So, I'm writing this before I pass out as my wife is taking care of the puppy. Its currently 8am and the puppy had us up since 5am.
Our puppy is a sweet little boy. Super cute. Loving. Playful. The problem is that this behavior only shows about 10% of the time. The 90% remaining is rampage, accidents and unprovoked biting.
He is well cared for. Has 24/7 supervision. He gets supervised freedom to explore and relax, is well fed, responds good to training (food motivated, the moment the food is over he's feral again), he's loved and he only experiences positive reinforcement. Never has been yelled at or hit.
We adopted this lab a week and a half ago. He comes from a vacation house in the countryside. The previous owners visit once a day to water plants and feed the multiple dogs they have, including my puppy's parents. They live there unsupervised and have a warm shed they can access at leisure.
The first 3 days with the puppy were amazing. He was curious about the house but cafeful/respectful. He wouldn't bite. He wouldn't destroy things. He would sleep through the night with just one potty break. We thought we hit a jackpot.
After that it has all been a downward spiral and a constant downgrade daily. No matter the patience. Training. Toys. Treats. Distractions. Nothing.
Night sleep: Kind of horrible but the most bearable point at this moment which is sad. He goes to sleep approximately at 11.30pm and sleeps in his crate until 5.20am sharp (i don't know how he nails the :20). He take him out for a potty break which is all good and understandable. He does his job fast and efficient and back to the crate he goes. Problem is after this he only gives us 1-2 max of extra sleep and he wakes up with crazy levels of energy and barks to demand to be left out, forcing our hand to do so because we have him in a bedroom and live in an apartment complex and we don't want neighbour complains.
Biting: We are aware puppies explore with their mouth, they bite furniture, toys, clothes, and even hands. My guys preference is human flesh. Unprovoked hand bites are a constant. Preventing the bite using the leash or putting distance only enhances the biting force and barking. My hands and arms are full of scratches and bites, and often they don't have time to heal as this little angel bites the area and rips off the scabs.
Hyperactivity: In tandem with the excessive biting, there's the zoomies. I believe this is his natural state. He's constantly running, trying to bite hands and trying to ruin the sofa. We work at home so we can supervise him, but its impossible to have more than 3-4h of effective time through an 8h shift and it may effect us negatively. This is a big worry. Add to this potty accidents, which he seem to bring upon himself. He loves ignoring peepads or ripping them off, then have you clean his mess and running to the other edge of the house and pee or poop again while you are busy cleaning. We use enzymatic cleaner and pheromone pee pads but makes 0 difference.
Naps: Almost non existent. We believe his behavioral issues are potentially stemming from this. The guy REFUSES to sleep. Doesn't matter if its in his crate, sofa, bed, floor… You can see in his face how he is half asleep and hypes himself up to keep awake. I've never seen this behavior in a dog before. My wife was a veterinarian and I helped my father raise his dogs and this is not something we've experienced before.
We have tried:
Crate: He starts barking within a minute.
Crate (covered): No difference
Crate (ignore barking): I timed up to 25 minutes of non stopping barking. The loudest I heard from a dog ever, coming from a 9 week, 10 pound lab.
Crate (with kong, treats or toys): All objects are ignored and back to point 1.
On lap: Gets comfy, then hyper and jumps
On sofa/bed/puppy bed: Doesn't settle down all the way. Bites pillows and fabric and does sneaky pees while laying down.
Observations
– He seems to mellow down when taking to the terrace if it's cold. We suspect it may remind him of his old home. Sometimes to force a nap out of him, we'd take him out until he falls asleep and then put him in his crate. If we get lucky he stays in and naps instead of trying to run while half asleep with 0 bodily coordination. This is a bandaid as it doesn't always work and its not super viable as temperatures will keep getting colder and we dont want him or us to get sick.
– Every negative trait seems to be enhanced with the pass of time instead of getting better of more bearable.
– When night comes circa 9PM he reverts to his day 1 personality and becomes loving and calm, watching TV with us while cuddling, chewing his toys or playing some games with us with no biting.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading. I don't know if my dog is truly broken and we need help or if I just needed to vent.
We were extremely happy and excited to get our puppy as it had been a long dream of us, but the happiness has turned into existential dread, tiredness, sleep deprivation, fear of losing our jobs and fear of our puppy situatiin not getting ever better.
I am off for a nap as I have an important work meeting in 1h and my wife has graciously taken him.
submitted by /u/KowloonENG
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