A million issues basically stemming around our recent move.

[Bonne Bouche]

 Ok, I'm in need of a lot of help from the DK community...

 

BB was neutered about 20 days ago, and we moved houses/towns 10 days ago. For the first 10 days of BB's neutering we did fairly well keeping his energy level below normal and not "exercising" (frisbee, zoomies, etc) outdoors. Then, we moved. Our new house has a very small yard, and it is in a town, so there's absolutely no more "off leash" time. It has been incredibly HOT here in PA, and BB doesn't do well in heat (or even warmth!), we've been taking him on 2 short walks (8am/8pm) around the neighborhood (calculation on google maps shows its about .6 miles -- is that too long for a 6month old?) to help.

 

Between the fact that we are still not finished unpacking and there are a million things for BB to get in to, and the fact that his energy is more pent up than usual without having  a good outdoor space to play in more freely, BB has been somewhat of a handful. 95% of the day he is perfectly fine, normal, sweet, and loveable BB. 5% have been challenging, to say the least.

 

For the first time he started destroying his toys. Previously we'd give him a milk jug and he'd push it around and chew on it for weeks at a time before it got too gross that we'd toss it. Yesterday I gave him a completely fresh one, and he was shredding it within minutes. Then he found an old plastic "hot dog" toy that lost its squeak awhile back and just started picking it to pieces! Very uncharacteristic for him, could it be "stress" related?

He also has been bringing his toys to us to play with them. This is fine, however he has recently decided it is "fun" to chew the toy ON us. Occasionally getting small pieces of US in his mouth as well (hands, legs, etc). If we "push him off" it doesn't stop (part of the game). This was very bad the other day, so I took him to his crate, let him unwind for 30 minutes, but when I brought him out again, same behavior, different toy. Does he need more attention? It may sound silly, but how should we give it to him when he is "calling out" to us like that?

 

We now live in a duplex and barking, where it was just a nusance previously, cannot really be tolerated. When he gets feisty, he'll bark AT us for attention. When correcting him with a sharp "NO" he barks in response, if I then correct again, he barks back! The sharper the "No" the louder the bark. He's clearly being a defiant teenager. I have found that the only way to stop the cycle is to "redirect" the barking spell by leaving or moving just ignoring doesn't stop it, but I feel that in that case, I am "losing" and he is being dominant. He seems to be "challenging" me. Help on what I SHOULD be doing here?

 

Also, I am ridiculously paranoid about him "getting out". Since we live on a street very close to high traffic, I constantly worry about him getting loose when we go out to potty, etc. I feel like I'm worried his collar will break/come off, the leash will break, or i'll drop the leash, and he'll just zoomie away (he has a habit of getting zoomies when he knows he's "off leash" outside). Any reassurance here?

 

I think the behavior issues are stemmed from a number compounding of issues: Stress from the move, normal "schedules" being off, hormones balancing from the neutering, defiant teenager stage, and less release of energy. (am I missing anything else?)

 

Some of the above will balance out in time, others can be specifically dealt with now. In 2 weeks I will be starting obedience class with him for dogs 6-12 months, which I think will be a good release for him, and training for me. We also want to take him to a doggy daycare at least one day a week, but there is only one locally and they aren't calling me back (:-/). For the most part both my husband and I work from home on alternating days of the week, so he isn't left in his cage for more than a few hours at a time for errands etc, so its not like he's pent up all day, either.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, sorry for the ridiculous length!

 

Two recent photos for your enjoyment (a reward for reading my rambling):

BB helping the boy chinchillas move from their travel cage back into their normal cage.

Our new kitchen has ceramic tile flooring, and it didn't take long for BB to realize its very cool.

[Bonne Bouche]

Using the muzzle is not a technique I've heard of. And outside of his "spells", his barking is not a problem. But I had worried what might happen if it DID get worse. I was not really willing to do those electronic collars. This seems much more humane and at least we know there is another opportunity out there if we need it.

 

Thank you.

 

[Lindsey]

Oh gosh...I think you already know the exact "problem" not that it's a problem...more just a stage/phase.
Our Molly is now 6 months old and she is HORRIBLE!!! 5% of the time, LOL.
I left her alone for 3 minutes yesterday and when I returned she had already pulled the toilet tissue out of the bathroom and shredded it allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll over (I'm talking EVERYWHERE) my living room!! ...in THREE Minutes!! lol.
She is also chewing a LOT more...and counter surfing!! UGH!
She is also starting to beg for food...and she never did that. We don't even allow her to have table scraps for the very reason we DONT want her to beg (and b/c her belly is sensitive) and yet...she acts like she knows what we're eating and that it tastes good.
I think this will pass...just continue what you're doing, redirecting her, looking for daycare and training!!
PS. I don't think the walk is too much...I would even say, he could walk more. Our Molly goes to the dog park for an hour in the morning and then goes for a long walk in the afternoon....it def. helps to release energy...and she has a LOT of energy!
Good luck, just know you're not alone :-)

[Camilla and Darwin]

My suggestion would be to do obedience training and doggie daycare. Is there not a Petsmart near you either? Because some of those locations do daycare, and in my experience it's clean and supervised...

 

Oh, and Darwin has been a major toy shredder since puppyhood. He's a really calm dog otherwise though so maybe that is his crazy outlet... LOL

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think it's excellent that you'll be starting obedience training.  My guess is that with this training and the daily practice you'll begin to see a lot of things improve.  Murphy went through a major toy destroying phase too, and during that time I didn't give him things that he could rip into small pieces....he mostly chewed his antlers.  Now he's beyond that, and so he's back to being able to have squeaky toys.  A wise DK member taught me from the beginning that "playing" with balls or toys should always be in MY terms.  I start the game and I end it.  If the Doods try to shove a toy in my lap to play, I stand up back them off and tell them calmly "no".  They now understand that this "game" will not work with me.  When they've stopped being "pushy", that's when I instigate a game of fetch or tug.  Both of my Doods always wait at the door and let me go out first....I taught that from the beginning to avoid any danger of then running ahead.  It's easy to train....put them in a sit and make them wait till you go out and then call them....EVERY TIME.  It will become a habit in no time.  As for the barking, there are a few discussions on how to address this in the Training Group.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

All seems very normal to me.... my two went thru stages of different actions, Oliver is now into toilet paper, he is 1 yr. and just discovered it, I need to keep it high on the shelf.  Sasha (18 months) never touch the toilet paper.  Both are not barkers at all.  Sasha only barks when she hears someone out side.  But in general with both of my babies they went thru stages of distruction, behavior, etc. etc.   Oliver is a very agressive chewer, he likes the elk antlers and bully sticks, Sasha likes the bully sticks.  Both love to distroy ANY toy so I go thru tons of toys.  The only thing that held up are the antlers everything else was eventually distroyed !!!!   You still have a puppy on your hands - its all a phase.  I do find that a tired dog is a good dog so LOTS OF EXERCISE and when he is doing something you don't like re-direct the behavior to something acceptable..... that always worked for me.  Good luck :)