Not sure what to do anymore

[benson mum]

Im sat here in tears while typing this so apologise if it doesnt make sence....
Me and my partner are at our witts end with benson who is now 14 weeks..... since we got him at 8 weeks he has yet to sleep through the night sleeping mostly from midnight til 5 ish and we can no longer cope on this amount of sleep.... He barks alot at night.... we leave him for max half hour before i cant take it anymore and worry that the neighbours will hear him... i go downstairs let him out and he is all teeth.... i dont mean mouthing i mean biting enough to draw blood and bruise us he jumps and at 14 weeks is a strong dog and nearly has me over.... he is like this for a couple of hours if he doesnt bite us he is chewing the sofa our stairs you name it he chews it, we have tried loads of things chew sprays etc etc but they just dont work, he will not listen to us when he becomes fixated on something.
When we walk him he jumps at everyone we meet which worries me alot.
He seems well behaved at puppy training but we have only had one session.
Its getting to the point where me and my partner just dont know what to do we have even talked about rehoming but i love benson so much i dont want to give up on him, if only we could get him to sleep through the night and stop biting i would feel we are getting somewhere.
Any help would be great
xxxxx

[Stuart]

Benson, like many other dogs will be very quick to work from habit,.. if you are putting him at at about 5am then his time clock will do the rest and habit will tell him he wants out at 5am,... I have had this, and found the best way was to not let him out untill you want him out,..he will learn.

I know its not to everyones taste, but have you tried having him sleep in your bedroom, Benson is a pack animal, and will like to be close to you,.. the chances are that he would settle well, and would not want out quite so early,..if he does, you can tell him no from the comfort of your bed and make him wait,... until the new habits take over.... this would probably also stop the barking at night, and he is unlikely to chew with you around

The mouthing/biting is a serious problem for you,..I know that you have probably tried all the advice that you have seen on here, to help with this,..so I would suggest, that for a few nights you put a muzzle on him,.. make sure it is a basket muzzle, he will be able to sleep in that with little problem,.. then there can be no biting when you let him out,..again it might throw the habit out the window,... dont forget to praise him for not biting,,.[ even though he cant ]

Try it and let us know how it goes,.. its what I would try,.. but I admit, I have never done much of it except have a dog sleep in the bedroom

You're not alone! I had so much stress with Remus my first GSD, he was a 1 yr old rescue, and I know what sleep deprivation does to you. The honeymoon period is over now so you need to commit to training this pup you've decided to share your life with.

Is Benson your first GSD? Benson needs a lot of your time and training, every day. And BOUNDARIES. You mention puppy classes - you need to keep up with these. GSDs are bright dogs, bright dogs that are unchallenged will find their own ways of keeping their minds and bodies active.

The sleeping arrangements - get a crate and put in your bedroom. He wants to be near you, GSDs like being with their pack more than other dogs. You can wean him off this as he matures to sleeping wherever's more convenient.

The biting you need to stop that ASAP, what methods have you tried? A firm NO! and ignore works for some. Beware of giving the pup a toy to bite on instead or he'll work out that biting gets a high value reward.

Some GSDs from working lines are more challenging than others, and will respond more to a lot of training. The worst thing you can do is baby a pup like this or he'll be a nightmare later on. Have you contacted the breeder for advice?

[benson mum]

unfortunatly the breeder is no use at all, it would seem that now she has the moeny she is not interested!!!!
We are attwending training once a week for 8 weeks and will keep at it, but all benson done last week was sit under my chiair and not play with the other dogs!!!
The trainer suggested standing up with arms crossed and back turned to benson when he bites, this worked to start with but not now he just bites the back of our legs and my bum!!
We didnt want to have benson in our bedroom but we will try anything so crate is going up to bed with us tonight.
We had been told when benson chewing to distract him with his fav toy.... now im wondering if this isnt the right thing to do as like you said he is getting rewarded for bad behaviour.
Also do you think it will work to try and not let him sleep so much during the day so that he is tired and may sleep longer at night??
Thanks for your help guys he is a lovely pup and we just dont want to give in
xxxx

Definitely stick with the training classes, the fact he's sitting under your chair means he's not sure of the situation yet. Any interaction with other dogs at this stage will be good for him; he needs that socialisation so he doesn't get wary of other dogs. The trainer needs to work with you at the classes to bring him out of himself a bit.

For the biting you could try putting him away from you for a few minutes (like a naughty step with kids!) in a nearby room. He'll soon learn biting gets no attention and not being with you. When he comes back in if he's playful and not not biting you can give him a treat but if the bad behaviour starts again, repeat the brief isolation. Don't leave him long though - just enough for him to have a think about it.

Keeping him awake - I don't know about this as I've never had a young pup, but they do need a lot of sleep anyway. I'd do short training sessions of 5 mins several times during the day - these tire dogs immensely as they're using their brains.

A walk before bedtime too, so he's toileted, and not just in the house with pent up energy still to use up. Might make him sleep longer. The fresh air might wake you up though!

[sami]

I agree wih Stuart and Anni. I know not everyone wants the dog in the bedroom but they do settle quicker in my experience, even if it is with you sleeping with your arm dangling out of the bed giving him a little reassurance when he wakes.

It horrible when they are testing you and you are absolutely cream crackered from no sleep. They do get there eventually but at 14 weeks he's still a toddler. Even kids are over 10years old before they stop waking you up at 5 in the morning to play cars with them in bed. I spent many a morning trying to sleep with a toddler playing lego in the bed or running a car up and down my face.

I also think, just my opinion, you have to set the ground rules early. There is no need to be cruel but be firm, he has to learn that he is the bottom rung of the ladder.

Stick at it it doesnt happen overnight unfortunately.

Good Luck

Tracy

[Beki]

we had the same biting nipping issues with ellie where what ever we tried she just upped the anti, wat did it for us was time out, she ould be put in the kitchen for 30secs (anylonger and they dont associate why they are in there) when we first did this she would go in n as soon as we let her out she would nip again but after about 7-9 time out sessions she pretty much stopped as she realised it was much more fun to not bite and play/train with us than bite and be seperated. Works a treat.

We have ellie in our room always have, we just have boundires in there as to what is and isnt acceptable like every other room in the house and it works brilliantly. Anni's idea of a walk before bed is brill we did, and still do, this also give him something like a stuffed kong in his crate with him to help him to settle.

Keep consistant and stay strong with the rules you set, give in once and he will know how to make you give in making a rod for your own back !!! It is tough, lol ellie has almost been rehomed many times! But it defo pays off and now with Ellie we couldnt ask for a better woofer to share our lives with!!!

[Jude]

[QUOTE=benson mum;154518]Im sat here in tears while typing this so apologise if it doesnt make sence....
Me and my partner are at our witts end with benson who is now 14 weeks..... since we got him at 8 weeks he has yet to sleep through the night sleeping mostly from midnight til 5 ish and we can no longer cope on this amount of sleep.... He barks alot at night.... we leave him for max half hour before i cant take it anymore and worry that the neighbours will hear him

He has already learnt that if he keeps on barking you will go to him - I suggest you leave a radio playing in the room, buy yourselves some earplugs and buy your neighbours a bottle of wine and some chocolates and then ride it out. He will learn that barking does not necessarily get your attention! Kira used to cry/howl for up to 2 hours, although it gradually got shorter and shorter it took about two weeks for her to settle completely. Now she never barks unless there is something outside

... i go downstairs let him out and he is all teeth.... i dont mean mouthing i mean biting enough to draw blood and bruise us he jumps and at 14 weeks is a strong dog and nearly has me over....

Do you let him out as soon as you go into the room and do you make a fuss of him? You should make a point of ignoring him when you enter the room and doing something else for five minutes - maybe even go out of the room and come back in. When you do let him out do not speak to him and certainly do not greet him at all - just ignore him and if he starts to bite or jump use a very firm "No" and turn away.

he is like this for a couple of hours if he doesnt bite us he is chewing the sofa our stairs you name it he chews it, we have tried loads of things chew sprays etc etc but they just dont work, he will not listen to us when he becomes fixated on something.

Pups chew - it is their way of exploring things. Do not allow him access to anything that he is not supposed to chew and if you catch him in the act use a firm no and then direct his attention to something he is allowed to chew. He will learn!

When we walk him he jumps at everyone we meet which worries me alot.
He seems well behaved at puppy training but we have only had one session.
Its getting to the point where me and my partner just dont know what to do we have even talked about rehoming but i love benson so much i dont want to give up on him, if only we could get him to sleep through the night and stop biting i would feel we are getting somewhere.

All pups are hard work and those from strong working lines are much more of a challenge. When you are out walking make sure that he sits quietly before you introduce him to people. Also make sure that you put him in his crate for periods during the day when you are around - it is important that you ignore him if he makes a fuss and only let him out when he is quiet

If it is any consolation, at 14 weeks Kira was an absolute monster and although I have had a lot of experience with training dogs, there were occasions when I really wondered what I had taken on! Now at just over a year she is turning into a lovely dog and is well behaved about 75% of the time but still has her "teenage hooligan" moments. By the time she is about 3 I think she will be the perfect dog, if I can just get over her wanting to chase anything that moves.....!

[Caryll]

The above is all excellent advice - don't give up, most pups eventually come round & become wonderful members of their human family.

[ianock]

Originally Posted by sami

I spent many a morning trying to sleep with a toddler playing lego in the bed or running a car up and down my face.

lol...



Afraid I cant help with Benson as Sasha was 18 months when we got her however she did howl/bark at first (we took turns to sleep on sofa depending who was working next day) and she always has a walk at night (midnight-ish) then 1/2 a dental stick in her bed...she knows that this is bedtime and thats that...although she did pull apart one of the kids school bags the other night to get at a packet of chewing gum but hey it would be boring if they were perfect wouldn't it