Encouragement needed desperately!
 

Baxter is 18 weeks old. We've had him 9 weeks. He is just plain wild. He bites and chews anything he can. He is doing well with not urinating in the house but he is having pooping issues. He sleeps with us and had been calming down as soon as it was lights out. The past couple of nights he has not. He is by himself all day but we play and walk a lot after I get home. I'm wondering if we are playing to much but he loves to fetch and I thought that maybe that would use up his energy. Basically it is just using up mine. My last house dog was a pom and he was basically a lap dog. He was way calm and he was not neutered. My only hope is that when Bax gets neutered he will calm down. Any suggestions? What am I doing wrong?

We just kept playing with them until they got tired. The other thing that I have done is to turn down all but the hallway light and hold each of them and stroke them until they calmed down and then put them to bed. I've done that with each of mine and it seems to work when they got a little wild. Good Luck...they are just so full of energy!:)

As he gets older, he will get calmer. I agree with the above poster, find a calming technique that works for you both, and practice that when you want him to calm down. Good luck!

Remy is really wound up some nights, too. I definetly think it has something to do with them being by themselves all day. I usually take him on walks and play with him like crazy, and then about 20 minutes before i go to bed, i'll turn out the lights and hold him and cuddle and just try to calm him down while i watch tv or something. It usually works, but there are some nights when he will just play by himself at the foot of the bed until he gets tired. sounds like you are doing everything right-guess these are just the joys of puppyhood!;)

I think you need to do both: walk him and play with him. Playing with him will use up some energy, but play mostly gets them stimulated because they are re-enacting aggressive tendency in play. But you do want to continue to play because this makes for a happy dog.

Walking is what is going to calm them down more. Walking makes them use all their senses. They are using their muscles, brains, noses, eyes, etc. This is what is going to tire them out and keep them calm. They need to walk every day. But the good news is.... Because they are a small breed, a walk as little as 15-20minutes a day (but i would suggest longer, since you are away all day) is enough.

Now the biting and chewing is another issue that is behavioral in nature. You must begin training him now that this is not ok. You need to stop the behavior just as soon as he does it. It may get to the point where you will have turn your back on him and ignore him, if he just refuses to quit. He needs to understand that the biting behavior gets him no attention. NONE

The chewing, you need to get him plenty of chews, like bully sticks or pig ears and any time he chews on something inappropriate, you need to replace it with a chew toy that is appropriate.

You must be consistent and and firm about what behaviors are acceptable and not acceptable. Your puppy will not learn on his own. They are like babies where they need to be taught everything! Of course how you teach them is different than teaching a human baby and maybe going to puppy classes will help you understand how to go about it.

Good Luck

My Yorkie, almost 9 months old, has a ton of energy, too. I'm home with him all day and take him for one or two long walks. Still, last night he had so much energy and woke me up three times during the night. I know as he ages, his energy will slow down some. At least that is how it was with our Maltese.

I crate Logan at night so that he does not interrupt our sleep - except when he wakes up to potty. Sometimes he sleeps through the night, depending on how late he goes to bed and his last potty break.

I don't let him run around the house without supervision, and that keeps him from pooping everywhere and from chewing on things he shouldn't. I would play with him either outside or in a place where you are with him constantly. After about 15 minutes or so, take him outside to potty.

18 weeks is still VERY young -- puppies can be little wild things for several months, but they do eventually calm down. My Archie was just nuts for a long time -- I remember telling friends, "He's so BAAAAAADDDDDD!" He knawed on my hands constantly and was in constant motion. Nuetering did help, but mostly it just took time. Now he's the most mellow, (relatively!) well-behaved little guy at two years and he has been this way for quite some time. One thing -- he slept in his crate at night, covered with a pillow case to block out distractions -- this helped keep calm and quiet. Your baby is going to be fine -- it's just going to take time and patience. I always say it's like having a crazy toddler in the house!

Get in a bedtime routine. It helped for my wild chihuahua. We turn down the overhead lights and just leave a lamp and the tv on. Then we give him a bully stick, and that usually settles him until bedtime. I can see him roll over on his side as he starts to get sleep, and he chews until he finally just gets in his bed or under the covers in ours(we let him choose which place to sleep). If he tries to play, we ignore him, but if he wants to cuddle and be settled, we encourage that. And neutering helped a lot.

I agree with what has been said here! Our babies are so full of energy but can still be trained! Peanut spinns around to get us to follow him and it was not trained. He runs in circles and then steps foward to move where we are. It's amazing how I have to push him out the door to potty but he knows how to get us to follow him to the window when he see's a friend?

So pick up on your baby.......... your doing great sooooooo know your baby will get it! They are soooooooooooooo Smart!! They really will get it!

thanks everyone - he was wild again last night so it looks like every other night is going to be crazy. I can't tell the difference between whining to wake me up to play and whining to go out. I can't wait till he's old and settled! Neutering is May 23 so hopefully that will help.

They are little balls of energy, arent they? Mine calm down at about 9pm and lay with me until I go to bed. It sounds to me like you are doing the right things with him, hes just young. Im sure once he gets neutered and a little older he will calm down quite a bit. I know it can be overwhelming at times, but try to be patient and have fun with him now while he does have all this energy! :) I have 2 lazy lumps at home now LOL (my boys are almost 3 years old) :)

one worry I have is that we are going out of town the first week of May. My mother is crazy about him and is going to baby-sit but I'm afraid she doesn't know what she is in for. She is home all day so maybe that will make him calmer.

When I first got Chloe I was the same way. Brody was my first Yorkie and he was just so perfect when he was a puppy. I had NO problems with him. Then, I got Chloe and she was just the opposite! Sometimes I would just get so frustrated with her. Thankfully, we got through the puppy stage and now she's perfectly fine. Yorkies are all different and they all have their own personalities. If yours is anything like Chloe he will calm down once he gets a little older.