribe. :-) He's always been super great about potty training - but that's actually how we ended up with this particular puppy! (He was the one who always seemed to use the paper at the breeder's home.) I've tried letting him have the run of the house a couple times on the weekends. He does all right if I make him go sleep with my daughter, but if he feels like he has the run of the house, it's trouble. He ate my bluetooth headset a couple of weeks ago.

I just keep reminding myself of the movie "Big" because it describes Leo perfectly. He's a big dog but at 10 months he totally acts like a puppy - he still falls off the couch and lands on his head because he's a complete klutz. I've noticed it just kind of cycles through. He'll be awful about one thing for awhile and then he'll stop messing with whatever that is and move on to something else and be awful about that for awhile - and be good about something else! And then sometimes he'll go back to something he used to do. For example I thought we were done with counter surfing, not having had an incident for about five or six weeks, and then the other night, there was Leo in the living room with a large knife hanging out of his mouth. I think he liked the wooden handle. Sigh. One thing my daughter discovered is that when we really need or want to catch him, sometimes tossing a throw pillow on him if he's on the couch, or a small blanket or throw, will get him to just hold still rather than run. Or we trade with him - a nice bribe for the coveted item. We try not to chase him but sometimes - like when he's swiped my daughter's homework we have to get the item. And homework is made from the greatest treasure on earth, PAPER!!! And Leo has lots of appropriate things to chew on - he has several elk antlers, which he really likes, and a couple of bones on ropes. But sometimes I guess the temptation is just too great. There's definitely a reason that we're in the Puppy Madness group until they are two years old!!! Good luck!! At least the weather has improved so they can go outside more now!
Lori

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Thanks for the encouragement, Lori! Your doodle looks like my family's older goldendoodle Daisy Mae. Daisy LOVES her red Kong frisbee, and just the word "frisbee" gets her excited. I can't believe Leo was carrying a knife! At least he had the handle in his mouth.

Barley seems to be going in cycles, too. So far, he hasn't been bad with the counter surfing. We'll see how long that lasts! I'm following Sandra's and my puppy K trainer's advice and using high reward treats for trading. Last night was pretty horrible though. He had a dead mouse in his mouth from outside and I didn't have time to trade. Yuck. Barley likes paper too. In fact, he ripped my state tax return and I had to tape it back together. It's hard to clean anything up with paper towels around here. I think you're right. Barley has a bazillion toys accessible to him, but sometimes the temptation is just too great. I think he loves clothes because they smell like his people. He's also especially bad when he wants attention.

I love the Puppy Madness group! Good luck to you, too. I'm also following various people's advice and taking Barley for longer walks. That's helping a lot.