# 10 month old puppy retaliating



## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

"sticks his butt up in the air and barks" That's called a play bow and is an invitation to play as well as body language that he is just playing. 

Running around the room and stopping to bark is called ZOOMIES. It's puppy happiness. Enjoy it.

Locked in the bathroom for a COUPLE OF HOURS? NO NO NO NO NO. What is he learning in the bathroom? By himself? You're not teaching him when he's in there.

If you're not in obedience classes, you need to find one that emphasizes positive reinforcement as the teaching tool. Learn to work with your puppy and he will bond with you forever.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

He isn't retaliating, he's trying to engage you in play. When he sticks his butt in the air, he is play bowing at you.

Do you have a crate? How much exercise is he getting in a day? Why, when he's acting out, does he have to spend a couple of hours in the bathroom, rather than just 10-15 minutes?


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Your puppy is being a brat and playing. That sounds like a play bow. Tayla would do that when she wanted our older dog to play and when she didn't she would add barking. Be firm and consistent in all your training, but never harsh. Make sure everything is positive and rewarded.


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## GoldenLover221 (Sep 29, 2012)

We toilet train our golden with newspaper because we live in a townhouse with no backyard and its more convenient that way- we do his number twos outside during walks and sometimes when he has to pee he does it on the newspaper. He enjoys shredding the newspaper and that's one of the habits were trying to fix. When we try to take the newspaper away from him he jumps up at us and starts nipping our hand. 

I do think that he is being underexercised, we go on walks around twice a day, but he is a puller, making it hard to walk long distances. We are trying to get a halti harness the right size to fix this issue. We currently don't have a crate because was toilet trained fairly quickly and he sleeps on a blanket. 

Would adequate exercise and reducing the time locked in the bathroom to 10 minutes and repeating whenever he acts up be a better solution?


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

"He sticks his butt upward, and barks back"

The pup is attempting to engage you or your parents in play the way the pup knows how. 
Telling a puppy no doesn't really help. They don't understand English and your pup isn't grasping what you mean by the word. 

What would you like your pup to do instead? That is what you must train the pup to do.

7 months is in the teenage phase these pups are usually very bright and highly energetic. They need lots of play exercise and lots of mental exercise through training what you want.

If your pup invites you to play, then jumps and nips and you put the pup into the bathroom for a few hours what has the pup truly learned?

Even if you did want to have the pup do a time out just to take off the over excitement a few minutes or so should be enough. A few hours is very extreme and the pup isn't being mentally or physically engaged to get rid of all the puppy energy.

If you are not signed up and taking the pup to classes I would suggest doing so. The trainer will be able to give you hands on tips and fun mentally challenging games to play to wear out your pup. 

There is something to "a tired dog is a good dog".

Puppies will do things dogs like to do, dig, chew, run, and make up their own games to keep occupied. The things they like to do on their own usually aren't things we as the owners truly want done. Pups need to be taught (trained) to do the things we actually like and to have good house manners. If you make the training fun you can use it to your advantage and mentally tire your dog out while teaching those good house manners.

It really is important to reward the pup for all good behaviors whether you have actively asked for them or they choose to do them on your own.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

GoldenLover221 said:


> We toilet train our golden with newspaper because we live in a townhouse with no backyard and its more convenient that way- we do his number twos outside during walks and sometimes when he has to pee he does it on the newspaper. He enjoys shredding the newspaper and that's one of the habits were trying to fix. When we try to take the newspaper away from him he jumps up at us and starts nipping our hand.
> 
> I do think that he is being underexercised, we go on walks around twice a day, but he is a puller, making it hard to walk long distances. We are trying to get a halti harness the right size to fix this issue. We currently don't have a crate because was toilet trained fairly quickly and he sleeps on a blanket.
> 
> Would adequate exercise and reducing the time locked in the bathroom to 10 minutes and repeating whenever he acts up be a better solution?


I think that would be a great step in the right direction.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Penny's Mom said:


> "sticks his butt up in the air and barks" That's called a play bow and is an invitation to play as well as body language that he is just playing.
> 
> Running around the room and stopping to bark is called ZOOMIES. It's puppy happiness. Enjoy it.
> 
> ...


ditti, ditto, ditto & ditto !!


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## Goldens R Great (Aug 19, 2010)

Is there any place you can take him that is *fenced in* where he can run around off-leash? Walks never cut it with Finn as far as getting enough exercise. What helped with him was to take him to a fenced in ball field and let him run around and burn off energy. He would run and run for about 15 minutes and that would do the trick. We would do this two or three times a week and it really helped.


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## GoldenLover221 (Sep 29, 2012)

I forgot to mention, it seems as if he has developed a liking for the bathroom time outs. We close the night and have a night light and a lot of the time he just sleeps. When i open the door he even refuses to get up because hes already lied down and comfortable. Am i reading the signs wrong here, is he being stubborn because we locked him in the bathroom and he refuses to come out. 

We provide him with a water bowl and his toys are inside. The way we view it is that the bathroom acts as a cooling off area, similar to a crate (we don't have one), we don't really see it as punishment. Is what I'm doing okay?


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## GoldenLover221 (Sep 29, 2012)

Unfortunately none of our dog parks are completely fenced in, it is just an offleash dog area and if the dog wants to it can still run onto the road and because I'm not confident he will come back when i call him I don't want to take that risk


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Time outs should last no more than a couple of minutes, beyond that your dog has totally forgotten why he has been isolated - so it serves no purpose. 
A 10 month old pup needs not only physical exercise, but mental exercise as well, training sessions (basic skills, stays, go to your mat/bed, take it, leave it, drop it) teaching tricks, puzzle toys, Kongs stuffed with his kibble or other goodies (where he has to work to get his reward) will all work to tire him out mentally.
Positive reinforcement training classes will help you to teach him among other things how to walk on leash, so that you can both enjoy, longer more pleasant walks. Equipment alone, whether harness, or halti, does not teach, make the effort to praise and reward when he does get it right, so that he will know to do it again. With practice, patience and consistency he will learn all you want him to know.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

"We toilet train our golden with newspaper because we live in a townhouse with no backyard and its more convenient that way"

Skip the convenient. Get rid of the newspaper and take the pup out for all potty breaks. It is no longer convenient.

"sometimes when he has to pee he does it on the newspaper"

Please take the puppy out often for potty breaks outside.

" He enjoys shredding the newspaper and that's one of the habits were trying to fix."

Until you decide to get rid of the newspaper when cleaning up put the pup where he can not get in on the action to shred the paper. 
The bad habit will not go away if he has the opportunity to continue doing it. He will not be able to jump and nip if he isn't there at the time of clean up.

"Would adequate exercise and reducing the time locked in the bathroom to 10 minutes and repeating whenever he acts up be a better solution?"

It will help but it won't fix it completely. Fixing it involves actually training good house manners and how you want him to engage in play with you.
I even think 10 minutes locked in the bathroom is probably to long most of the time as he isn't learning anything in there.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

There are long lines you can buy to give your pup more freedom but you will be able to have enough control to keep the pup safe. Besides buying them in the pet stores you can go to a hardware store for cord and a collar fastener. But with those I would want to wear gloves.


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## Goldens R Great (Aug 19, 2010)

GoldenLover221 said:


> Unfortunately none of our dog parks are completely fenced in, it is just an offleash dog area and if the dog wants to it can still run onto the road and because I'm not confident he will come back when i call him I don't want to take that risk


Yes, I wouldn't want to take the chance either. Maybe when you take him for a walk and after you've worked on his heeling you could put a long lead on him that would give him a little more freedom to run around a bit. I used to also take Finn to the park and hook two leads together that were each around 20 feet long. I would walk all over the park - outside the fenced in area - and he could dash around and move a little faster. Just a thought!


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## Goldens R Great (Aug 19, 2010)

solinvictus said:


> There are long lines you can buy to give your pup more freedom but you will be able to have enough control to keep the pup safe. Besides buying them in the pet stores you can go to a hardware store for cord and a collar fastener. But with those I would want to wear gloves.


 
I just saw your post *after* I posted about long leads too! I didn't mean to be redundant!


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## Stefan (Aug 18, 2012)

God I hope you're exaggerating when you say a couple of hours in the bathroom...that is not helpful at all, he'd forget why he's even in there. It should be no more than a minute or so and then when he comes out get him to sit or something and reward him for a good behavior...you have to be patient with them, trust me I'm seeing mine finally starting to calm a little (he's 15 months) but I remember putting a post on here about 6 months ago regarding the crazy behavior my boy was going through...like everyone says, it will pass 


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Tayla has been so crazy in her 22 months that now that she is starting to calm down a little I'm always worried that she is sick


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Penny's Mom said:


> "sticks his butt up in the air and barks" That's called a play bow and is an invitation to play as well as body language that he is just playing.
> 
> Running around the room and stopping to bark is called ZOOMIES. It's puppy happiness. Enjoy it.
> 
> ...


I couldn't thank this emphatically enough. 

I didn't read the other posts just yet, but it is so important to read up on dog behavior (from good sources) when you've brought that first puppy home. It will save you a lot of stress and anxiety from miscommunication and misunderstanding.

*** long lines are hugely important, especially during this adolescent stage. 
*** Obedience classes are best for bonding with your golden, as well as getting face to face feedback from people on what's going on with your puppy. This providing you go with a good facility/trainer. 
*** Newspapers are fine for potty training, but that's only if you transition to outside within weeks of the puppy coming home. My grandma used newspapers to train her dogs there in her apartment in Chicago. The way it should work is getting the puppy to go potty on the newspaper in the house and then moving the newspaper outside and shrinking it down to nothing. <- This is no different than how Jacks and Bertie were "started" by their breeders with wood shavings. The puppies learned to think "potty" with the wood shavings. Those were spread out in our backyard and as the wood shavings were washed away or whatever, the dogs just transitioned to going potty in that area. The problem I see with what you are describing is you have a 10 month old golden who is still using newspaper to go potty in your house. Maybe that doesn't bother you guys, but as their bladders get bigger and hold more pee, I'd prefer they'd go outside. 
*** Bathroom - it sounds like he associates that room as his room. Because that's where you "crate" him. My guys were put in my bedroom for "quiet time" (not as punishment, just getting them out of my mom's hair during the day (while I was at work) when they were too much for her to handle). Difference from the bathroom is they'd curl up on my bed to sleep, had access to their chews/toys/water, etc.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Doggie day care and play days are a good option for exercise too as long as they are clean, well-run and reputable. Ask your veterinarian to recommend something in your area.

Contact your local Golden Retriever club. You really need to be in touch with other Golden owners and have some mentors to help you bring out the best in your dog.


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