Sudden change in puppy behaviour at 11 weeks old.

We adopted a golden doodle at 8 weeks and from the beginning he was incredible. Well behaved, adjusted quickly, absolutely sweet and potty trained outside. Within the first two weeks I taught him 8 tricks and we had a good routine.

Now at 11 weeks several concerning behaviours started appearing, it's like he isn't the same puppy anymore.

  1. He started peeing frequently in small puddles then obsessively drinking his pee. These aren't accidents but seemingly intentionally similar to marking behaviour. We can tell from size and there was a time where he peed 4x in 20 minutes. We ruled out UTI as he was able to hold in for an entire night.

  2. Aggressive nipping and biting. He would randomly snap or nip at us when petting, or if I hold him back or even during air jail. Doesn't like being touched while playing or exploring. He never did before and it's very concerning and hard to correct. Definitely not playful biting as we are able to catch his snout and discipline him, but he really tries to bite us.

  3. During training if not rewarded immediately or following any action, gets aggressive, growls and barks, and completely walks away or disassociates.

I've had puppies before although a very long time ago as a child, we read up a lot and he attends puppy school too. He gets frequent naps, good mix of food, and we treat his teething issues with toys, frozen yoghurt, dental chews and frozen carrots.

Only two things have changed. First my partners sister who used to spoil him moved away. Second, I took him to meet my sister's puppy to play, which turned out well. With my partners sister gone, there's less spoiling and nonstop attachment, and unless my sister's pup "taught" him bad manners I doubt it's that.

Now what are we doing wrong? I accept may be crucified here but as mentioned this initially didn't cause any bad behaviour.

He sleeps with us in bed. We dont crate train. We found this helped quite a bit for potty training. He has full access to the house and we let him in the backyard to play and potty. We free feed but honestly he doesn't eat much at all and leaves food in the bowl.

submitted by /u/lailide
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