Puppy lunging and biting when it's time for bed (at any time of day)

[Fiona Smith]

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Hello,

Our 5 month border collie has taken to lunging, pulling and tearing clothes and biting when he knows it's time for his crate - no matter the time of day. It sometimes occurs when we've not asked him to go to bed too.

On the whole, he is a really chilled little guy - always happy to see us, love playing etc etc. He is teething so I'm hoping this phase will pass but I'd love some advice on how to help him calm mown before putting him into bed.

The mania starts even before I have asked him to get into bed - he seems to pre-empt the situation. He jumps up and nips, bites, pulls at clothes etc. If I tell him no, it gets worse. If I cross my arms and move away, it gets worse and he'll jump on my back. I've tried leaving the room (not easy when he is clinging on) and this has mixed results - he either sits and waist foir me to open the door, or he'll zoom around the room (we have glass doors so can see what he is doing). I've tried to get him to sit, lie down etc and praise when he does - but this doesn't last nad he is soon at it again. While he isn't breaking the skin, it is painful.

Do you have any suggestions? I have more holes in my clothes than a cheese grater at the moment

Thank you in adavnce

Fiona

 

[JoanneF]

Can we narrow this down a little - it would be helpful to work out whether he is being like an over-tired toddler or whether he has any dislike of his crate. How does he get on with the crate when he isn't doing this?

 

[Fiona Smith]

Hi, when he's not in frenzy mode, he will walk in perfectly and wait for his treat. He settles well during teh day, at night time, not so much.

Our day goes like this (I work from home which helps):
6.30am up and out for the loo and a small quite play until 7am - he normally goes back to his crate just fine
7am - 8am he snoozes or chews his chew bones while we all get ready for school/work
8am - 9am'ish - we go for a walk, approx 30mins, then back for breakfast
9am - 11am or 11.30am - up for the loo, playtime, training, chew of antler etc
12pm - back into crate, usually no problem but some days it takes a while
2pm or a bit later (I leave him sleeping if he isn't already up) - up for loo, a small walk around the neighbourhood, lunch
3pm'ish - back into bed
5pm - loo and longer walk at park again
6pm - back into bed to let me get dinner made
7pm - 7.30pm - small play time then dinner
Back in crate until 8pm, then a small 10min walk for sniffs and snuffles, quite playtime, chew of antleer
Bed at 9pm - settles well.

We were giving breakfast at 6.30am but he really wasn't eating it until after he came home from his walk, and we have found that dinner later on works better than 5pm as he was getting hungry again by7pm (he's on a raw food diet)

We found that between 7pm and 9pm'ish without a small time in the crate, the biting was worse, and dinner seems to settle him as he has a full tummy at this time.

I do take him in the car with me if I need to pop to shop for bread etc (never leave him more than 5 mins) during his time out of his crate to give him some more mental stimulation, we also go to new places too for socialisation etc.

Are we perhaps doing too much??

Our other collie was pretty much a perfect puppy - he didn't lunge or bite, he was really easy going so this is quite a shock to the system

Thanks
Fiona

 

[JudyN]

Does he need to be in the crate quite so much? I'm not anti-crate, but you don't want it to develop into a bone (no pun intended) of contention. Can you make the area safe so he can choose where to be for these times? Or encourage him to settle in his crate but with the door open?

I'll give some more thoughts on the biting/lunging later (been there, done that, got the t shirt, got holes in the t shirt...), when I have time.

 

[Fiona Smith]

Hi Judy, thanks for your reply

At the moment, I work at one side of the house while his bed is at the other (in the living room) so I wouldn't feel comfortable just yet leaving him to roam in there himself. Although, it has given me the idea that perhaps I can train him to sleep/rest on a blanket in the room with me for short periods. I work 9am - 5pm and what we have going seems to be working so far for during the day - it's the evening time that gets a bit all over teh place.

I'll try keeping him out of his crate from 6.30 am to 8am and see how that goes with all of us getting ready and going back and forth for breakfast etc. Previously, when we tried this, he got a bit 'nippy' after being up for 30mins but as that was a while ago, we can try again

 

[excuseme]

Is he a show type Border Collie or a working type Border Collie?
Collies are extremely intelligent and very active creatures, they have working needs and if they do not get enough freedom and mental challenges they can rebel through frustration.
A collie that spends so much time in a cage during the day at the other end of the house and then again all night will probably be finding life a bit challenging
As Judy has mentioned, can you make a safe area with the cage door open so that it is his choice to sleep/rest in it but not locked in.
Our dogs are social pack animals, it is not fair to any of them to spend what appears to be so much time confined to life in a cage.

 

[JudyN]

Although, it has given me the idea that perhaps I can train him to sleep/rest on a blanket in the room with me for short periods.

I think that would be an excellent idea. Check out this video by Kikopup (she has some really useful vids):

It would also be useful for helping him to settle down and switch off in the evenings when he gets a bit hyper and manic (like an overtired toddler) - my dog did sometimes finally settle when I said a firm 'On your bed settle down' (and then gave him a treat on his bed as a reward).

For the biting, have a read of this post: Puppy biting Consistency is absolutely key, as is calmness. And I do recommend the It's Yer Choice video mentioned in that post as it helps teach a dog to listen to you, and get some self-control, and also gets their brains working, which is always good.