About to lose my mind. Help

[Nikki & Charlie]

Charlie is now 6 months old. He is acting up so much at this very moment, I do not understand this behaviour?!!! I was so angry at him I put him in his crate. I know, I know, I shouldn't use it for punishment but right now I do not care I am too mad and he needs to calm down. 

We went for a 1 hour walk and usually afterwards he's tired and sleeps for a bit until lunch. He saw me go on the couch and all of a sudden was full of energy. Every toy I handed to him he got bored of after a few throws and then he began to purposely bite me. It got to a point where I pinned him down holding his head and legs so he can "calm down" while says "bad Charlie!" or "NO!" ... yeah right. As if that helped. 

Then I decided to bring him to the basement and he began to do the zoomies. I brought a bunch of toys thinking maybe a different environment would help. I even sat on the floor to play with him. Then he got crazy again and started barking at me and when I wouldn't pay attention he began to bite me, hard. 

I'm ready to smack him! Which I of course would never do, so I decided venting here would be much better. He's in his crate now for a time out. 

WHY is he doing this??! Is it boredom? What can I do to switch things up for him? He just got a bunch of new toys. ALSO, how do I correct this behaviour?

[Tammy and Violet]

Hang in there...6 more months you will swear you have a new dog !! Violet was just like that... I feel your pain and at the same time I laugh ,because I thought it NEVER would get better .. IT DOES ! Dont be afraid to calmly place your pup in the kennel and leave him there ..He will calm down ... Breath,.. and get a coffee now :)

[Nikki & Charlie]

LOL thank you so much! It was definiltely a moment of frustation as I was typing this out.

[GBK]

Time him out every time he puts his teeth on you!  I used a crate, but would now probably use a room or tie him to a hook and let him think about it. Doesn't have to be long, a minute, and let him out again.  If he starts again, time him out again.  He WILL get it.   Barking at you and especially biting is not acceptable, but if he is anything like my boy Buddy, holding him down only makes it worse, it seemed to feed the energy and make him more insistent on getting to me. 

I used a wire crate when he was younger and I did time him out in it.  He and his sister now share a soft sided crate just as a den when they want to, but even at 9 years old now if he get's a little wild I just have to say "get in that crate" and he will get in and give me a "woof" just for old times sake :)  He turned out wonderfully and so will your little Charlie!

[Nikki & Charlie]

Thank you for replying. Holding charlie down only makes it worse lol I will not be trying that again. The time out helped a little bit but I found he was still nipping after I took him out. I ended up playing ball with him and it helped

[Gretchen Nastrom]

We used to have the "witching hour" with Preston where every night he would get crazy and naughty despite walks, toys, training or whatever!  We found that sometimes that naughty behavior was similar to a toddler that fights being tired by being naughty.  We would put him in his crate or the small bathroom by the kitchen as a time out and leave him in there for a short time (30 seconds, a minute or whatever).  Then when we would let him out if he was calm he could stay out with us, but if he went right back to being naughty, he'd go right back to the time out space.  I can tell you there were nights when he would have 4 or 5 time outs until he got it right.

For the record, now that Preston is 1, he is much better, BUT he still gets really naughty like Charlie.  Now that he is older it is a sign of needing to get outside to run full speed at our local dog park or if the weather isn't good we will play games like hide and seek with him.  These dogs are so smart that they need physical and mental exercise each day.

Good luck!  We are all laughing with you because we've all been there tearing our hair out!

[Nikki & Charlie]

It makes me feel much better knowing that everyone has been there before! I'm looking back at this post and laughing because of how angry I was typing this up!! But I thought if I don't get my anger out somehow, I'll end up losing it on him so I knew I had to just walk away. I'm waiting until Charlie is neutured so I can get him licensed (i my city, animals need a license. I don't know if it is like this other places?) but if he isn't neutured the licensing it more expensive and if the animal control catch him at the park without being licensed I'll get fined $250!!

 

How does hide and seek work with a dog? I feel like that's such a silly question but as soon as I begin running away he'll be righttttt behind me.

[Texas Doodle Mom and Molly Rose]

We are experiencing this too! Molly is 7 mos. Yesterday, she chewed a pencil, plastic buckle, 3 napkins, my son's homework and then chased a bunny out of our fenced yard. This morning, she stole French toast (not consumed)! All the while, she's play biting like never before. We are focusing on our training again, teaching "place" when the doorbell rings. She needs some good long walks to tire her out :) Glad to hear it passes.

[Gretchen Nastrom]

I have to laugh because around 7 months we tried leaving Preston in the house alone and there was one day when I came home, and he had eaten a wooden ruler, chewed my son's nice letter from his teacher, ate a crayon, ripped up some napkins and then got a bunch of stickers stuck to the carpet.  That was fun.  He immediately put himself in time out when I got home!

Needless to say, he goes in his kennel every day while we are at work/school, and we are all much happier!  Preston doesn't mind going in when we say "kennel up" and is very content not having the house to wreck.

[Nikki & Charlie]

Oh boy!! The worst Charlie has done is chewed some of my homework, ripped a couple pages out of my agenda, chewed a tiny bit of the baseboard and chewed up a cardboard box. He stays in the crate while everyone is out of the house but if one person is home sleeping or if we are only out for an hour or two, he's out of the crate. He actually only causes damage when everyone is home... if someone is busy in the kitchen or he's being completely ignored/we are out, he just sleeps

[Nikki & Charlie]

Oh boy!! Goodluck with all of that. It's definitely very frustrating sometimes.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

@6 months, he is full of energy and this is his way of showing you...HE NEEDS MORE! A 1 hr walk is nothing for these guys. They need a full out RUN. I can guarantee, if you take him outside and throw a ball for 20 minutes, letting him get out all that pent of energy, he will improve. These guys are the furthest thing from couch potatoes! ;). A tired puppy is a good puppy.

[Nikki & Charlie]

I'm waiting for him to get neutered so I can take him the dog park! I think I'm going to buy a long leash 30 ft or so, and have him chase a ball in the park until I can get him off leash. He usually goes for an hour and a half walk per day... should I increase that? Or do you think the walk in combination with the running will be enough?