Dog changed behavior

[richie]

Well I have a 6 month old yellow lab. His name is Lucky. I got him at 3 months old. I started to train him to potty outside not bite stuff hes suppose to ect. Well Lucky is now 6 months old and it seems he's gone back to being 3 months old. About a month ago Lucky seemed to be the perfect puppy. I would leave him out in my house when I left to work. He would be awake by himself from 7am till when ever my mom woke up which is around 10am. He didn't make any noise,poo on the floor,pee on the floor,chew shoes ect.

Well now he just seems to be a complete *******. When he started being bad I started locking him in my bedroom while I left for work till my mom woke up to let him out. As soon I would leave my room he starts barking loud and straching the floor which he is ruining. Since I felt bad for him I let him out loose to travel around the house. WRONG IDEA. He now poos on the floor,chews shoes, chews the crown mouldings around the house and worst of all he goes into the garbage and takes everything out and spreads it around.

Me and my girlfriend love him to death and my mom tells me everyday to get rid of him. I have bin debating to sell him recently,but I know if I do I will regret it. I just want him to be the way he was before, do I have hope in this pup? I do have 2 kids that play with him often I'm not sure if that plays a role in his behavior. They run around with him throwing his toys around. Sorry if it's a long read I just want to know what to do. Thanks
Lucky

[aslan]

Richie,,you most definately have hope,he's just being a puppy..Main thing i'm going to suggest is to get him a crate to confine him in when you have to leave for work..yup he's gonna cry for the first bit but that's to get what he wants, put him in and let him cry once he figures out it isn't going to get what he wants he'll stop.,you can get a kong and fill it with his breakfast or some kibble and peanut butter and freeze it to keep him occupied. The kids playing with him is excellent as it will tucker him out,,if the kids are screaming and screeching that isn't so good as it will over stimulate the little guy..House breaking is pretty much going to be step 1 again and the crate will help with that. Mom is just gonna have to be a little patient for a few days.

[Sib.HuskyMom]

Great suggetion Aslan!
Remember Richie, Lucky is still just a baby. As they mature physically and start to *look* more like an adult, it's sometimes hard for us to step back and remember that he's still just a pup. He's going to have set backs. You (an your family) need to have patience - lots of it!

Crate training is an excellent idea. It will give him a safe and secure environment to be in. The key is to make it a really positive place to be when first introducing the crate. Feed meals in there. Feed snacks. Play with toys. Anything to make him see it's a great place to be. And NEVER use it as a place of punishment if he's getting into mischief.

Frozen kongs are a great treat to keep him busy when you first put him in the crate (starting with only short intervals until he's used to it - then work up to longer times).

Also, make sure he's getting lots of excercise in the morning before you leave for work it. Yes, I know it's early. But a tired pup is a good pup and it sounds like a lot of his troublesome behaviour might be because he's bored and needs a release of all his puppy energy.

Good luck. Labs are a high energy breed, especially when they're young, but with some training, guidance and a lot of patience, he'll learn to become the sweet, lovable, dependable member of the family that you've dreamed of.

[hoffman74]

I definitely agree to both of them. He still puppy just like a human, he still
baby. All he wants is attention and playing.

We have pittbull dog, when she's like your pup age. All she's doing is scratch
and bite everything she gets. There was a time I really annoyed 'cos she bite
into pieces my slipper. That's the time my hubby start to trained her.
He research about it from the internet and he tried to teach her.

With a lot patient and effort our pup learned everything my hubby trained to
her. She didn't pee inside the house, she stop bite shoes and slippers. It
really a big difference and until now she knows do's and dont's in our home.

Just be patient teaching your pup. Good luck.

[tenderfoot]

Everyone has great points but the key issue to understand is that he really isnt a puppy anymore - he is a teenager!
Your once perfect puppy seems to change overnight and all the things he was so good at seems to have vanished from his brain.
This is a stage that he is going through that requires you to keep clear and consistent in your training until things even out again. Dogs go through many developmental stages when they decide to challenge the authority in the house. These periods of change can occur every few months until they are 2-3 years old (depending on the individual dog).
It is a good idea to go back to more leash work in the house and outside until your dogs takes you seriously again. Rather like grounding a child who is make bad choices. But be clear that grounding a child or dog isn't to punish them but to help them learn to make better choices again. Spending more time with your dog reminding him how to make good choices is what is going to see you through these tough times.