The labbie puppy devil

[Zookeepermom247]

Hello, all.. we added Amie to our family. Sophie, our 2 year old shares the same dad and Amie's mom is Sophie's grandmother. This little one is one true demon puppy. She is adorable.. loving and out to slam dunk all three of our Maine Coons. I have to rescue them and divert her attention to toys. She and Sophie play tug of war with any toy they can get a hold of... my arms look like I am cutter and the bites look like I am a drug addict. I need to wear long sleeve shirts..lolol! She and Sophie go at it... all soft mouth biting, wrestling, doing BIG ZOOMIES and barking and growling but I get so worried because they build up to a frenzy. Is this normal? I am always supervising and try to distract. During the day she is crated as my husband and I both work. When Sophie was little, my husband was home and she had no one to play with. Amie is crated and my husband comes home two times a day before he is home for the day at 3:30. We both leave at 7 am. He works 5 minutes from home as opposed to me , an hour away. So now Sophie has a playmate.. and boy o boy Sophie is making up for her puppyhood. Sophie also will keep her company sitting by her crate during the day when no one is home at times. Amie is getting good at staying dry and potty training is coming along. She is almost at 11 weeks. She sleeps until 3 am... whining to go out around and.. THEN.. she wants to stay up and bark. I put her in the crate down stairs at that time so she can't see us in bed. Then she will be quiet until 5 when we all get up. I feel bad doing this... but I NEED SLEEP! I was spoiled with Sophie.. she was quiet throughout the night as a puppy.
Is the playing too hard?????

Zoo

[Annette47]

As long as both dogs seem to be enjoying themselves, the older dog is comfortable telling off the puppy as warranted, and they aren’t breaking the furniture, I say let them have fun!

[kimbersmom]

+1 to Annette's post. And don't feel bad about ignoring her crate barking at night. Kimber was a demon puppy too and she did everything she could to train *us*. Amie may still need a 3 am outing but then she's safe in her crate and while she would love for everyone to get up and play, she needs to learn that she doesn't get to set the rules. On the bright side, think of how much worse it would be if you didn't have Sophie to help wear her out! Oh puppies- the days are so long, the years so fast. Take lots of photos and don't get too discouraged.

[rafalc85]

I recently got Marvin, and today he is 10 weeks old. It took me exactly one week for me to fully crate train him, and have him sleep through the whole night. What I did was I slept near him during the first couple of nights he was home, then through out the week I started to push back the times I woke up to take him out at night. I've put a strict cut off for him eating and drinking though. Marvin's bed time is at 11 p.m. and I don't give him any more water or food after about 8 - 8:30 ish p.m. I also make sure to really tire him out and play with him before his bed time. Like I said, he now sleeps through the whole night and like clock work at 6 a.m. he wakes up and I let him out.

As far as the biting goes, continue to divert attention to toys when she gets intense, but don't be afraid to sternly tell her no when she bites (or does anything unwanted). But try not to use her name when you do. Little by little she will catch on. Having another young dog will be great for her to learn what is acceptable behavior and what isn't. Be consistent! Good luck

[Zookeepermom247]

Well.. I woke up at 5 am.. without Amie fussing to go out or to have me wake up?? I was scared something happened to her... but she just slept the whole night.. she had a hard day yesterdat of car riding, playing with big sister and only got cat naps all day... she was exhausted!! During the week, she does not get that much hard interaction but does get a lot once we are home around 3:30 pm and for 2 hours in the early morning before we leave. She is just at 11 weeks... growing up!Zoo

[mhb]

I approached crate training a bit different with Tobey compared to our three prior pups. In the past i had heard/thought that they would acclimate better to their new home if the crate were in my bedroom so they knew I was nearby. Invariably they would hear me stir and wake up, and i'd hear them stir and wake up. Not much sleep and since i was so close i think it made them more needing to be out of the crate and be with me. And when i finally moved the crate downstairs when they got bigger, there was another big transition for them to get used to.

I dont know if its just this pup, but with Tobey we put his crate downstairs from day one and thats where it stays. Sure his first few nights were an every hour or two run out back to be sure he didnt soil the crate, followed by a week or two of three am pee breaks, but he settled in very quickly. He slept through the night after about three weeks (twelve weeks of age), only giving little yips at 6am. precisely. And he loves his crate, often putting himself inside for a mid dat nap or after our last pee run at night. I feel very lucky rather than smart but I am starting to think this approach was better.

[Labradorks]

Agree with Annette.

You can always step in BEFORE it gets frenzied with a "take a break" cue and give them each a cookie or something to divert their attention. This does come in handy in the event that it gets to be too much at some point as the both get older and bigger. My boys will jump up, chest slam, make awful noise, gnash teeth and basically look like they are a National Geographic show. I tend to break things up because after they do this for a few seconds, they start running amuk like they are insane boulders and have taken a person or two out (um, my mother!). Anyway, if you break it up with food, they will get into the habit of hearing your command then stopping and coming to you. Of course, this only works if they are food motivated.

Where the crate is depends on the puppy. I would not start the dog off being away from the bed. I have dealt with a lot of people coming to me (friends, co-workers, family members) going insane because they haven't slept in ages because the puppy barks in the crate, but do not want the dog in the bedroom because they think it's "weird". Finally, they put the dog in the bedroom out of desperation and have a good night's sleep. I could not have my last puppy in the bedroom because my bedroom is too small for a crate. So, I slept on the sofa for a few months. Talk about not getting any sleep!

[Zookeepermom247]

When it gets crazy.. I shake their YUMMY container now.. contains kibble... I have learned to stop buying treats and use kibble, they stop in a flash and come running... Zoo