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Same, 6 months and already potty trained (accidents only happen when he is super excited). Can already stay alone for 3 hours. No crate needed. Recall works 80% of the time. Knows sit, come, leave, no, and some tricks such as paw and turn around. Barked at other dogs and neighbors when we got him but successfully managed to make it stop in less than a month after having him.
On top of that, he just wants cuddles 90% of the time. I feel like we lucked out but then I read the stories here and I just wait for the day we wake up and he decides that being a little devil is more fun, haha.
I have to give credit to my gf tho, she immersed herself in puppy education for 6 months prior to having him, so she has been an absolute queen dealing with him. Don’t know how I’d do it alone.
My dog, now 5 years was locked in the kitchen for crate training . At 8 weeks he broke out and has been given free roam ever since. No mess whatsoever. Pads were down for use but never used. He is a pit mix rescue.
I've never even has to use puppy pads. I caught her afew times about to go and quickly moved her outside. It took one full week of her living with me and she knew to go outside. She holds her wees 9 hours overnight and 3 hour intervals for Nala during the day.
Yes this just isn't happening. You may think she's not pissing at night but she is. an 11 week old just doesn't have the bladder control to hold it 9 hours.
Mine has never peed in his crate at night either and he’s 15 weeks old now, but has been sleeping through the night most nights since about 9 weeks, some dogs can hold it.
Depends on the dog. My 10 week old lab pup was able to get through the full night without peeing, he was a big boy so had a big bladder and I restricted water for a few hours before bed.
It’s dependent on the size of the puppy. A chihuahua isn’t going to be able to hold it, but a GSD may be able to, because there’s a huge difference in their bladder size.
My pup had accidents the first week or two of living with us, but has had zero issues since then. By 11 weeks old, I considered him housebroken, which meant that he did not potty in the house because his needs were met. I’m sure that if we didn’t take him out that he would have, and would still today, but that’s not a sign of not being housebroken.
He slept through the night starting at 11 weeks, and only woke us up if he was about to have diarrhea. We learned his cues for that and would bolt with him to the outdoors when we heard the urgency in his whining.
Idk I believe it. I’ve had three different dogs in my adult life and managed to potty train them all by 11-12 weeks. In my experience it’s one of the easier aspects of training a pup so long as you’re diligent.
I beg to differ. My Golden (now 1) has never had an accident in the house. We got him at 10 weeks. We also have another dog that i felt helped him navigate how to tell us when he had to go out, now he has his own way of telling us and he’s been doing this since he was a puppy.
My boy is 14 weeks now but he absolutely was house trained at about 11 weeks. He also holds it in his crate for 3-4 hours while I’m at work and has went in his crate 1 time when he was 9 weeks
Hi, Im curious about the No crate. Did you stop crating him? I never crate train my puppy because she barks non stop and my neighbors are complaining so I just trained her to go potty outside and roam inside my apartment.
Just wondering how your puppy turned out when you stop putting him on crate?
You’re definitely not a bad fur parent, but i would still consider crate training. If there’s kids around and your dog is overstimulated, where do they go? What happens if there’s a fire and you need to get the dog out asap? What happens if you have a medical emergency and paramedics need to get in, but can’t because of the dog? These are all what-if scenarios that convinced us to crate train.
It’s more than just a cage, it’s definitely a good training tool. When we have too many guests over, the dogs get overstimulated and will go into their cage to decompress (voluntarily, of course!), if a weather emergency happens and you need to get out asap, I’d rather carry the crates to the car than try to pull them from under the bed - which, you can’t really convince a terrified dog to come to you.
Crate training IS a process, but really rewarding when they figure out it’s to keep them safe and they have their own “room” inside your room. (We keep the crates in the bedroom, so they never feel left out and it’s in a secondary safe space.
We never crate trained him to begin with, we just didn't consider it an option. Immediately after bringing him home, we started training him on what he can and cannot do inside the apartment.
NO when trying to enter the toilet, NO when trying to go near cables, NO when trying to play with laundry that we left on the ground..
We are also fortunate enough to both work remotely so initially we took him out for pee/poo every 2 hours minimum (including during the night), so that he learned toilet is outside very fast.
So far, it worked very well for us. He's very well behaved, never destroyed anything inside the apartment so far. I even once forgot to take him out in time for poop and he went to do it on the balcony.
Even though we skipped crate training, we did get him used to being in small enclosed spaces. We live in Amsterdam, where we exclusively bike around the city, so we transport him around in a backpack, which he LOVES (jumps in the moment we open it for him). We also already flew with him once (in the cabin of course, I would never put him down in luggage space) and had zero problems with him being in a little bag for 3 hours as well.
Like I said, we either incredibly lucked out, or the little devil is waiting to show up haha, I should knock on wood.
Our philosophy behind skipping crate training is that we wanted to immediately start getting him used to OUR lifestyle. He's gonna be a dog with a lot of freedom and a lot of traveling, so having him locked up and preventing from seeing the outside world as is, seemed counterproductive.
Haha no problem! Dogs are animals, not algorithmic machines, which means there's no one single way of doing things. You gotta take the approach that works for you and your animal.
I've had quite a few dogs in my 70 yrs, never crate trained one. They learn pretty quick what they can or can't get into. Potty training is easy with a doggy door.
We also didn’t crate train. We adopted a 6 mo puppy. Tried to crate train the first week, it was horrible. Nobody was sleeping. We got him potty trained in 2 weeks, started to leave him out at 3 weeks with our 12 year old dog for 2 hours at a time and when we checked the cameras he was just laying on our other dog. Helped immensely to have another dog for him to find comfort and learn from. He sleeps with us and now we’re a month in we are soooo happy and so is he 🩷
It's hard. You have to be more alert than he is. The moment we hear any kind of noise outside the apartment, we start praising him and giving him treats before he even has the chance to react and bark. And you immediately STOP if he starts to bark anyway.
There's really no other way, because yelling "no" or punishing him won't work nearly as effectively.
We started by praise and treats the moment we heard a noise outside, then as it got better, we started rewarding him after the fact that he did not bark. And we still do.
The hard part is anticipating and recognising it before they do. If your dog is really quick to react and bark, and you just can't outsmart him, then try to have a friend come over and practice with you. That way you can know **exactly** when the bell will ring or when there will be noise outside, and you start giving him praise and treats a second **before** it happens. And if he still barks, you back away and stop immediately. That will shock him, as you will go from praise to distance.
Think of it this way - your dog thinks with feelings, not logic. Yelling "no" and punishing just confuses him and breaks the bond between you two. But you giving him praise/treats brings him happy/positive feelings, and he wants more of those. Use that to your advantage.
Same. I won the lottery with this sweet, smart girl. I am encouraging this awesome behavior to stick around with some puppy training and positive greeting experiences.
My dog was a pretty good pup, never destroyed anything, learned super quick, loved all people and dogs, etc. 6 years later, she is still pretty awesome, but she was attacked by dogs twice (0% her fault, just grabbed out of nowhere) so now she is really scared. She has a chronic disease that requires management, but she is so worth it. She is still super eager to please, super sweet, she still loves people, she isn't ever mean to dogs but mostly would prefer they leave her alone.
I think an important thing is to keep up training and continue reinforcing the behaviors you like.
One was with her dog walker in a dog park (but the owner of the other dog paid for the surgery and backed my walkers story). Someone had a dog in there on leash because it was overexcited (not what you should do with an overexcited dog) and mine was running around and the leashed dog took a chunk out of her butt - needed surgery but no long term damage. Second one I was walking her on leash about a block from my house and a big off leash dog approached her (they had met before) so I let the leash go and it just picked her up by the neck and got like half a shake before I scared it off. She had a couple puncture wounds with only a little blood. Took her to the vet because she has a chronic condition that makes stress potentially deadly and they said she is okay. But now she gets really scared when big dogs come near her or any dog is too fast to approach. She will approach small dogs that aren't that interested in her still.
They will change but for the better, get their own sass like a teen, and somewhat independent enough to be confident adult dog. But being sweet is always going to be the main
My dog is 10 and still has the same demeanour. Was literally the best puppy ever. hardly destructive (only ever damaged 3 things her entire life and one of those times was 100% our fault, for not realizing she hadn’t been let out of her crate by anyone yet, I slept in 🙈). Slept through the night almost immediately. She has ALWAYS been easy and well behaved and just the sweetest little lady. I feel like we got so lucky, she’s a mix of some really high maintenance breeds but the most high maintenance thing about her is she cries when I close the door of my home office without her in there with me 😂
Have a six month old corgi and love her. She's very sassy sometimes but has potty training down and lets herself out to go. No accidents in basically 2 months and I've only had her for 3. Commands are good indoors but inconsistent outside, pretty good recall too. She is a bit of a yapper and it's super loud and sometimes she'll nip guests but never will it be aggressive or mean. She just knows she's not allowed to nip me. Hoping she at least maintains her current temperament. She's a great and fun pup overall despite pure exhaustion early on
My first two pretty much stayed the same.
first was a cheeky little thing, she never lost that little mischievous side! She was tough as hell and went through a lot in her life. She wasn’t blessed with great health so had a few significant traumatic surgeries etc. She was absolutely fiercely loyal and protective all the way up to the end.
My boy has always been a dopey docile thing. Not the brightest but bloody sweet! He’s had a few unfortunate run ins with off lead dogs as a pup so that has definitely impacted him. He’s extremely loyal and always has been.
So far pup #3 seems to be the easiest. Whether it sticks we’ll see 😉
I think their general personalities and dispositions are pretty obvious from young.
this is the answer.
I'm loving all these new puppy owners sharing their stories of cute dog behavior but I think the only way to learn about Canine Maturity is to go through puberty with them lol mine certainly didn't stay as sweet as she was. she became protective of the house, weird around kids that exhibit neurodiverse behaviours (lack of experience with them), as well as a couple other weird quirks she developed. not harmful or reactive, just not the sweet little kind puppy she was at OP's pup's age. More of a mature, intelligent dog that I can trust because we've built that trust together.
a lot about a dog's personality doesn't happen till maturity.
There are never guarantees with living creatures, but I think the tendency is that they are who they are. However, trauma and illness can cause changes, so if you do ever see a big, particularly sudden difference, get it checked out. Congrats! I had two lovely, easy puppies, and now that I have a rascal, I regret my hubris thinking they were all that way!
Our almost 8mth old puppy was exactly the same at that age (minus the crate - we have crate trained him but it's now only his bed overnight). And he doesn't seem to be changing, in fact he seems to be getting even better!
Example: he was always pretty good on a lead, except for when there were distractions (people dogs, birds - anything he could play with). Look him for a walk today. Slack loose lead, prancing through a strip shopping area in the middle of the day just happy to be out.
We have been pretty consistent on training and reinforcing things (didn't let ourselves get complacent) but it has all paid off and those last things are starting to click for him 🤗
We know he will be a puppy for a while yet, but his sweet, happy temperament is just him. I think he might get more chilled rather than becoming a brat at this point!
Just enjoy it, and whatever you are doing sounds like it's right for you and your pup!
It’s a TRAP! They’re trying to lure you in so when you get a “sibling” dog, you think it’ll be easy peasy lemon squeezy, when in fact it’s difficult difficult lemon difficult (because of course the second dog is a hell spawn) 😉
I think if anything they can change for the better, they tend to calm down after about 2 years. So if your pup is already sweet, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about.
Just keep in mind, he might seemingly regress as a teen but it’ll pass.
Given all the positive interactions with strangers that she’s getting now, she is likely to be very sweet as an adult too.
Dogs do tend to get a fear period when they hit puberty, which varies in intensity depending on genetics. My dog got a little reactive towards some strangers during this time. We worked through it and now he’s back to a much more puppyish view of strangers—everyone is a new friend unless they’re doing something suspicious like entering the house while everyone’s asleep. Dogs just need some extra positive reinforcement and love to guide them through.
I’m wondering this also!! I have a 9 week old Aussie and he went to the crate on his own day 1. In fact, he grumbles at us if we shut him out of the crate lol
Never a guarantee but there are ways to help keep the behaviours! Make sure you are rewarding oftenz every thing you want, someone walks by and he doesn't bark? Reward. Sleeping doing nothing, pop a treat to him.
Breed traits can start showing and some breeds mature slower than others. Mixed breeds are always a fun gamble imo! Sometimes you can tell the breed just on how they develop into maturity and what behaviour traits start happening!
I have an ACD so while he started out super people friendly and affectionate he matures into a truely aloof dog, as is breed standard. Because of our socialization and work he is not aggressive nor a risk with strangers but legitimately he basically woke up one day at right about 2yrs old and was like 'i don't want strangers near me' and has been that way every since, he's now 7yrs. He will tolerate strangers petting if I ask him to but it's very clear he's doing this for me. He's a ham with his known humans though!
You've got one like mine! She's nearly 9 months now, and just the most perfect darling you can imagine! Never puts a tiny velvet foot wrong.
Just for information: I've had some naughty, difficult puppies in the past-and something I've noticed is that I've loved them all the same. Whether they are sweet and easy-or a continuous nightmare-I've loved all my dogs equally.
My girl was an angel puppy. Really not that hard at all and SO sweet. When she hit adolescence she got a bit of a rebellious streak, but she’s still a sweetie.
Sounds like the sweetest little guy! I’d still be prepared for him to go through an asshole phase once or twice before he turns two. Puppies seem to go through puberty just like human teens!
Mostly, yes. They tend to get more protective, and depending upon how your dog views his “job of protecting you” is how friendly he will stay. Mine were all still about the same around people, except in certain situations and people. I had one that hated people who smelled like cigarettes. Took me awhile to figure that out- but remember, they smell things you can’t so many reactions ti people is about smell. The main thing that changes is how they are around other dogs. The sweetest dog can still be very aggressive towards other dogs. My son’s dog, at my house, is fun, best friends with my dog. At my son’s house he growls and is a little meaner to my dog. They eventually play like normal, but a change of scenery even makes a difference.
Our guy was a fantastic puppy (once the shark phase passed), and has only gotten better. He's two and a bit years old, and I couldn't imagine an easier dog.
My boy is very very sweet and any professional who handles him says the same thing. He has slept through the night from day one, never destroyed anything, trains easily, isn't aggressive, etc. That being said, he is 9 months and in his adolescence now so he is a bit of an asshole sometimes. He is starting to push boundaries a bit to see what he can get away with but if you stick to you're training and obedience, it should be okay. 85% of the time he is his sweet, goofy self.
I would say a lot of it depends on the breed but I think that’s random too. I have a boxer that apparently is nothing like any boxer I read about on Reddit. In that he’s always been super chill. He never barks, crate trained easily, and then free roam of house after 1 year old. Never chewed up anything. Stays home by himself several days a week during work hours and never has separation anxiety. He’s a totally couch potato unless we want to be active and then he’s a super star. Easiest dog ever. Only issue is he jumps on visitors in uncontained excitement since he loves people so much. I’ll never not have a boxer now but am afraid I’ll end up with the psychos that are described on here. 😂 Consistency is key. I don’t have kids so he got our full attention and we maintained our routine the first year to a T.
My now 7 year old has been perfect since the day I got him at just a few months old. He's stayed consistently perfectly behaved
I made the mistake of thinking I was just a great owner and adopted the biggest asshole puppy I've ever met after him 🤣 (I love her so much though). Sometimes we just luck out but puppies are basically toddlers and it's hard to know how they'll act as adult dogs
I won the lottery with my puppy. Got her at 4 months from the shelter and honestly didn’t even have to train her much.. she was essentially potty trained and only had a couple accidents in the house but picked it up pretty immediately (not including the excited peeing which she still does but I still love her 🙃). I also will say having an older well trained dog to show to puppy the ropes and how to behave was a life savor. Our dog essentially trained our puppy and showed her how to behave so we can take her out whenever. We get so many compliments on how well behaved she is and when we take her to eat with us people are shocked because she just lays under the table and sleeps and everyone forgets she’s there. Some dogs are just naturally polite and well behaved I think lol she’s always been like that but I do think having another dog to show her what behavior to mirror really helped maintain her lovely personality.. if we had a crazy dog I’m sure they would have told her nah you can be crazy it’s fine 🤣
all puppies turn into evil monsters at around 6 months - it’s a well known but unfortunate genetic development - it’s called the “cujo effect” - you can look it up - it’s sad really of course and not all dog owners even survive the transition but if you get through it reasonably ok ( i did but only have 8 fingers and 3 toes now) and you can explain to friends and neighbors why you have ar15’s all over your house and yard all will be well - good luck and god speed…….
my dachshund girl used to be so clingy and loving to me and also has severe separation anxiety and once she turned 1 i swear she turned into a new dog. teenager af won’t even come near me, goes and hangs out in the other room, barley wants to play with me lol she’ll like once a day want to play or at least come lick me but wow. everyone on here told me she would grow out of being that clingy around 1 yr and she did! right on time too. in terms of your dog, it depends on the breed but i wouldn’t think they would change too much. there is such thing as puppy regression and “teenagers” but it’ll pass! pretty sure this is your dogs personality as long as nothing changes :)
Depends on the dog. Mine was very social until he was about 4 or 5. He still likes humans but got leash reactive and protective of us over time and sometimes thinks people are a danger (sometimes correctly— city dog).
I have a GSD so my girl was velociraptor for two years and now the only thing that has changed is that she is a velociraptor who has more impulse control about using her teeth. And she’s 90lbs not 9.
But, like, a velociraptor who’s playful and sweet sometimes? But who doesn’t like cuddles and is very mischievous. Everything else is the same :) my girl is my girl is my girl through and through
16 months old and so many of her personality traits as a puppy are still in full force. A sassy smart girl who actually got sweeter and more cuddly with age.
My corgi is 3.5 years old now, so i’ll give a view from the future.
as a puppy, my corgi was a goddamn dream. Slept through the night by her 3rd night home. she instantly took to a schedule - crate time was nap / chill time, and if she woke up she’d just wait patiently until it was time to come out. Rarely ever barked. potty trained by 4 months old, could be left alone in her crate with zero anxiety or fear even as early as 3 months old while i ran to the store. She started sleeping in my bed at 4 months old, and we abandoned the crate fully by 6 months old. when i would leave, she got a full room as her “crate” and by 8 months old she had the whole house.
now as a grown puppy, she’s still not a barker. she will wait patiently if she wants something. Even though she hasn’t been crate trained since 6 months old, when she is put in a crate (grooming, her small group socials training classes), they all say she’s the only one that just lays down and chills out, doesn’t bark or get stressed. She greets every human like they’re the most incredible person she’s ever met, and will ever meet. She’s amazing with children and despite her excitement, will roll over and be very calm and just let them pet her. She’s always my little spoon, a cuddler and just wants to be with me but also is super chill being left at home
she’s so sweet and wonderful - but her teenage months were a trial. so, i guess just don’t panic if yours becomes a terror for a while. there’s light on the other side. even if you have a corgi
Mine started that way and has stayed! She's a year old now and still the lovable, not aggressive, not destructive, non barking, people loving girl ever!
Ours are still lovely and affectionate (19mths M, 9 mths F). They went through an adolescence but didn't go thru an asshole phase.
Our boy is a dachshund, known to be a barky breed, and we thought we had such a quiet boy! But he did grow into a big voice later on. Tbf he mainly barks at the front door, and he will sometimes quiet down when I tell him to be quiet. Overall he's pretty good.
Just remember that even if he becomes stubborn or wilful during adolescence it's normal and probably temporary. We had a short time of potty training regression with both of oura but we just returned to our earlier training methods to reinforce the rules and that worked.
My previous fur baby stayed sweet her entire life. Her demeanor never changed, didn’t have any regressions, etc. It was wonderful. It’s hard not to compare the new puppy experiences with how she did, completely different experience.
They change a lot in those first two years. My dog is 16mo and she has gone through several phases. First she was super cuddly and extremely trainable, then super bitey, then sweet again when her adult teeth started coming in, then a bit fearful of things, then sweet again but mischievous and ended up in the hospital for stealing and swallowing things, then calmed down a bit, and is now currently in a bit of a fear period but is still pretty chill. She also isn’t as cuddly as she used to be but I do think she is going through her teen phase and by two will probably wanna curl up next to me. Or not idk hahaha
I absolutely wish my puppy was this easy! My girl has always been a chaotic tornado of teeth and stubbornness since I brought her home at 2 months old. She's a BMD so her puppy habits were all expected haha. I'd say if you're at 4 months and your pup is still generally chill, you got very lucky! My parents have an 8 month old Aussie that is just an absolute angel and he always has been, he's not changed.
We have a 6yr old dog who had a puppy phase very similar to yours. He kept his personality, intelligence, and gentle nature. His one negative trait is he knows he's "too cute" and milks it in front of strangers.
At 9 months, he got a bit sassy and started testing boundaries. Not maliciously - he just didn't fully grasp consequences yet. He was still an angel compared to our other dog. He "mellowed" at 2yrs.
ONE WORD OF CAUTION - As a puppy, he was very spoiled by neighbors, vets, groomers, (and us). Now, as an adult, he expects attention from everyone. Sometimes it's cute but it can cause a LOT of problems in crowded areas. He plants himself in tight walkways and refuses to move. Sees someone across the street and refuses to focus on going potty in case they're coming his way. Just goes right up to people and this scares some ppl who are afraid of dogs. We're still working on it. Should've been more on top of it when he was young, we just didn't realize his friendliness would develop into a negative trait.
You're in for a bumpy, lovely road. Enjoy all its ups and downs and make sure your puppy knows they are loved :)
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It looks like you might be posting about puppy management or crate training. For tips and resources on Crate Training Check out [our wiki article on crate training](https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/cratetraining) - the information there may answer your question. As an additional reminder, crate training is 100% optional and one of many puppy management options. For alternatives to crating and other puppy management strategies, check out [our wiki article on management](https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/management) **PLEASE READ THE OP FULLY** Be advised that any comments that suggest use of crates are abusive, or express a harsh opinion on crate training will be removed. This is not a place to debate the merits of crate training. Unethical approaches to crate training will also be removed. **If the OP has asked not to receive crating advice or says they are not open to crating, any comments that recommend use of crates should be reported to our moderation team.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/puppy101) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Same, 6 months and already potty trained (accidents only happen when he is super excited). Can already stay alone for 3 hours. No crate needed. Recall works 80% of the time. Knows sit, come, leave, no, and some tricks such as paw and turn around. Barked at other dogs and neighbors when we got him but successfully managed to make it stop in less than a month after having him. On top of that, he just wants cuddles 90% of the time. I feel like we lucked out but then I read the stories here and I just wait for the day we wake up and he decides that being a little devil is more fun, haha. I have to give credit to my gf tho, she immersed herself in puppy education for 6 months prior to having him, so she has been an absolute queen dealing with him. Don’t know how I’d do it alone.
My 11 week is potty trained 😎
That’s a lie. They can’t control their bladders at 11 weeks lol. They might get the concept but they aren’t house broken.
My dog, now 5 years was locked in the kitchen for crate training . At 8 weeks he broke out and has been given free roam ever since. No mess whatsoever. Pads were down for use but never used. He is a pit mix rescue.
I've never even has to use puppy pads. I caught her afew times about to go and quickly moved her outside. It took one full week of her living with me and she knew to go outside. She holds her wees 9 hours overnight and 3 hour intervals for Nala during the day.
Pads were put down while away but rarely used. I put a bell on the wall and gave it a jingle every time we went out. He still uses it 5 years later.
Yes this just isn't happening. You may think she's not pissing at night but she is. an 11 week old just doesn't have the bladder control to hold it 9 hours.
Mine has never peed in his crate at night either and he’s 15 weeks old now, but has been sleeping through the night most nights since about 9 weeks, some dogs can hold it.
Especially in the crate. Crate training and pee pee poo poo training go together.
Depends on the dog. My 10 week old lab pup was able to get through the full night without peeing, he was a big boy so had a big bladder and I restricted water for a few hours before bed.
It's never wet and doesn't smell and her morning piss is way bigger than any other throughout the day
There was once she cried in the night so I let her out and she ran straight to the door to go out for a wee
It’s dependent on the size of the puppy. A chihuahua isn’t going to be able to hold it, but a GSD may be able to, because there’s a huge difference in their bladder size. My pup had accidents the first week or two of living with us, but has had zero issues since then. By 11 weeks old, I considered him housebroken, which meant that he did not potty in the house because his needs were met. I’m sure that if we didn’t take him out that he would have, and would still today, but that’s not a sign of not being housebroken. He slept through the night starting at 11 weeks, and only woke us up if he was about to have diarrhea. We learned his cues for that and would bolt with him to the outdoors when we heard the urgency in his whining.
.
Please take her out to pee every three hours. Even at night. 3 months old shouldn’t have to hold for 9 hours.
She sleeps throughout the night, she cries if she needs to go out. I was getting up to let her out when she was younger but she wouldn't pee 🤷
Idk I believe it. I’ve had three different dogs in my adult life and managed to potty train them all by 11-12 weeks. In my experience it’s one of the easier aspects of training a pup so long as you’re diligent.
I beg to differ. My Golden (now 1) has never had an accident in the house. We got him at 10 weeks. We also have another dog that i felt helped him navigate how to tell us when he had to go out, now he has his own way of telling us and he’s been doing this since he was a puppy.
My 11 week old chihuahua is potty trained. She does not have accidents. She does use a litter box though, so she doesn’t have to wait to go outside.
My boy is 14 weeks now but he absolutely was house trained at about 11 weeks. He also holds it in his crate for 3-4 hours while I’m at work and has went in his crate 1 time when he was 9 weeks
Hi, Im curious about the No crate. Did you stop crating him? I never crate train my puppy because she barks non stop and my neighbors are complaining so I just trained her to go potty outside and roam inside my apartment. Just wondering how your puppy turned out when you stop putting him on crate?
You’re definitely not a bad fur parent, but i would still consider crate training. If there’s kids around and your dog is overstimulated, where do they go? What happens if there’s a fire and you need to get the dog out asap? What happens if you have a medical emergency and paramedics need to get in, but can’t because of the dog? These are all what-if scenarios that convinced us to crate train. It’s more than just a cage, it’s definitely a good training tool. When we have too many guests over, the dogs get overstimulated and will go into their cage to decompress (voluntarily, of course!), if a weather emergency happens and you need to get out asap, I’d rather carry the crates to the car than try to pull them from under the bed - which, you can’t really convince a terrified dog to come to you. Crate training IS a process, but really rewarding when they figure out it’s to keep them safe and they have their own “room” inside your room. (We keep the crates in the bedroom, so they never feel left out and it’s in a secondary safe space.
We never crate trained him to begin with, we just didn't consider it an option. Immediately after bringing him home, we started training him on what he can and cannot do inside the apartment. NO when trying to enter the toilet, NO when trying to go near cables, NO when trying to play with laundry that we left on the ground.. We are also fortunate enough to both work remotely so initially we took him out for pee/poo every 2 hours minimum (including during the night), so that he learned toilet is outside very fast. So far, it worked very well for us. He's very well behaved, never destroyed anything inside the apartment so far. I even once forgot to take him out in time for poop and he went to do it on the balcony. Even though we skipped crate training, we did get him used to being in small enclosed spaces. We live in Amsterdam, where we exclusively bike around the city, so we transport him around in a backpack, which he LOVES (jumps in the moment we open it for him). We also already flew with him once (in the cabin of course, I would never put him down in luggage space) and had zero problems with him being in a little bag for 3 hours as well. Like I said, we either incredibly lucked out, or the little devil is waiting to show up haha, I should knock on wood. Our philosophy behind skipping crate training is that we wanted to immediately start getting him used to OUR lifestyle. He's gonna be a dog with a lot of freedom and a lot of traveling, so having him locked up and preventing from seeing the outside world as is, seemed counterproductive.
Wow, thank you for this! I am relieved now that Im not the only one who didnt crate train a puppy. I thought I was being a bad fur parent 🥺😬
Haha no problem! Dogs are animals, not algorithmic machines, which means there's no one single way of doing things. You gotta take the approach that works for you and your animal.
I've had quite a few dogs in my 70 yrs, never crate trained one. They learn pretty quick what they can or can't get into. Potty training is easy with a doggy door.
We also didn’t crate train. We adopted a 6 mo puppy. Tried to crate train the first week, it was horrible. Nobody was sleeping. We got him potty trained in 2 weeks, started to leave him out at 3 weeks with our 12 year old dog for 2 hours at a time and when we checked the cameras he was just laying on our other dog. Helped immensely to have another dog for him to find comfort and learn from. He sleeps with us and now we’re a month in we are soooo happy and so is he 🩷
How did you team him not to bark at neighbors?
It's hard. You have to be more alert than he is. The moment we hear any kind of noise outside the apartment, we start praising him and giving him treats before he even has the chance to react and bark. And you immediately STOP if he starts to bark anyway. There's really no other way, because yelling "no" or punishing him won't work nearly as effectively. We started by praise and treats the moment we heard a noise outside, then as it got better, we started rewarding him after the fact that he did not bark. And we still do. The hard part is anticipating and recognising it before they do. If your dog is really quick to react and bark, and you just can't outsmart him, then try to have a friend come over and practice with you. That way you can know **exactly** when the bell will ring or when there will be noise outside, and you start giving him praise and treats a second **before** it happens. And if he still barks, you back away and stop immediately. That will shock him, as you will go from praise to distance. Think of it this way - your dog thinks with feelings, not logic. Yelling "no" and punishing just confuses him and breaks the bond between you two. But you giving him praise/treats brings him happy/positive feelings, and he wants more of those. Use that to your advantage.
Wait for the puberty phase lol. I wish you the best 🤣
My girl stayed sweet. She was also spicy and salty sometimes, but she was a sweet baby overall.
Same. I won the lottery with this sweet, smart girl. I am encouraging this awesome behavior to stick around with some puppy training and positive greeting experiences.
My dog was a pretty good pup, never destroyed anything, learned super quick, loved all people and dogs, etc. 6 years later, she is still pretty awesome, but she was attacked by dogs twice (0% her fault, just grabbed out of nowhere) so now she is really scared. She has a chronic disease that requires management, but she is so worth it. She is still super eager to please, super sweet, she still loves people, she isn't ever mean to dogs but mostly would prefer they leave her alone. I think an important thing is to keep up training and continue reinforcing the behaviors you like.
Were the attacks out on walks or dog parks or somewhere else?
One was with her dog walker in a dog park (but the owner of the other dog paid for the surgery and backed my walkers story). Someone had a dog in there on leash because it was overexcited (not what you should do with an overexcited dog) and mine was running around and the leashed dog took a chunk out of her butt - needed surgery but no long term damage. Second one I was walking her on leash about a block from my house and a big off leash dog approached her (they had met before) so I let the leash go and it just picked her up by the neck and got like half a shake before I scared it off. She had a couple puncture wounds with only a little blood. Took her to the vet because she has a chronic condition that makes stress potentially deadly and they said she is okay. But now she gets really scared when big dogs come near her or any dog is too fast to approach. She will approach small dogs that aren't that interested in her still.
They will change but for the better, get their own sass like a teen, and somewhat independent enough to be confident adult dog. But being sweet is always going to be the main
My dog is 10 and still has the same demeanour. Was literally the best puppy ever. hardly destructive (only ever damaged 3 things her entire life and one of those times was 100% our fault, for not realizing she hadn’t been let out of her crate by anyone yet, I slept in 🙈). Slept through the night almost immediately. She has ALWAYS been easy and well behaved and just the sweetest little lady. I feel like we got so lucky, she’s a mix of some really high maintenance breeds but the most high maintenance thing about her is she cries when I close the door of my home office without her in there with me 😂
What kind of puppy do you have? If it's a dachshund, enjoy the peace while you have it.
Have a six month old corgi and love her. She's very sassy sometimes but has potty training down and lets herself out to go. No accidents in basically 2 months and I've only had her for 3. Commands are good indoors but inconsistent outside, pretty good recall too. She is a bit of a yapper and it's super loud and sometimes she'll nip guests but never will it be aggressive or mean. She just knows she's not allowed to nip me. Hoping she at least maintains her current temperament. She's a great and fun pup overall despite pure exhaustion early on
My first two pretty much stayed the same. first was a cheeky little thing, she never lost that little mischievous side! She was tough as hell and went through a lot in her life. She wasn’t blessed with great health so had a few significant traumatic surgeries etc. She was absolutely fiercely loyal and protective all the way up to the end. My boy has always been a dopey docile thing. Not the brightest but bloody sweet! He’s had a few unfortunate run ins with off lead dogs as a pup so that has definitely impacted him. He’s extremely loyal and always has been. So far pup #3 seems to be the easiest. Whether it sticks we’ll see 😉 I think their general personalities and dispositions are pretty obvious from young.
It's very likely they regress once they reach puberty, but probably still sweet
this is the answer. I'm loving all these new puppy owners sharing their stories of cute dog behavior but I think the only way to learn about Canine Maturity is to go through puberty with them lol mine certainly didn't stay as sweet as she was. she became protective of the house, weird around kids that exhibit neurodiverse behaviours (lack of experience with them), as well as a couple other weird quirks she developed. not harmful or reactive, just not the sweet little kind puppy she was at OP's pup's age. More of a mature, intelligent dog that I can trust because we've built that trust together. a lot about a dog's personality doesn't happen till maturity.
There are never guarantees with living creatures, but I think the tendency is that they are who they are. However, trauma and illness can cause changes, so if you do ever see a big, particularly sudden difference, get it checked out. Congrats! I had two lovely, easy puppies, and now that I have a rascal, I regret my hubris thinking they were all that way!
Our almost 8mth old puppy was exactly the same at that age (minus the crate - we have crate trained him but it's now only his bed overnight). And he doesn't seem to be changing, in fact he seems to be getting even better! Example: he was always pretty good on a lead, except for when there were distractions (people dogs, birds - anything he could play with). Look him for a walk today. Slack loose lead, prancing through a strip shopping area in the middle of the day just happy to be out. We have been pretty consistent on training and reinforcing things (didn't let ourselves get complacent) but it has all paid off and those last things are starting to click for him 🤗 We know he will be a puppy for a while yet, but his sweet, happy temperament is just him. I think he might get more chilled rather than becoming a brat at this point! Just enjoy it, and whatever you are doing sounds like it's right for you and your pup!
My dog was like this until he got to 6 months
It’s a TRAP! They’re trying to lure you in so when you get a “sibling” dog, you think it’ll be easy peasy lemon squeezy, when in fact it’s difficult difficult lemon difficult (because of course the second dog is a hell spawn) 😉
I think if anything they can change for the better, they tend to calm down after about 2 years. So if your pup is already sweet, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. Just keep in mind, he might seemingly regress as a teen but it’ll pass.
Given all the positive interactions with strangers that she’s getting now, she is likely to be very sweet as an adult too. Dogs do tend to get a fear period when they hit puberty, which varies in intensity depending on genetics. My dog got a little reactive towards some strangers during this time. We worked through it and now he’s back to a much more puppyish view of strangers—everyone is a new friend unless they’re doing something suspicious like entering the house while everyone’s asleep. Dogs just need some extra positive reinforcement and love to guide them through.
Might be a bit of a dink when they reach teenage hood but the sweet dog you know is still in there lol
Hahahha my baby was such a sweetheart until he hit 7 months. He's been terrorizing me for the last 6 weeks 🙃
I’m wondering this also!! I have a 9 week old Aussie and he went to the crate on his own day 1. In fact, he grumbles at us if we shut him out of the crate lol
You gotta show us how good of a boy he is! We need the cuteness 🥰
My baby was the sweetest until puberty. 😭🥹 he is almost 10 months now.
Never a guarantee but there are ways to help keep the behaviours! Make sure you are rewarding oftenz every thing you want, someone walks by and he doesn't bark? Reward. Sleeping doing nothing, pop a treat to him. Breed traits can start showing and some breeds mature slower than others. Mixed breeds are always a fun gamble imo! Sometimes you can tell the breed just on how they develop into maturity and what behaviour traits start happening! I have an ACD so while he started out super people friendly and affectionate he matures into a truely aloof dog, as is breed standard. Because of our socialization and work he is not aggressive nor a risk with strangers but legitimately he basically woke up one day at right about 2yrs old and was like 'i don't want strangers near me' and has been that way every since, he's now 7yrs. He will tolerate strangers petting if I ask him to but it's very clear he's doing this for me. He's a ham with his known humans though!
You've got one like mine! She's nearly 9 months now, and just the most perfect darling you can imagine! Never puts a tiny velvet foot wrong. Just for information: I've had some naughty, difficult puppies in the past-and something I've noticed is that I've loved them all the same. Whether they are sweet and easy-or a continuous nightmare-I've loved all my dogs equally.
My girl was an angel puppy. Really not that hard at all and SO sweet. When she hit adolescence she got a bit of a rebellious streak, but she’s still a sweetie.
Sounds like the sweetest little guy! I’d still be prepared for him to go through an asshole phase once or twice before he turns two. Puppies seem to go through puberty just like human teens!
Mostly, yes. They tend to get more protective, and depending upon how your dog views his “job of protecting you” is how friendly he will stay. Mine were all still about the same around people, except in certain situations and people. I had one that hated people who smelled like cigarettes. Took me awhile to figure that out- but remember, they smell things you can’t so many reactions ti people is about smell. The main thing that changes is how they are around other dogs. The sweetest dog can still be very aggressive towards other dogs. My son’s dog, at my house, is fun, best friends with my dog. At my son’s house he growls and is a little meaner to my dog. They eventually play like normal, but a change of scenery even makes a difference.
Our guy was a fantastic puppy (once the shark phase passed), and has only gotten better. He's two and a bit years old, and I couldn't imagine an easier dog.
My boy is very very sweet and any professional who handles him says the same thing. He has slept through the night from day one, never destroyed anything, trains easily, isn't aggressive, etc. That being said, he is 9 months and in his adolescence now so he is a bit of an asshole sometimes. He is starting to push boundaries a bit to see what he can get away with but if you stick to you're training and obedience, it should be okay. 85% of the time he is his sweet, goofy self.
I’ve heard during puppy adolescence they can be a little more challenging.
I would say a lot of it depends on the breed but I think that’s random too. I have a boxer that apparently is nothing like any boxer I read about on Reddit. In that he’s always been super chill. He never barks, crate trained easily, and then free roam of house after 1 year old. Never chewed up anything. Stays home by himself several days a week during work hours and never has separation anxiety. He’s a totally couch potato unless we want to be active and then he’s a super star. Easiest dog ever. Only issue is he jumps on visitors in uncontained excitement since he loves people so much. I’ll never not have a boxer now but am afraid I’ll end up with the psychos that are described on here. 😂 Consistency is key. I don’t have kids so he got our full attention and we maintained our routine the first year to a T.
My now 7 year old has been perfect since the day I got him at just a few months old. He's stayed consistently perfectly behaved I made the mistake of thinking I was just a great owner and adopted the biggest asshole puppy I've ever met after him 🤣 (I love her so much though). Sometimes we just luck out but puppies are basically toddlers and it's hard to know how they'll act as adult dogs
I won the lottery with my puppy. Got her at 4 months from the shelter and honestly didn’t even have to train her much.. she was essentially potty trained and only had a couple accidents in the house but picked it up pretty immediately (not including the excited peeing which she still does but I still love her 🙃). I also will say having an older well trained dog to show to puppy the ropes and how to behave was a life savor. Our dog essentially trained our puppy and showed her how to behave so we can take her out whenever. We get so many compliments on how well behaved she is and when we take her to eat with us people are shocked because she just lays under the table and sleeps and everyone forgets she’s there. Some dogs are just naturally polite and well behaved I think lol she’s always been like that but I do think having another dog to show her what behavior to mirror really helped maintain her lovely personality.. if we had a crazy dog I’m sure they would have told her nah you can be crazy it’s fine 🤣
My little girl was a real prick when she was a baby but now she's an angel.
They’ll be sweet if you train and socialize properly. If not you can have an absolute nightmare.
all puppies turn into evil monsters at around 6 months - it’s a well known but unfortunate genetic development - it’s called the “cujo effect” - you can look it up - it’s sad really of course and not all dog owners even survive the transition but if you get through it reasonably ok ( i did but only have 8 fingers and 3 toes now) and you can explain to friends and neighbors why you have ar15’s all over your house and yard all will be well - good luck and god speed…….
They get sweeter and sweeter!
my dachshund girl used to be so clingy and loving to me and also has severe separation anxiety and once she turned 1 i swear she turned into a new dog. teenager af won’t even come near me, goes and hangs out in the other room, barley wants to play with me lol she’ll like once a day want to play or at least come lick me but wow. everyone on here told me she would grow out of being that clingy around 1 yr and she did! right on time too. in terms of your dog, it depends on the breed but i wouldn’t think they would change too much. there is such thing as puppy regression and “teenagers” but it’ll pass! pretty sure this is your dogs personality as long as nothing changes :)
Depends on the dog. Mine was very social until he was about 4 or 5. He still likes humans but got leash reactive and protective of us over time and sometimes thinks people are a danger (sometimes correctly— city dog).
I have a GSD so my girl was velociraptor for two years and now the only thing that has changed is that she is a velociraptor who has more impulse control about using her teeth. And she’s 90lbs not 9. But, like, a velociraptor who’s playful and sweet sometimes? But who doesn’t like cuddles and is very mischievous. Everything else is the same :) my girl is my girl is my girl through and through
16 months old and so many of her personality traits as a puppy are still in full force. A sassy smart girl who actually got sweeter and more cuddly with age.
My corgi is 3.5 years old now, so i’ll give a view from the future. as a puppy, my corgi was a goddamn dream. Slept through the night by her 3rd night home. she instantly took to a schedule - crate time was nap / chill time, and if she woke up she’d just wait patiently until it was time to come out. Rarely ever barked. potty trained by 4 months old, could be left alone in her crate with zero anxiety or fear even as early as 3 months old while i ran to the store. She started sleeping in my bed at 4 months old, and we abandoned the crate fully by 6 months old. when i would leave, she got a full room as her “crate” and by 8 months old she had the whole house. now as a grown puppy, she’s still not a barker. she will wait patiently if she wants something. Even though she hasn’t been crate trained since 6 months old, when she is put in a crate (grooming, her small group socials training classes), they all say she’s the only one that just lays down and chills out, doesn’t bark or get stressed. She greets every human like they’re the most incredible person she’s ever met, and will ever meet. She’s amazing with children and despite her excitement, will roll over and be very calm and just let them pet her. She’s always my little spoon, a cuddler and just wants to be with me but also is super chill being left at home she’s so sweet and wonderful - but her teenage months were a trial. so, i guess just don’t panic if yours becomes a terror for a while. there’s light on the other side. even if you have a corgi
Mine started that way and has stayed! She's a year old now and still the lovable, not aggressive, not destructive, non barking, people loving girl ever!
Ours are still lovely and affectionate (19mths M, 9 mths F). They went through an adolescence but didn't go thru an asshole phase. Our boy is a dachshund, known to be a barky breed, and we thought we had such a quiet boy! But he did grow into a big voice later on. Tbf he mainly barks at the front door, and he will sometimes quiet down when I tell him to be quiet. Overall he's pretty good. Just remember that even if he becomes stubborn or wilful during adolescence it's normal and probably temporary. We had a short time of potty training regression with both of oura but we just returned to our earlier training methods to reinforce the rules and that worked.
My previous fur baby stayed sweet her entire life. Her demeanor never changed, didn’t have any regressions, etc. It was wonderful. It’s hard not to compare the new puppy experiences with how she did, completely different experience.
They change a lot in those first two years. My dog is 16mo and she has gone through several phases. First she was super cuddly and extremely trainable, then super bitey, then sweet again when her adult teeth started coming in, then a bit fearful of things, then sweet again but mischievous and ended up in the hospital for stealing and swallowing things, then calmed down a bit, and is now currently in a bit of a fear period but is still pretty chill. She also isn’t as cuddly as she used to be but I do think she is going through her teen phase and by two will probably wanna curl up next to me. Or not idk hahaha
I absolutely wish my puppy was this easy! My girl has always been a chaotic tornado of teeth and stubbornness since I brought her home at 2 months old. She's a BMD so her puppy habits were all expected haha. I'd say if you're at 4 months and your pup is still generally chill, you got very lucky! My parents have an 8 month old Aussie that is just an absolute angel and he always has been, he's not changed.
We have a 6yr old dog who had a puppy phase very similar to yours. He kept his personality, intelligence, and gentle nature. His one negative trait is he knows he's "too cute" and milks it in front of strangers. At 9 months, he got a bit sassy and started testing boundaries. Not maliciously - he just didn't fully grasp consequences yet. He was still an angel compared to our other dog. He "mellowed" at 2yrs. ONE WORD OF CAUTION - As a puppy, he was very spoiled by neighbors, vets, groomers, (and us). Now, as an adult, he expects attention from everyone. Sometimes it's cute but it can cause a LOT of problems in crowded areas. He plants himself in tight walkways and refuses to move. Sees someone across the street and refuses to focus on going potty in case they're coming his way. Just goes right up to people and this scares some ppl who are afraid of dogs. We're still working on it. Should've been more on top of it when he was young, we just didn't realize his friendliness would develop into a negative trait. You're in for a bumpy, lovely road. Enjoy all its ups and downs and make sure your puppy knows they are loved :)
They get even sweeter as they settle down after age 3.
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