# 8 Month Rebellious Behaviour



## ConwayJim (Jul 12, 2011)

Hello,

We have an 8 month old Golden that was has been really great, but we have noticed some behaviour issues in the last week or so, and was wondering if this is normal.

Our pup loves to go for walks, but when we start to turn back he seems to get super hyper and jump up/down, biting is leash, and even bite onto the arms of our coat.

We usually give him a time our and refuse to walk any further until he settles (not paying any attention to him).

Just wondering if this is normal, or if we should be trying something else?

It's really odd, because he never seemed to do any of this before.

Thanks!


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

You have just joined our crowd. Many of us here have 8 mo olds doing the same. Forgetting training, getting a bit mouthy, acting like a crazy nut and it is like we went to bed with a promising young adult only to awake to a 4 mo old again! OH MY and if you check the threads here bet you find many where we are really put out. The more seasoned ones tell us this is yet another faze they go through called the teenage terror times. How right they are. I mutter to myself more, laugh a lot more and we have honestly gone back to square one with sit, down, stay, things they have known for a long time. It's like they are beginning all over again.

I know in all I have typed, not a bit of help! Just know you are not alone and we are all hoping that getting them back in training classes will help until this stage passes. 

You need to post pictures of your boy!


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## darbysdad (Dec 23, 2011)

I would guess that he still has energy left and associates the turnaround as the end of the walk. If you consistently walk the same route, try either changing it up or crossing the street on the way home. Keep him confused. Since they are creatures of habit, sometimes it's a change of habitat. My pup knows when the business is done outside before bed, it's crate time, so she purposely delays the process. I had to be innovative to get her back in by changing the routine. Same thing may apply here. Probably just a stage.


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## Yuki (Oct 5, 2011)

teenage!! :curtain:


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## ConwayJim (Jul 12, 2011)

Thanks for the replies, just as I thought! We actually have a lot of walking routes, and even yesterday I brought him to an area he's never been before. But sure enough when it was time to start walking back; he was a little trouble.

Does anybody know how long this phase should last?


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## VickiR (Jun 16, 2011)

I have an 8 month old too and I swear she acts like she never learned a thing in her life.
I also have a 4 year old golden and an 8 year old golden and they all went through this stage.
Learn to laugh and keep telling yourself that this too shall pass. :crossfing


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

Are you saying anything to imply that the walk is over. My APBT is a butt if I tell her "okay one more" when playing fetch. She will not bring me the ball. If I dont say anything and just turn and walk in the house she is fine and carries her ball onto the deck.

I was thinking that if you are saying something like " i guess its time" or even changing the way you walk it could be a trigger for him to act up. Just a thought. Dogs are so smart.


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## darbysdad (Dec 23, 2011)

ConwayJim said:


> Thanks for the replies, just as I thought! We actually have a lot of walking routes, and even yesterday I brought him to an area he's never been before. But sure enough when it was time to start walking back; he was a little trouble.
> 
> Does anybody know how long this phase should last?


Good looking dog.


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## Stressedgoldenmom (Aug 2, 2011)

please delete ... still getting used to my new mac


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## Stressedgoldenmom (Aug 2, 2011)

I haven't been here in awhile .. but came back because I wanted to see if anyone else is going through the same stuff we are with Wrigley! Lo and behold ... sure does sound like it!

He's a heck of a lot better than he was 5 months ago ... ugh ... I never want to go through that AGAIN!!! 

My biggest issue with him right now is the brattiness! The petulance to the nth degree! Here are my questions:

Please tell me:

When will he be affectionate? Seriously .. he could care less about being petted and loved on. He does the shoving thing with his nose, but that's to get my attention to be let out (see 2 more down)

When will I be able to let him be outside without supervision for more than 5 minutes? I love playing with him .. he's hilarious and such a fast runner ... it's beautiful to see. But there are times when I'd like to load the dishwasher ... something that takes maybe 10-15 minutes ... but I can't let him out of my sight yet because all he'll do is eat dirt, rabbit poop or dig my landscaping out.

When will be be a retriever instead of a receiver (loves to go get it, just not bring it back)

When will this dog freaking RELAX in the house? All he does in the house is pace back and forth ... even after going outside for play, or long walks. I'll give him a kong or a bully stick ... but when he's done, it's back to the pacing and whining. The only place he'll lay down is in his crate.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I sympathize, it's almost impossible to wear out a puppy that age simply with walks and human play, especially if he isn't interested in retrieving. Try working on throwing a toy a very short distance and then as soon has he has the toy, show him a yummy treat while you take the toy and tell him "give.". Trade treat for toy and praise him. 

I am really thinking that both these puppy stories are indicating that the dog has reached a stage of growth that they need more exercise. Aerobic exercise, which we all know can be tough to get in extreme temps. Is there any way you can budget doggy daycare or find some puppy playmates? I can tell a huge difference in Macks boredom level and energy level when we have gone too long between play dates.

Increasing training time for mental wear is also helpful. Hang in there.


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## Lucky Cooper (Jul 22, 2011)

Im having the same problem with Lucky, he is jsut a little over 7 months and has become a terror! Countersurfing, taking food, not listening, same with walking and turning and jumping and biting his leash. 

I just try and wear him out, so he can't get into trouble..lol

I think its slightly funny but my mom who takes him during the day does not, whoops. I told her he has reached his teenage years..:doh:


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

Every so often Cookie used to lose her mind and start jumping around biting the leash. I think they do this sometimes when they are bored and looking to initiate some fun (fun for them, not you!). 

Turning around and ignoring is good to do if he starts the behavior. I also used to take a tug toy on our walks and every so often I'd stop and have a little game of tug. It kind of gave an outlet for the mouthy behavior, and seemed to prevent her from starting in the first place.

The last thing I did was to give Cookie something really good to carry in her mouth. People always suggested to me to have her carry a toy, but it never worked for us. So, I started giving her a bone with a frozen banana stuffed in it to carry on the walk. This job kind of keeps her mind busy and she never tried to mouth the leash. Then at the end of the walk she gets the bone treat for a reward.

For Cookie, this did seem to be a phase that they largely grew out of, but I have seen several dogs 2 or 3 years old (always goldens too!) that are flipping out on the leash.


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

Stressedgoldenmom said:


> When will this dog freaking RELAX in the house? All he does in the house is pace back and forth ... even after going outside for play, or long walks. I'll give him a kong or a bully stick ... but when he's done, it's back to the pacing and whining. The only place he'll lay down is in his crate.


Oh I can't stand pacing either. I taught Cookie a "Relax" command, which pretty much means stop what you are doing and flop down. If he's pacing, it means it is a good time to practice some long down stays!


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

yep...some come by it naturally...but some have to be taught how to settledown...
If you search teaching down stays...you should come up with training ideas.




BriGuy said:


> Oh I can't stand pacing either. I taught Cookie a "Relax" command, which pretty much means stop what you are doing and flop down. If he's pacing, it means it is a good time to practice some long down stays!


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## Stressedgoldenmom (Aug 2, 2011)

Just took Wrig to the vet for his weigh in and flea/tick treat. He now weighs 61 pounds ... we had some bratty eating issues 2 months ago, but now they seem to be gone! Ended up taking him to the big park near the vet and he found 2 young wiemeraners to play with ... woo hoooooo!!!! 

He's tuckered out, I can tell, but he's still pacing .. sigh.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

have you ever tried tethering him to you...?


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## Nyahsmommy (Jul 23, 2011)

Nyah went through this stage at 6 months.. it was awful. Now she is 8 months and has gotten much better but still has her moments where she won't listen if she doesn't feel like it. This is a pic of Nyah listening to me when I'm trying to call her inside. :bowl:


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## ferreira (Jun 20, 2011)

Nyahsmommy said:


> Nyah went through this stage at 6 months.. it was awful. Now she is 8 months and has gotten much better but still has her moments where she won't listen if she doesn't feel like it. This is a pic of Nyah listening to me when I'm trying to call her inside. :bowl:


 
gee our dogs look similar dont they? 

Almost like they could be from the same litter


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## Faith82 (Aug 25, 2011)

Yep! My 8 month old does the exact same thing (jumping, biting our ams and coat sleeves, playing tug of war with his leash). It is usually this crazy spurt of energy he gets right before bed when we take him on his last potty break. What we started doing was stepping on his leash so if he tries to jump he yanks himself back down. Then its a waiting game to see how long it takes him to calm down. Once he's calm, we start walking again, if he starts jumping again we stop once more and step on his leash. Seems to be working so far. Good luck!


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## Stressedgoldenmom (Aug 2, 2011)

Nyahsmommy said:


> Nyah went through this stage at 6 months.. it was awful. Now she is 8 months and has gotten much better but still has her moments where she won't listen if she doesn't feel like it. This is a pic of Nyah listening to me when I'm trying to call her inside. :bowl:


oh my gosh!!! yep ... that's what Wrig does.


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

I think we need an 8 mo old club (from 6-12 mo). Know I would have run for the hills if not for everyone here. God Bless us Every-One!

I will be glad when WE are considered the "Wise Ones" here talking to others about their pups. Hate that every time I post it seems to be a problem. Really the kids are doing so great all the time, uh, well, most of the time, ok, ok, Almost "most" of the time.


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## baumgartml16 (Jun 19, 2011)

Deber said:


> I think we need an 8 mo old club (from 6-12 mo). Know I would have run for the hills if not for everyone here. God Bless us Every-One!
> 
> I will be glad when WE are considered the "Wise Ones" here talking to others about their pups. Hate that every time I post it seems to be a problem. Really the kids are doing so great all the time, uh, well, most of the time, ok, ok, Almost "most" of the time.


I too would have gone insane if not for all of you going through this as well. We are in this together lol!  

Seriously though, my Koda does this occasionally. We have found that it is due to excess energy. My husband hates when I say that..he says "we are taking her for a walk to get out energy and she has more to get out". I say yes!  LOL. We have tried to make sure we have a little play session before we head out to get that "excess energy" out and it has worked thus far. There are the few times when maybe we didn't play enough or we decide to tempt fate and lose haha..but that is what has worked for us. 

These kids are too funny, though. I have also learned that getting frustrated to them does NOTHING! I am still trying to get this part through DH's head. Turn your back when they are acting up on you and biting at your arms and so forth. When they calm down try to go down to their level and talk in a calming voice to them to get them to relax a bit. 

Koda never wants to come anymore unless food or play is involved. She is go-go-go right now! But I am soaking it up amidst my frustrations because one day I will want her to have the energy and it won't be there..

It's a phase, we will get through it!


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

Wise words Baumgartm! Love these two kids and know I will miss this as they age.


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## mrmooseman (Aug 12, 2011)

i wonder when this phase will end lol


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## Stressedgoldenmom (Aug 2, 2011)

ya knowwwwww .... much like to do not miss my kids baby and toddlerhoods ... I kinda doubt I'm going to miss all this rebellious foolishness. It's going to be bad enough that I have an almost teenage girl ... I need this teenage puppy stuff to pass or else

I
will
go 
insane!!!

He was a much better pup today though. It was playing with the Weims at the park that did it!


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

Stressedgoldenmom said:


> Please tell me:
> 
> When will he be affectionate? Seriously .. he could care less about being petted and loved on. He does the shoving thing with his nose, but that's to get my attention to be let out (see 2 more down)
> 
> ...


Just wanted to say... Most dogs will improve with age, but you can accelerate the process if you want to  The best thing to understand is that dogs do things with a history of reinforcement. If you provide enough reinforcement for the behaviours you like, they are bound to be repeated.. 

For the affectionate bit - some dogs love it, some dogs never will... With Summer, because she was fearful of people petting her on her head, I did some conditioning where I would touch the top of her head then feed her a treat. This creates the association that "hand-on-my-head = good thing". Soon her head was looking for hands, and it helped a lot with her stranger problems too.. You can do variations with hugs and treats or what not, but Summer is now one of the most cuddly dogs you can imagine 

For the pacing in the house bit - reinforce relaxed behaviour. Sit with him in a room.. Let him do what he wants. If he happens to sit/lay down, say "good" or "yes" or whatever, and feed him a piece of something.. if he gets up again, wait for him to lay down/sit and repeat. After a few times, wait for something more.. rolling onto one hip in a sit/down to show more relaxation. Then maybe putting a head onto the floor. Take small approximations of relaxed behaviour over many sessions... You don't really need a cue for this pattern of behaviour because if it is reinforcing enough in his mind he will start to offer it more often  A good time to practice this is while the family is watching tv or something.. 

It may be nice to have this relaxation behaviour separate from a down-stay which comes with a cue and means "dont break your stay". In this case we don't mind him moving, getting comfortable, even grooming himself or chewing a toy.. So long as he exhibits the relaxed behaviour that you want 

I used this method to condition Summer around the house and this is one of the results: 




In this case I selected for more and more relaxed behaviour which resulted in me treating her for flopping on her side. When that video was taken she was not tired out, just offering her floppy behaviour.. She can sit through an entire family board game/card game and could since she was under a year  It's taken LOTS of treats, initially I fed her every half a minute or so if she stayed laying down, now I just have to feed her every 5 mins..

Good luck!


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## jluke (Nov 18, 2011)

*Two Thoughts*

Maisie was really bad about grabbing her leash and playing tug-of-war with it and jumping up on me -- most often she did this when her walk was coming to an end. I worked one on one with a trainer on this and a few other things. The trainer suggested shortening the leash, holding it like a grocery bag handle and walking very quickly -- just keep moving. Most of the time it works and Maisie got beyond these problems -- now we're working on pulling!

On the pacing problem, we're just starting a basic obedience class. In our first class meeting this week (for handlers only), one of our at home assignments was to sit on a chair with our dog on a 6 foot leash on the floor in a down-stay and just let the dog be without a toy or bone while we read a book or magazine or watched something on TV every day for 30 minutes. The trainer (same one as above) says the goal is to teach our dogs to learn to "just chill out". I've only done it once so far because Maisie had her spaying surgery on Tuesday. It went OK -- we made it to about 20 minutes. On the one hand, I was helped by the fact that she's still taking pain medication and maybe hurt by the fact that she wants to exercise more than the vet she should at this point.


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## Nyahsmommy (Jul 23, 2011)

ferreira said:


> gee our dogs look similar dont they?
> 
> Almost like they could be from the same litter


 
Hahaha, definately.


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## goldenagain (Jul 19, 2011)

I can add Dewey to this 8 month old club. All of a sudden he will not go into his crate when I have to go out or at bedtime. Refuses and will lay down and not move. Nothing happened and although he did not like it to much during the day he would still go in. He is also biting at the leash and has started chewing the woodwork at times. He also has to take a toy outside with him now. We started blocking off part of the kitchen at night with his crate in there and we were given a bed as a gift last weekend and we put it in his crate and he will not go in it for us but when we get him in the morning we will find him in it all snuggled in a ball. I don't mind it as long as he is good while he is in the kitchen not chewing.....so far so good. He is also destroying his toys. He never did that and just played with them. Now it is how fast can I rip a hole in it and get the stuffing out. He is also chewing on the corners of his bed to. He is also not neutered yet. We were booked for Feb.1st but he got an upper respiratory infection and the Dr. cancelled it. So it is just a matter of time. He is starting to lift his leg sometimes when he goes and is kinda funny to see him do that. Otherwise he is still a sweetboy and just one look melts my heart no matter what he does lol!


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