8 month old "switch"
While Leonard is still amazing there are a couple things I am wondering about: 1) He has recently started shedding, noticeably like his hair is on everything. He is turning grey, quickly now (his back legs and his face patch are almost completely grey and when I brush him the hair underneath is grey). My mum says she doesn't remember our last OES shedding. Is this sudden shedding because he is losing his puppy coat? (I bought a new, heavy duty pin brush with long pins as his old brush no longer stands up to his profuse coat. Love it  he is so beautiful and cuddly!!! (my clothes are just hairy all the sudden, I have retired half of my dress pants as they seem to attract the hair).2) His play sound has always been this rumbly gravely growly sound but now other dogs (and their owners) don't seem to see it as playful as his growl and bark get deeper and seem to take it as aggressive. I know it's playful because he is wagging his bum and thats the sound he makes when he plays with Ru and every other dog he knows... He is just an excited, boisterous, 8 month old fluff ball with giant feet. What should I do about this? I have stopped letting him play off leash in public places because I don't want him to get in a fight as older dogs are less tolerant of him now and his playful roughhousing could cause issues. Do they grow out of this? Without breaking his big clowny spirit can I mitigate the growly sound? 3)When we walk he is learning to heel and behave, he is doing really well- unless he sees another dog, it isn't every dog just some dogs. He decides he wants to play and he will lunge on the leash and jump and bark and make a general fool out of himself until the dog passes. The trainer said if this isn't addressed it can develop into leash aggression later on. We have worked on it in obedience class but the strategies don't translate to walks yet. Anybody corrected this problem? His leash manners other than this are great, we have been working for months and he does learn when we work patiently with him. (This behaviour is new, he didn't do this until about 3 weeks ago out of the blue). 4)He has developed selective hearing, we have been doing formal obedience classes since he was 4 months old (we started with puppy play classes and worked our way up to "big dog" classes) we do some training every day. I know he knows commands, well but when he doesn't want to listen (like when he is playing) its like he is deaf (he isn't). I have heard this is a "teenager" thing and that if I keep at it eventually he will grow out of this selective hearing thing. It doesn't happen often but it has happened about 3 times in the last month. Somebody told me that one day it will all "click"... here's hoping! Don't get me wrong, he is still the best puppy ever. I despite his age he is a quick learner and exceptionally loyal and loving. He is my shadow, my large, very hairy shadow. He is quite calm, low energy yet playful, he isn't scared of things and likes going new places. He isn't aggressive and haven't developed any bad habits like chewing or neurotic behaviour, he really is a great puppy (I have heard some scary stories about puppies this age, many people write them off until they are 2 and start training again then, I don't think thats what I want to do). Any advice/experiences would be great p.s. I have given up on the "respect my space" thing. I really enjoy having him underfoot, why get a sheepie otherwise right? |
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| Hello. We have found Sprocket has started a strange jumping on the lead,barking etc when he sees other dogs since xmas - he was 1 in October- we are going to a new training class Thursday which has opened near us and they understand sheepies as own one themselves so see what happens. I have found if I give him a "good brushing" he will shed hairs everywhere but if he is left for a week he doesn't shed untill brushed again. Sprocket can walk to heel really well on roads etc untill he sees something interesting and then it's like he is in a world of his own to my commands-another thin to ask at class Thursday. Our 3 previous sheepies have all been the same but I would like to see if I can overcome this with this flufalump. As for "respecting space" all space is equal!!xx |
| So for people searching this thread because their puppy seems to have switched into adolescence overnight I should likely say how this all turned out. It didn't last long, it was a couple weeks and he seems to be over most of it especially the selective hearing which was the worst. He still has days but for the most part he is still super laid back and aims to please. All we have been doing is setting expectations and making sure he follows them. There was a couple days when he was on a leash in the house, that seemed to help with the selective the shedding was really bad for about a week and a half where we would brush daily and fill up the brush several times. His coat turned super grey during that time. It is still black in spots; but the shedding has stopped. I think it was/is just coat transition. I am guessing it will happen again. We have realized he is a boisterous player, luckily even when in a big group of dogs he will ignore all other dogs and play only with Ru. He does greet them but when playtime comes he would rather play with his buddy. If he does play with other dogs he usually doesn't do the play growling unless they are dogs he has played with before (friend's dogs) who haven't told him off for being a rambunctious puppy. As far as leash training goes this gets better the more we work on it. Most days his manners are great, a trainer told us loose leashes and "back always" will prevent lots of excitement when he sees another dog. Also we were told to keep working on it and the work is paying off. The selective hearing has also greatly improved, he is pretty consistent with his focus and obedience. He seemed to be going through a phase and part of it was it was time to start switching to non food based rewards for good behavior. He is doing well now He will likely test us some more as that's what teenagers do. Our breeder's advice (from when he was 8 weeks old) to start obedience training by 6 months old was great as when he started teenage behavior we had already laid down a solid foundation and had something to build on. He is still the biggest teddy bear around! |
| Thanks for posting the follow up. I have been wondering how it all turned out. What is "back always"? Is that telling him "back" when he goes ahead of you? |
| One of the things that has helped us control Bear on his leash (when he sees something he wants to run after) is the use of the word "WAIT.' (Or heel, depending on your preference). To teach him control we put the leash on, take him to the door, say WAIT....he sits and waits for the command to go through the door. We always make sure we leave through the door first. On the porch, we say WAIT again, he will sit and wait for his cue. Periodically while walking we will say 'WAIT' when he starts getting excited or smells something he wants to run after. He will sit and wait for our cue to continue. We do this several times while walking, every walk. What it has taught him is self-control. In my experience it's not uncommon for them to have little lapses here and there, especially when hormones kick in and this may also explain his deeper growl when playing. What I was reminded of over the weekend while speaking to my pup's breeder is that consistency and firmness goes a long way and that, just because I think he has learned everything does not mean I should relax too much and take it for granted that he will always do what I think he will always do. I think because this breed is so agreeable and easy to train I personally sometimes forget that Bear is still just a pup....and will go thru phases. The hair falling out is completely normal when their adult coat comes in. Thankfully most of the time it's in clumps rather than small strands of hair everywhere. Glad to hear your pup is doing well |
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