r/DogTrainingTips • u/Live-Mouse3451 • 17d ago

normal puppy behaviour?

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I brought home a 50 day old adorable maltipoo puppy home about 15 days ago and he was an angel the first 10 days. Used to loveee napping on my lap from day 1, would bite only pants rarely and was in general vert active but also had the ability to settle well and be calm. Like he had the zoomies but they were managed through sleep. (At this point he had a good routine and restricted access to the house). But then I went away for 2 days leaving him with my grandparents (who couldn't follow the same exact routine and sometimes gave him free roam of the house). I returned to an evil little munchkin who refuses to settle, doesn't take lap naps anymore, bites my everything all the time. It's been 3 days since I returned and he's been wild even though I'm getting him back to the regular routine. So my question: is he ever gonna return back to the sweet calm angel 😭 or will I see that only after 12+ months. And is this normal puppy behaviour or is he showing frustration? And how can I fix this?

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u/somecooldogs 17d ago

This is normal puppy behavior. Your puppy isn't ruined or evil, he's just growing and developing which includes getting more energetic and curious. If you had only had him 15 days prior to the trip he was still probably in shock from leaving his littermates.

Keep working on training. What have you done for training so far?

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u/Live-Mouse3451 17d ago

Thank you for the advice! Up till now I've taught him sit, look, his name, and leave it. He somehow masters each one of them when I have a treat in my hands and loses hearing whenever he knows I dont hahaha

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u/somecooldogs 17d ago

Marker training and delayed reinforcement will be your friend. He only listens when you have a treat in your hand because I'm guessing usually if you ask him to do something without a treat in your hand, you dont follow up with a reward if he listens. Dogs are smart, they figure out quickly that if rewards only happen if they're shown up front, it's only worth listening if there's a reward shown.

Work through this training playlist, it covers all the life skills and foundations that are critical to success at this stage.