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So I have hit and High water with Lindy!

Or just the Terrible Twos...same thing?

The last few weeks she has done things that I knew were kind of leading up...full moon went crazy (running back and forth on her leash and no amount of correction could stop her and a pin made her snappy and growly), the last few weeks she has started to bark randomly at things and then the last week barks at everything and everything and completely ignores no noise (getting snappy and growly when put into a pin for ignoring me), she has started to pull on walks and has even started to pull around the house, she has started to jump through doorways to try and get through them before me (though she has yet to succeed), she spins when I pin her, whining is almost constant (she can be playing with a toy and be whining- please make it stop). She also stopped coming on command, stopped sitting, won't sit stay for more than a few seconds (she starts to inch foward or comes well before I call her or crouch down). She also tore her bed apart about three days ago - actually apart. Dug a hole through the cover, discovered it was a foam and then proceeded to shred the foam into a thousand different pieces. It looked like it had snowed foam in the basement.

But today topped it all off and made me almost positive that we have hit the terrible twos (if not she has definitely hit a stage of hardcore testing). Today she whined to go outside, spent 20 minutes humming and hawing...even kicked the grass a little....but no pee...came back inside let her off to go to feed her and she ran down the hallway instead of into her pen where I feed her and peed, giving me this "LOOK", as if to say "just try and stop me". Then she proceeded to bark and bounced around trying to get me to play a game of catch me if you can (because she knew full well she had done something wrong - without me even saying anything). Then this afternoon, I took her out for a walk as soon as I got home, no pee or poo on the walk and she did the exact same thing as soon as we got back from the walk, only this time while on umbilical with the bounce and everything and running back and forth...a little easier to catch this time since she was attached to me (but of course she had waited until we go upstairs and I was about to sit down with a glass of ice tea so I couldn't just throw her outside when she was doing it). Finally tonight, she didn't whine or anything while I was doing laundry and just started to poop on the pile of clothes I had in the basement (so gross- thankfully they were going into the wash). GAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

All of these were things she would do as a puppy and all of these things are listed as part of the terrible two stage.

Sigh...Patience ....Patience...Patience.....

How long is this supposed to last again????? Okay done venting about the aggravation I am facing...

Patience!!!

-Karen

Holy heck!!! THAT's terrible 2's? That's horrendous.

Good luck with that.

I suppose it reminds me why I decided to forgo getting a puppy this time around at this time in my life. Although, I wonder if part of the problems I had with Ella right when I brought her home WAS the terrible 2s... She would have been @ 14 months at the time. 14 months and zero training and suddenly she gets me who starts asking for 101 things of her. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Strength my friend!!! You will come through it.

Yup you got a real toddler there!! I must have been lucky, other than our arguements..first time I've ever had to argue with a dog and put up with the zoomies. Bayley would want on the bed, I'd tell her no, then one paw would go on the bed, I'd take it off, with a firmer no, she'd wait a few seconds and try again. After about the 3rd time she'd start yipping and yapping at me and bouncing around. Be patient it does end, I haven't had an arguement in quite a while, she does still get the zoomies though!

Karen
Had to laugh reading your post.
Sorry, but it brings back memories, and I sure wasn't laughing then.
Don't know how many times I threw up my hands in frustration, after being face down in a snowbank once, only to sit down for 10 minutes, regroup, reread Brad's book, then go back at Duke with a vengeance.
Not mad,( hence the 10 minute time out for ME) just determined to win.
Hang in there, it will get better. By the time Lindy is 2 years old you'll be fine.

Karen,

I almost peed my pants laughing! Abby was never THAT bad, but man oh man, there are certainly times you look at this creature that shares your space and you say WHY??? What's in it for me?

Hang in there, it will at some point get better ... just remember, testing testing testing ... as long as you keep on winning you'll vanquish the terrible twos soon!

Take care,

Marion

That's okay Marion (and I am sure I have now scared a whole bunch of people who have younger puppies...hahaha).

There are times when I feel like laughing too. And have to try really hard not to (because I am showing her my Alpha status and folding over laughing wouldn't help). Like when she crawls forward in a sit or down stay. She looks very cute doing it and tries to be very very sneaky about it and she almost looks proud that she is coming to me. Or when she has what Scout called the "zoomies" (I love that word) and runs back and forth on her leash for like ten minutes like a complete idiot (the fact that she does this after a long walk makes me want to laugh because she just looks crazy). But of course I don't...I have to be tough and be alpha and try and pin her (which is really hard when she is literally flying back and forth (and I do mean flying -she flies to the end of her leash and literally almost hangs herself and then runs the other way).

The things is Lindy was almost this bad as a puppy and even aggressive at times and I had days when I was in tears thinking I had made a big mistake (but then I found Brad and that changed everything), but she settled down and became a wonderful puppy! I guess how they behave as a puppy they are worse as in the "Terrible Twos." I think she is definitely rebelling, but Brad says in the book, it's like she took "puppy weed" (or in Lindy's case maybe something a little stronger "puppy speed"?).

I never went through this Baillie...I think I was like you Pattymac...the occaissional time when he didn't come and he knew he was in big trouble. They always say the second child is more trouble (I can say this I am one ). Maybe it's the same with dogs?

So Dukesdad: I only have 16 more months of this? (...breathe...Karen...breathe...)

Anyway, I guess now I have scared people off of getting puppies and made everyone else pee their pants laughing remembering those days!

Haha- looks like I'm in for a wild ride!

-Karen

Ah yes, THOSE days!

What worked for my Texas Blue Heeler was to ignore him - completely! No eye contact, no touching, no talking, no nothing. He would poke and prod for my attention but I refused to give in (and this was before I knew about Brad's work!). It worked so well that within the hour he was sulking in the corner and making it quite noticable he was not happy by sighing loudly and flopping down from a sit into a laydown. I found that when I did give in and gave him attention - whether good or bad attention, since a sharp nip in the butt would usually provoke quite a response from me - would cause him to re-inact his terrible behaviour all over again! Whenever he came over to me to nudge me or attempt to incite me into paying attention to him I would abruptly turn my back to him, cross my arms over my chest, puff out my chest, and raised my head high. This communicated very clearly to him I was not interested in him AT ALL. This worked well, despite the few bruises from occassional nipping to get my attention.

Although I was tempted to just leave and go into another room like my older dog did!

Alas, terrible two's lasts 6-8 weeks before they return to "normal" again.

Good luck! Memories...thank god it's over! There is a reason puppies are made soooo cute - it's a survival thing!

Karen
I was only kidding when I said 2 years.
Lindy will get better much sooner.
If you look in my gallery in my profile, you'll see the pic that says full moon.
Thats Duke and his sister, a friends dog, at about 11 months. Those 2 had me at the end of my leash. Sat down, thought about how to straighten them out, and grabbed their leashes. Let's go.
Almost killed me, but in the end they listened. Now whenever Tiva comes for a visit, after they play a bit, I take them both out.
My advice, strap Lindy to you, head out the door, and don't come back until you have a few wins.
A tired dog is a behaved dog.
P.S. I know you give her lots of exercise, but may be time to double it up.
Good Luck.

oh ... my .... goodness !!! I can't wait!!!! Its nice to know in advance what the twos are going to be like

Karen - Keymo is only 16 months old - STILL counting and wating for the 2 year mark, when everyone says larger dogs start acting like they have a brain and all of a sudden become calmer.
ONLY 8 more months to go !

I remember when Keymo was about 4 months old, and met the neighbour accross the street. (this was pre-Brad) and Keymo looked like a kite at the end of his leash. Flailing and flopping!
The neighbour told me about the 2 year/more brain/calmer dog thing and I think I walked away mumbling something like 19 months, 3 weeks, 2 days and 5 hours to go !

Maybe Lindy is just testing your Alpha status, just to check to see if YOU'RE still the one in charge ?
If it was February and she was a human, we'd all say she has Cabin Fever and that's why she's acting so nutso.
OMG - hang in there. Keymo tests us regularly.
4 good days, 1 bad day. 5 good days. 1 bad one.
Forwards, backwards etc.
Gosh they keep you on your toes - don't they?

There ARE moments though, when he acts up that we have to laugh. Because we took Brad's course, we learned so much about WHY they behave the way they do and why they DO what they do - that we feel we actually have an upper hand on the situation.
I remember the first time after taking Brad's course, that Keymo has a real temper tantrum while on a walk with me.
It was the first time I stayed calm, and actually laughed at the situation rather than get angry. I stood patiently, TRIED to keep putting him in a leash pin, and when he was FINALLLY laying calmly I looked at him and asked "are you DONE now? The neighbours think you're a freak"
And we WALKED home TOGETHER !
I got through the door and hubby asked "So? Did you turn green?" (we used to say we turned green like the Incredible Hulk when we got SO frustrated)
and I said "no - I actually LAUGHED when he threw a hissy"
he said " That's the first time in a while you 2 have come through the house door calm after a walk"