ShellyF Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 Merlin is almost 21 weeks now and and has been doing extremely well with training and walking plus all round behaviour and resting inbetween activities. Then yesterday he woke up with a different personality. Indoors his training is bang on but on walks (even mooching around in our own woods which he loves) he’s become a leash monster again. He’s still obeying the ‘lie down’ command but then right back at it again and darting around like he has bees in his bum! At the same time he’s discovered he can walk on tables and thanks to my regular grooming I see he has grown a pair of very visible Testicles overnight! He’s been cocking his leg for about four weeks. I assume I am dealing with a puppy who’s having hormone surges and heavily testing the boundaries. I know I need to have zero tolerance for his climbing and bad behaviour in a calm and consistent manner and he’s responding well to that (leash biting is back to basics again - sigh) but my question is, isn’t this a little young? According to what I’ve read and matching it to his behaviour it’s like he’s suddenly a six month old. Curious to know what others have experienced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoState11 Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 Well at 21 weeks he is 5 months plus so he’s not far from a six month old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptJack Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 People tend to think 'teenaged' is like a hard line in the sand and starts and ends at some particular age. Really, it's just like with people. There is no definitive age, for beginning or ending. Nor is there any 100% set in stone sort of behavior that will necessarily happen. It starts when it starts, it looks like what it does, and it ends when it's over. Train the dog in front of you *today*, whatever that dog looks like, and don't sweat it. There will still be ups and downs and weird days and bad days when the dog is 2, 4, 6, 8, years old and certainly many of them when they're 10, 12, and 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 Yes, to both answers above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyF Posted August 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 Wholeheartedly agree with all of the above. Was just curious to know if this was early or not and whether others noticed such a significant overnight change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 I also agree with the above. And I also suspect that at least some of the changes, especially in his testicles, as as abrupt as you think it might be. Chances are you just didn't notice. Sure, there's a first time a pup lifts his leg to pee and other behavioral changes may appear and disappear quickly, but testicles don't just suddenly appear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyF Posted August 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 Lol - I would agree with you but hubby and I give him belly rubs many times a day and every day. He doesn’t have fur there so it’s easy to see and today we both said ‘goodness where the heck did those come from’! He clearly had them somewhere as the vet confirmed as much but I was shocked at how visible they suddenly were (the vet could only feel them, not see them, before). No matter. I guess he just got a sudden burst of testosterone that manifested itself both physically and mentally haha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jami74 Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 4 hours ago, ShellyF said: Merlin is almost 21 weeks now and and has been doing extremely well with training and walking plus all round behaviour and resting inbetween activities. Then yesterday he woke up with a different personality. Indoors his training is bang on but on walks (even mooching around in our own woods which he loves) he’s become a leash monster again. He’s still obeying the ‘lie down’ command but then right back at it again and darting around like he has bees in his bum! About the same age as my pup. I saw the title and thought you were going to say he'd turned into a calm gentleman overnight Our boy has also been doing excellent with training and resting, so much so over the last week it's like he's a different, calmer dog. Much pleasanter to live with, more like a family member than a spoilt guest. He has always been a leash monster and I fretted, but again over the last week few days we've turned a corner and now on the lead he's more typical of a five month old puppy on a lead rather than a monster. However, his behaviour is not consistent. Sometimes I think he is close to being perfect, other times he's just crazy. 4 hours ago, ShellyF said: I see he has grown a pair of very visible Testicles overnight! He’s been cocking his leg for about four weeks. No visible testicles here yet, just little bits of fluff. No leg cocking either, I was wondering when that would start. Is Merlin marking? I wondered if as our lead walks increase on pee mail routes if that would trigger something. Btw, you forgot to post a picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptJack Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 My angelic, perfectly behaved *six year old* had a day yesterday. She blew a stay, climbed on my desk to steal and eat an entire bag of popcorn, shredded a bunch of papers up there then, pooped in the house (because she ate an entire bag of popcorn and weighs 11lbs). So, I guess technically I've seen some overnight stuff. My actual teenager is 16 months, almost 17. The worst thing he's done is occasionally backslide into 'forgetting what an off switch is'. But he's a rules follower sort, and always has been. I mean, he has balls and marks, but behaviorally he has changed basically not at all. And barring some 'I am having a day stuff' (See above) I don't really expect him to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyF Posted August 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 1 hour ago, jami74 said: About the same age as my pup. I saw the title and thought you were going to say he'd turned into a calm gentleman overnight Our boy has also been doing excellent with training and resting, so much so over the last week it's like he's a different, calmer dog. Much pleasanter to live with, more like a family member than a spoilt guest. He has always been a leash monster and I fretted, but again over the last week few days we've turned a corner and now on the lead he's more typical of a five month old puppy on a lead rather than a monster. However, his behaviour is not consistent. Sometimes I think he is close to being perfect, other times he's just crazy. No visible testicles here yet, just little bits of fluff. No leg cocking either, I was wondering when that would start. Is Merlin marking? I wondered if as our lead walks increase on pee mail routes if that would trigger something. Btw, you forgot to post a picture Lol - no picture - he’s camera shy at that end haha! Funny you say about turning the corner. Reading about your pup, that’s how we felt about Merlin for the last two weeks and even now he’s still in that good spot in the house. It’s just outside that the leash monster has returned and not just on walks but even on our property (we leash him outside of the fenced area - just in case). As for marking, yes for a few weeks now. Gradually increasing from one or two marks to three or four on a 30 minute walk. Before 16 weeks he’d pee all in one go. It’s good to hear from someone with a pup the same age though and the comparisons. And today in our ridiculous heat wave we managed to conquer swimming in the lake to fetch a stick. Such a great exercise when we can’t really do much else with him in the heat. He’s loved water since a wee pup and swam at 8 weeks then wouldn’t go out of his depth again. But today was obviously the right day for him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyF Posted August 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 42 minutes ago, CptJack said: My angelic, perfectly behaved *six year old* had a day yesterday. She blew a stay, climbed on my desk to steal and eat an entire bag of popcorn, shredded a bunch of papers up there then, pooped in the house (because she ate an entire bag of popcorn and weighs 11lbs). So, I guess technically I've seen some overnight stuff. My actual teenager is 16 months, almost 17. The worst thing he's done is occasionally backslide into 'forgetting what an off switch is'. But he's a rules follower sort, and always has been. I mean, he has balls and marks, but behaviorally he has changed basically not at all. And barring some 'I am having a day stuff' (See above) I don't really expect him to. Oh dear! Reminds me of the day our last dog stole and ate 80 beautifully wrapped cake pops that i’d Purchased for $100 as client gifts. She left one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brihop Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Hi All, My Puppy is 18 weeks today and it is interesting to hear what may happen over the next few weeks. Scary thing is at the moment he is doing really well. OH NO !!! is he going to turn into a monster overnight HAHA. He was rumoured to have tried to lift his leg for the first time yesterday but could have been stumbling. No testicles yet just fluff. Walks really well on lead and rarely pulls. stops automatically 99% of the time before crossing a road. Can sit, stay, give paw and sometimes down. Of course he is still a pup and prone to the short attention span, bouts of mischief, digging to the other side of the world and going into "I'm not listening" mode. Oh what joy and I guess a great deal to come. Hope we all get as much joy and fun from our pups as possible. Good luck to all. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyF Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 An update - stuck to my guns and things improved quickly. When he starts the leash biting on the walk i’m On it quickly! He gets a firm ‘no’ then I make him sit while I tell him i’m Not putting up with his nonsense. I try not to laugh as he cocks his head from side to side trying to figure out what the heck i’m Going on about lol! No treats whatsoever when he then behaves (as he’d otherwise play up just to then behave for a treat - Little monkey) but I give tons of verbal praise. I’ve also started to do frequent mini bouts of heel walking followed by a ‘sit’ with heaps of verbal praise afterwards before then telling him to ‘go sniff’. Basically to let him know that his sniffing privileges are at my discretion! He gets plenty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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