# 5 month old boy is acting up!



## Paula523 (Dec 10, 2013)

Carlos is 5 months old and just the sweetest boy in the world (or has been). He's starting to act up a bit. He will get very demanding and nip and bite at me. He will also bark incessantly. This sometimes happens after a 30 minute walk. He seems to get riled up and wants to play more. it's one thing to play but the way he acts is so aggressive. After a while he will calm down. I'm wondering if this has to do with his age. He is going to be fixed in a month. He sometimes tries to hump my foot or a toy. Can anyone provide some advice? Am I right and this is a stage he is going through?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Yes, it is a phase, but it is unlikely to go away suddenly because you have him neutered. He's a teenager, and felling his oats. If he gets too wound up, gently, but with no words, place him in his crate or ex-pen and walk away. Leave him there until he settles down, and then he can come out again. Unless he falls asleep… in that case, let him sleep! When Kodi was that age, I found that he was likely to wind himself up more and more if he was over-tired. Sometimes, what he really needed was a nap.


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## Paula523 (Dec 10, 2013)

Thanks for your response. I will do as you suggest!


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Evil puppy stage. Ditto to what Karen said.


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## Dalston (Jan 22, 2014)

Wow I am so glad I found this thread, my little Dalston just transformed himself form the sweetest, calmest most obedient puppy into a foot, and leg humping, nipping and demand barking little mess of a pup! Sigh! We love him as before but he really is challenging right now. Exactly at 5 months.

As little pup he spend some time in his excercise pen, but since he was so good, we mad the mistake to getting him excess to the whole house. As he was acting up today I wanted to give him a time out in the pen (which we havent used for a while) and he kept barking. I could have waited it out, but we are in an apartment and I had a client over here as well. So I just waited for a little break in the barking and then let him out again.
He demand barks a lot!

I guess we have to start training with the pen back from scratch now.

If anyone reads this, don't make the same mistake! 

I hope he will turn around and we manage to retrain him until he grows out of this cheeky stage.

Fingers crossed for us.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

If _EVERYONE_ is firm and consistent with how you handling his naughtiness and barking, this horrid phase should pass quickly. Perhaps a month or so but everyone must follow through.


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## Dalston (Jan 22, 2014)

Thanks! Yes we do turn away/go away when he barks and I hope he will get used to his pen again for timeouts. I am sure it will pass.


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## Carli (Nov 5, 2013)

Oh my god i was just about to post on here with a similar problem! Milo is also 5 months and his behaviour has changed. He has always since day 2 slept all the way through the night and now for the past week hes been making his noises and barking in the middle of the night and waking up extra early in the morning (and its not because he needs to potty)

He also barks alot for no reason and demand barks and also seems agitated some times, like he wants something, but i dont know what!

Do i have a grumpy pubescent teenager? Or could it be something else?

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## DawnH (Jan 21, 2014)

It must be the age because I just posted on anther thread about Manny aggressively barking at dogs on TV and an actual dog today...he's also 5 months old.


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## Carli (Nov 5, 2013)

Im glad to hear im not the only one! I wander when he will start acting normal again! Lol


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## Carli (Nov 5, 2013)

morriscsps said:


> If _EVERYONE_ is firm and consistent with how you handling his naughtiness and barking, this horrid phase should pass quickly. Perhaps a month or so but everyone must follow through.


Do you think ignoring the barks work best or saying "no"?


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## DawnH (Jan 21, 2014)

No hasn't stopped manny nor has ignoring him. I can't ignore it and let him bark for long because I also live in a townhouse and don't want to disturb my neighbors.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Carli said:


> Do you think ignoring the barks work best or saying "no"?


No doesn't work well for a couple of reasons. First, puppies hear "no" all the time, so tend to tune it out pretty quickly. Second, it is MUCH easier to teach a dog to DO something than to teach them NOT to do something. So teaching a replacement behavior is likely to be the most successful method unless it's pure "puppy stuff" that they will grow out of no matter WHAT you do. Then ignoring is the easiest and works quite well.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Also when you say, "no" back to them, you are re-enforcing the barking.

_bark!_
"NO BARK"
_-ooo, she barked at me. I love her and will bark again.-
bark!_
"NO BARK"
_-how exciting! she wants to play!-
bark! bark!_

and they win.


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## dianaplo (Dec 30, 2013)

So funny, Pam
I think if you follow Karen's advice your neighbors will be thankful in the long run. And my experience is that they learn very quick if that's any comfort.


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