[Cassius-Pup]

So in the past week or so Cassius has entered a new phase in rebellion.  He no longer comes when we call him in the yard unless he wants to, he's regressed alot in his leash training, Monday he destroyed the bed in his crate after lunch, and today when I went home for lunch he'd pulled a down blanket that we use to cover his crate through one of the slots and destroyed it.... DESTROYED...  feathers everywhere.  Thankfully I found him, my wife already got the joy of cleaning thousands of pieces of foam and fabric from his bed Monday.  He is 9 1/2 months old and we've had him for a month and a half. Is this just his teenage rebellion coupled with being more comfortable in our house or is this something I should be concerned with?

 

[Donya]

I dont think you should be concerned...this sounds like normal teenage rebellion..Mav is about 10.5 months now and about a month ago (same age as your guy) he started to do all the same things..he is evil now but i practice training sessions with him and he is starting toi get better..the hard headedness is still there tho. good luck and i feel your pain!

 

[tootsie]

Ahhh...yes. Sounds like Cassius is definitely going through puberty! Try to be real diligent with your training sessions and make them short but fun. Also sounds like a little boredom setting in when you are not home. Maybe a frozen peanut butter filled kong in his crate before you leave for work will keep him a little busy while he is in the crate. Also, a good exercise session before leaving in the morning and at lunch time may help tire him a bit. Good luck, and yes...this too shall pass!  :lol:

 

[sully]

Oggie has been doing this the past few days, he's about the same age as well.  Sounds like the same rebellion thing.  I'm upping the training and it seems to help give him something productive to do.  Also he knows what a "timeout" is and he will usually take a break when he hears one might be coming!  I rarely use them though.

 

[Cassius-Pup]

Thanks, I am hoping that's all it is but also worried that's what it is. He gets a 40 minute walk before breakfast in the morning and some play time in the yard before I go.  He gets a kong with frozen dog food, the peanut butter doesn't sit well with his stomach sometimes, and at lunch he goes out to the bathroom and then gets a play session in the yard.  Training is tough with him lately cause he is so stubborn that I catch myself getting frustrated so I end up going back to things he's good at and ending so we always end on a high note.  It's been an off week or so for our house so that probably isn't helping.  Last week my wife was around all week (she's a teacher and had the week off) and this week his dogwalker is on vacay so it is a bit tougher. After Mondays incident and because of travel time between work and home I decided to bring him to work with me yesterday (thus disrupting his schedule further) and he was a perfect gentleman in the office.  Then on our walk last night... PSYCHO.  But we did meet a sweet little boxer girl along the way.  I am WFH this afternoon and took 2 days vacay this week to study for finals (last two exams of law school, 4 years of night classes finally finishing).  By Friday the dogwalker will be back and hopefully we will get things back to a normalized schedule which I hope will help.

 

[Barbs2Ks]

I got Kiah at 8.5 months old and she did the same thing.  Can't tell how many times she chewed her blankets and crate bed; plus anything else that was in reach.

 

[Cassius-Pup]

Does anyone know anything about the supposed indestructible crate mat?  I don't want to reward him but I want to make the crate a comfortable place he wants to be in without coming home to a new mess every night.

Also he has begun chasing his nub (I'd say tail but...), he actually turns his body, looks at it, then jumps for  it in a circle, quite funny but I hope he's not just really bored.  Maybe we'll have to go hit the trails for this evening's walk to get a change of scenery

 

[Barbs2Ks]

I think it is a puppy thing, Kiah did it when she was younger but haven't seen her do it in a while.

 

[owenowlsnest]

Can you use some turkey hot dogs to get him to come in from the yard.  If you can get immediate results from the "come" command he might soon be reliable off-leash somewhere.  There may also be an evening puppy class he could attend.  Even at seven our Boxer would just lay down on a walk if he didn't want to come home, so some remain more stubborn than others.  People would stop their cars because they thought he was dead, a motionless body on the bike path with me pulling frantically on the leash.  I think they call that passive resistance!!

 

[Cassius-Pup]

owenowlsnest, looks like your dog is a fan of Ghandi.

We are in a basic manners/obedience class on Saturdays and when I have treats in my hand or the little pouch of treats on me he is generally well behaved, if I don't I am far less interesting than a ball or a squirrel.  He always comes back to go in the house it's when we are playing fetch or working on the "come" command that he's a little more stubborn. Ah well we'll just keep working day by day.  I am also gonna try making crate time more interesting, add a new toy every now and then and make sure he knows how good he is when he's in there. He sure can be a bugger.