sh1ft.org : at 4 months old

Wednesday 4 May 2005
at 4 months old

Mischa has found her bark.

We used to be so proud that our 'little girl' hadn't made a peep of noise in the first month we've had her. That's until she hit 4 months ...

Apparently this part of a puppy's life is going to be tough. Teething, so there's alot of chewing and biting. Dominance, where she's testing rank in our house. Hyper, so there's a tonne of running and jumping which also means she gets bored easily if i'm not playing fetch with her every hour. And boredom leads to the BARKING.

At first it's cute and funny. Then it's alright. And then we start to look for her 'off' button. Okay, not really but we're now having to teach her when to speak and when to be quiet.

I just hope our neighbours can't hear us giving out the stern commands! (They probably think we're mistreating her by the sounds of it).

Good news, the toilet training seems to have stuck with her, so does the 'sit' and 'down' commands. 'Fetch' has seemed to work straight away (I guess she wants something to do and chew). It's just a battle to keep her with it, she's so unresponsive when she's hyper but i've been told not to back down when we give a command.

Regan and I are both amazed at how much energy she has, over the course of the weekend she's transformed from little playful puppy, to raging jumping pony raptor!

Oh lordy, has anyone else had experience with a pup at this stage of life? Any advice?

Replies: messages (7)

We got ours from the RSPCA aged 5 months and he was pretty quiet for a fair while. He's 2 in Dec and he's going through a loud barking stage and telling him off doesnt seem to work. We're hoping its just a stage and I agree with you about the neighbours, ours must think we're horrible based on the amount of times we have to reprimand him. He's good with sitting at street corners...actually he knows sitting makes us happy so when you tell him off he sits for no reason to try and make us pleased with him again...so hard to be mad at such a cute face! Did the water spray thing make a difference? I was thinking of trying that

Posted by Tan @ 04 may 2005 12:58 PM AEST

Two words: puppy school.
Mine was getting out of hand, so we took him to a basic obedience class. It worked wonders. He's now 3 years old and such a good 'oggie.

Posted by Chiara @ 04 may 2005 10:34 PM AEST

You have to be very firm with the dog and be consistent in your training and establishing of rules.

Also, you're right about having to spend loads of time with them. If not, the kind of mischief they get up to is unbelievable! My dog's 8 months now, and is much better. But he still gets up to some nonsense every once in a while.

Posted by Joan @ 05 may 2005 03:31 PM AEST

your dog is a "she"? nice ...

Posted by Yansen @ 06 may 2005 02:56 PM AEST

For the chewing part, the best thing is to go to the pet store and get some chew bones. I give my dog these edible cornstarch chew bones, which keep her occupied for about an hour, sometimes more. She's so occupied with her chew bone, she's not chewing on the house, the furniture, or anything else. Plus, it helps their teeth feel better, which is why they are so bitey in the first place. :)

Posted by Emily @ 07 may 2005 04:12 PM AEST

thanks for the comments so far :)

tan, i don't use a water spray to keep her quiet. she's now responding to 'quiet' though! hoooray!

emily, mischa has a few chew toys and bones around though she's taken to barking at them lately, haha.

Posted by tracey @ 07 may 2005 05:53 PM AEST

Sorry, can't give you a direct advice, but she looks adorable! I truly have a thing for dogs - I guess that would make me a dog person :) - and talk a lot with other dog owners. The most common theme is: consistency, in the sense of commands and what she is and is not allowed to do...my 2c for what it is worth :)

Good luck with your cutie.

Posted by Oliver @ 09 may 2005 12:56 AM AEST