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.

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin also began tearing apart some of his stuffed toys at that age instead of the gentle playing. Coincidentally he also chewed one of my bras that before he would only play "show and tell" with. I responded by taking the cloth stuff away and giving him real bones to chew on. I wonder if Barley's need for exercise has increased. You may want to lengthen his walks and give his some task to wear him out psychologically (for example treat balls, hiding treats, playing hide and seek with him) to see if that helps.

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Thanks so much BruceGirl! He does have a variety of toys, but I think I'll try hide and seek and lengthening my walks with him. I got him a Monster Mouth treat ball, but he doesn't seem to like it too much.

[Lynne B]

I think it's completely normal, at 5-6 months puppies seem to go through a phase where they 'forget' everything they learned. Murphy is 6 months and he has been trained NOT to go in the kitchen since he was around 13-14 weeks- well 3 days in a row he has gone into the kitchen when I wasn't around and took the kitchen sponge off the counter and chewed it up. Goofy dog! There was food on the counter too but I guess the sponge seemed more attractive. So, now I have restricted him a bit so that he can't go near the kitchen unless I am there to watch that he doesn't enter it because I don't want him to continue self-reinforcing his counter surfing ways..

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Thanks Lynne. I feel better after yours and BruceGirl's comments. I'm watching him more, and I'll follow BruceGirl's advice about more challenging exercise.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

He is going through his "teenage" stage. Most of our doodles went through this and you will get through it. Peri went from a basket full of toys to destroying every plush one she had. She has still not grown out of that at 13 months.
My tips: way more exercise, lots and lots of training, reinforce/teach new tricks, use a baby gate to keep him contained if needed. Peri turned a slight corner around 9-10 months. Now at 13 months, I really think it is safe to say that she is becoming much more the companion and loving dog and growing out of that crazy puppy/teenage stage.
Oh buy some elk or deer antlers. Try antlerpantry.com TRUST ME! Worth a try - they last forever.

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Thanks so much Allyson! I found myself doing less training with him this week out of frustration. I'll just have to keep at it, perhaps in more frequent but shorter sessions. I'll try the elk and deer antlers. He loves hooves, but they probably don't last as long as the antlers.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Lucy turned 6 1/2 months old today. She, too, has all the classic back-sliding traits. Training is a struggle (and very frustrating for me), when before she was so attentive and alert to commands and signals. Now she'll cooperate only if she really feels the payoff is worth it. STAYS are non existent these days. And YES, exercise helps tremendously in turning bad behavior into good. The more tired she is the better she behaves. Lucy, too, has become a stealthy counter surfer, taking paper and dish cloths and ripping them (the paper at least) to shreds. We've had to take her stuffed toys away too, as she destroys them easily. I think those adult teeth really contribute to that. I'll try the antlers, as bully sticks don't have the appeal they once had. Thanks Allyson for that tip! I just wish our stormy weather would clear and May would start behaving as it should.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

A quick story: i remember chasing Peri around, trying to get her to go into her crate while we left home - that was around 6-7 months of age. She is no longer in the crate very much, but I do still put her in sometimes during the day during work (about 1/2 the time, depends on my mood). She knows when I am about to leave now and that when I get a special treat from her jar, it is her crate time. I couldn't find her today and she had opened her crate and went in, sitting there waiting for treat and rest time. This has started over the past few weeks.
Everyone in the teenage stage just keep that in mind. It is overnight that they get better. But it takes training and patience.
Yes, try the antlers! WE LOVE!!!!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Lucy also goes into her crate by herself at certain times during the day out of habit. She prefers to sleep in there too. This started several weeks ago. It is good to know the adolescent stage passes similar to how that early puppy stage did. I really am dreading intermediate class tonight, though. She started out the star pupil, and now she's not quite the star she once was. I have to learn to RELAX and quietly deal with her stubborn ways, rather than become frustrated and anxious. That can only contribute to Lucy's acting up. I WILL put an honest effort into it tonight!

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Hhmm, thanks Allyson and Debb for the stories. It's good to know it's just not me who is experiencing this. I also feel myself getting frustrated and anxious sometimes, and I'm sure Barley can feel that through the leash. I also need to continue to put in an honest effort each day with the training and not just hope the bad behavior will go away. Hhmm, Barley isn't quite that good at going into his crate. When he knows it's crate time, he'll roll over on his back for a belly rub and get really floppy.It's like he's saying, "I'm too cute to go in my crate!" Sometimes I can coax him with a high reward treat, He loves Velveeta cheese. Other times, he's determined to stay out and I have to get his leash. He will go in on his own if I'm in my bedroom on the computer. The crate door is open and he feels like he's just hanging out with me.

[Sandra Griffith]

Everyone here is quite right. You've entered adolescence! This is a time to "go back to kindergarten". Go back to your old training routine. Keep your puppy supervised at all times to help with his housetraining. Unfortunately this is one of the most common times that uneducated dog owners give up their dogs as just when they think their dog is "under control" they start misbehaving and forgetting "everything" out of spite. This of course is not the case (dogs do not do things out of spite). Know that this faze will not last and just supervise as you did when he was little to prevent bad habits from developing. Patience will see you through this.

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Thanks Sandra! I'll go back to the beginning of his training and work from there, even if it means we have to review priming the clicker again at meal times and tethering him to me. Our puppy K trainer said that 6-12 months is the most common time for people to give up their puppies to a shelter. I can understand the frustration, but Barley's not going anywhere! ;) My family has three other adult dogs but I wasn't around for the bulk of their puppyhood and training, so I didn't witness backsliding. I can say that Barley has been an easy puppy in comparison to our older goldendoodle and our St. Bernard mix. I can't speak for our collie since he came from a rescue as an adult.