[Bumblebee]

Hi all,

I posted on here around August regarding my new puppy Teddy and his utter dislike for his pen/crate and being left alone.

Thankfully those issues have sort of resolved themselves in that Teddy will sleep happily in his crate and knows he has to go in there when my boyfriend and I go to work (he was being let out twice a day and this has just reduced to lunchtime which he is fine with). However I am now experiencing some behaviour I don't quite understand...

Teds will be 20 weeks on Friday so not sure if it is puppy stage related or not. He's been in a brilliant routine of sleeping from 8:30pm to 6am and yes I know I am very lucky but over the past few days he's been waking at 4:20am. I take him out he doesn't go potty but instead barks loudly at anything. I then have to lure him in as he won't come on command! I put him back in his crate and say bedtime. I go back up, he cries again so I take him out and he again just runs round barking at things so I bring him in place him back in the crate and go upstairs. He then cries for an hour, a mixture of crying but also some growls, almost as if he is sulking?! I ignore and get up at 6am.

Another issue is that he will keep barking at dogs when on his lead? He doesn't do this when off the lead but he's had no bad experiences when on his walks so I'm not sure why he has started this. I tell him no and try and distract him. He's very wilful and has a lot of energy. I play with him for an hour before work and he goes on 45minute walks every work evening before his last meal at 7:30pm. Weekends I take him everywhere.

He loves people and isn't afraid of dogs. Last weekend he was running rings around my friend's 2 year old working cocker spaniel! Despite numerous tellings off from my parents dogs he still nips and annoys them! Is this normal for a puppy his age???

He will be neutered on the 30th November - do you think this will calm him a little as he's very dominant? Although he hasn't displayed any sexual behaviour yet.

He's such a good boy with adults and children but he can be a lttle rip! Is he just trying to stamp his authority and test where he is in the pack? He barked at me last night because I stopped playing with him but I just ignored him. He then stopped.

I want to stamp out this dominant behaviour early on. I've enrolled him in obedience classes too.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Teddy's Mummy xxx