Why start this now?

[Luvin Labs]

So we've had Smokey since Feb. He's been great, we leave tons of toys out for him to play with, keep everything we don't want him to have out of reach (or so we thought) and he does great!

So, why does he NOW start getting up on the loveseat and recliner (or maybe the coffee table?) and get onto the counter top to chew up my b/f's marine hat :( and then get up on the entertainment center to chew up some bday cards?

B/f can't really play too much with him, doctors orders till the 20th (no straining bending lifting etc), and I play with him a little before my jobs (dog walking, hehe, and then a evening job).

we make sure he has TONS of toys to not get bored, but I'm thinking/hoping its because of the limited stuff we can do right now (i.e. b/f's light duty and me a li'l busy with two jobs).

I'm actually thinking of possibly using a dog walking service here to give him some excersize (even though he DOES get it when his buddy next door comes out to play, and very careful playing with b/f and me) but $$ is kinda tight.

is it SA? I keep the tv on (animal planet haha), he's got tons of toys, we have these scat mat type deals that have annoying 'spikes' for when he hops on the recliner and/or loveseat (we still dunno HOW he's getting to the countertop!)... b/f takes him for a walk when he gets home so he does #1 and #2 and gets to possibly socialize with other animals, so its not like we DON'T pay attention to him or play with him.

oh, not to mention that we have to add some stuff in his food to get him to eat now. he used to eat his food up real good, lately we've had to put either gravy, or something in his dish and food so he'll eat it. we feed him nutro max dry and canned food. argh i do NOT want to change our brand of food yet again so he'll eat. we usually just leave it in there till he decides he's hungry (which amusingly is around 2:30am... munchmunchmunch) so its not like we are starving him. its like we have to add something into it for him to eat, i dunno i don't think anything is wrong with him healthwise, its just that he doesn't want to eat when we want him to. we've tried the "put dish out from 8-8:30am and 8-8-30pm if he doesn't eat he doesn't eat" but it feels like we starve him doing that. heh.

[bckrazy]

There are many people here who can give you really good advice, but I'll try just from obvious things. . .

Is your dog a Lab? Is he a puppy? If he is, then there's the answer to your question, "Why now?". . LOL. . if he's around 6-12 months old, he's reaching his bratty adolescent stage and this is what they do! If you're gone for short periods (less than 5 hrs) you can keep him in his crate for that time, if he isn't crate trained start now!! Give him controlled feedings, set the bowl down for 15 minutes and if he doesn't eat he gets to wait until that night. My pup also likes added stuff to his kibble, he usually gets meat, cottage cheese, chicken broth or warm water mixed in. . but he needs to know that if he doesn't eat what you give him, he waits. Dogs wont starve themselves!! Don't feel bad at all, he WILL eat. I also HIGHLY suggest Obedience classes, it sounds like a power struggle is going on between you, your boyfriend, and your pup. He needs to know that YOU are the boss, he cant be allowed up on furniture or beds or counters. NILIF training would probably help him a lot.

If he is a young active dog (guessing he is) he will need more than a couple walks a day. He probably needs around an hour of running and playing in an off-leash area every day to get his energy out, on top of 2 long walks/jogs every day. Try to go home on your lunch break and play fetch with him in the yard or a park, or have your boyfriend do it. A lot of behavior problems are caused by dogs being over-excited and anxious due to lack of exercise. A tired dog is a happy dog =0)

[lizbud]

You are working two jobs and raising a pup?:eek: My heart
goes out to you.:) It does sound like the dog needs more
exercise. Maybe, after your b/f feels better, he can take over some of the dog walks & playing games of fetch.

[Luvin Labs]

hehe YUP he is a 8-9 month old lab puppy

I am working on getting my lazyass outta bed in the morning to go take him for a morning and afternoon walk (when i get back from first job), then b/f takes him for a walk when he gets back. gonna try that tomorrow.

he's never been crate trained with US, but we were told to NOT crate train him as he ripped apart a crate with a previous owner. so we don't do that. we'll just make sure everything is outta his reach this time for sure.

as for training we are gonna work on that too... looking around for obedience training in this area.

[Kfamr]

I think it's a mixture of bratty puppy-hood and not enough exersize. Puppies need LOTS of attention. Kiara wants to play and has wanted to play almost 24/7. Luckily for her she's happy if we just lay on the couch a throw a ball for her.

Do you think maybe either your boyfriend or you can squeeze in a trip to the dog park everyday? I know my dogs are always pooped after the park, even when they were pups. Maybe even invest in a doggie daycare (although that could run expensively)


Good Luck! And I hope you find a good solution.

[Luvin Labs]

yeah i'm gonna work on taking him for walks before/after my day job and b/f will walk him after work.

so instead of the terrible two's its the "terrible 6-12 monthers"?

hahahaa

[lizbud]

Originally posted by Luvin Labs
yeah i'm gonna work on taking him for walks before/after my day job and b/f will walk him after work.

so instead of the terrible two's its the "terrible 6-12 monthers"?

hahahaa


LOL. Hope every thing works out a little better for you guys.:)

Have any pictures of the pup to share?

[Luvin Labs]

TONS of pics!

Most are in my webshots in my sig, I put up a bunch in Dog General here:
http://www.petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&postid=1120170#post1120170

[bckrazy]

aww, Smokey is so cute! He looks like a hyper little boy :D good luck with everything. .

As far as what the 1st owners said about tearing up his crate, are you sure they didn't just throw him in his crate and leave him alone? Crate training is supposed to be a slow and gradual process. . also, if you buy a metal wire crate for him, I doubt he could tear it apart :p crates are a godsend for puppies. here's a really good crate training link. . .

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/cratetraining.htm

[Luvin Labs]

thanks for that link

i'm not sure what the previous ones did, they just said to not crate train as he tore it up.

:)

[sumbirdy]

He might be bored. You could try rotating his toys around so he has something new to play with every day and doesn't try to find something new and more interesting (like your b/f's hat)

He probobly needs more excercise too. I agree with everyone else on that.

[Luvin Labs]

We are giving him more excersize now, and he's got a crapload of toys to play with. He's fine now (so far) and the same ol' weird self :)