Is This Normal? Answering your questions on confusing puppy behaviour!

When you're a new puppy parent, most of the odd things a puppy does are totally new to you, and the urge to Google every little thing takes over and before you know it, you're left worrying that everything a dog does has a sinister and dark reason behind it. One thing we forget to mention to new puppy owners but always wish we had is, DON'T GOOGLE IT. Just don't. You may think you're getting a well-rounded source of information on the subject in question, but most times it just makes you worry. You know how it goes..."My dog digs in the water bowl" and Google's assessment is your dog is probably silently suffering from some deadly disease. It's not funny to have your heart-strings pulled around like that, amiright?!

So we thought we'd compile some of the odd things RLD families have asked us about, and save you some Google stress. We're not vets, nor are the answers we gave claiming to be the only reason your dog could be doing this for, but we do know we've seen lots of puppies and their behaviour is flat out WEIRD and yet completely normal, so lets jump into this!

Q: My puppy pees when a certain family member gets home every night. Is that normal?

A: Submissive peeing and excitement peeing is definitely a thing, yet you really don't hear much about it.

I'm not sure why one dog will do it and another won't, but some puppies pee when they get really hyped up, surprised, or when they're around someone or something they see as alpha and so they pee to show submission or deference. This doesn't last into adulthood, but some puppies carry it on till they're around 1 year of age. It isn't something to correct or discipline them for, just quickly take them to their designated bathroom location and let them go, and then carry on as normal.

Excitement peeing: If you know your dog pees when guests come over and greet him/her with lots of hype, try to tone down the excited energy next time and have the guests (and you) not greet or acknowledge the dog till 5 minutes has passed and the "newness" of visitors has worn off. Acknowledging a puppy that is in an excited state, when it has a track record of excitement peeing, is bound to make them have another accident, every time.

Submissive peeing: If your dog is submissive peeing around a particular someone (in most cases its usually around the male of the house who even playfully pretends to be all tough and powerful), it may be helpful to get that person to be less direct and a little more easy going in their energy, especially when greeting, confronting, or teaching the dog. I don't mean this person can't be the alpha or pack leader, because that's very important, but more that you realize that this demonstration from the puppy is showing you they take your power seriously and it doesn't take much for them to submit.

Q: My puppy breathes really fast when it's sleeping, is this normal?

A: We are not vets, nor are we suggesting we know the reason why every dog may breathe fast while it sleeps, but generally speaking, fast breathing is very common and completely normal with puppies (even human babies do it!) Smaller dogs actually have a faster resting respiratory rate than larger dogs.

Quite often you will notice the fast breathing subsides as they grow older.

Q: My dog whimpers and barks like they're being hurt during kennel training. Should I do something?

A: Puppies hold nothing back. They are new to the world, and that means every situation they encounter is new to them. Puppies start with ZERO awareness of boundaries, and so when they encounter them, their first thought is, "No...It can't be! Gotta do something to get out of this." A lot of small animals in the wild will throw a fit if they get caught, because it will stun their attacker and they'll get loose. Puppies are no different. They use whatever they have to make a statement that will get them out of their current predicament, whether it be wearing a collar for the first time, being in a kennel, or having to hold still for a haircut. They'll wiggle, spazz out, let out a piercing shriek, and not because they're hurting or its actually an emergency, but because they just want to get out of whatever this "boundary" thing is. Its important that you push through separation training while your puppy is young, no matter how much of a stink they put up about it, as its much harder to train an adult dog through things they've been allowed to do their whole life, then to teach a puppy to except a little bit of healthy boundaries! Always make sure they've recently been to the bathroom and you start every exercise in small doses.

Q: My puppy was completely house trained for a month and then started going to the bathroom in the house, even right after I'd taken it to go outside. Is it normal for them to "unlearn" bathroom training?

A: Among the strong-willed pups out there, it's quite common for different areas of training to be challenged when they hit the 3-4 month old mark, which is when they start to experience some hormonal changes and want to try being dominant and in-charge. Its not that they unlearned all the training you did, or don't comprehend what the rules are, it's more that they have a sudden surge of "I think I feel old enough to make my own rules" and want to see how far they can get with it. Didn't know dogs go through a teenage phase? Well, they do! lol. Every dog expresses it differently, and don't worry, its totally normal and they will grow through it, with the help of consistent leadership from you. Continue showing healthy boundaries and consistent training -- they'll start to notice a pattern and will adopt it.

FOR EXAMPLE: While raising one of our future mama's, we spent TONS of time trying to teach her how to shake a paw. She was the smartest cookie ever, but she would pretend she didn't know what we meant (trust me, she did know *wink wink*). After TWO months passed, she just started to do it, and has never failed since to give her paw for a little shake. Alpha personalities will see how long they can go without doing it your way in some areas. This is frustrating at times, but is good to know is normal and will eventually even out ;)

Q: I'm super embarrassed...my puppy started humping a toy when I came in the room and I guess I just don't know if that's normal?

A: Awkward as it is, humping is also completely normal. Dogs do it as a sign of dominance. It doesn't matter if its a toy, another dog, your leg or even to nothing whatsoever, some puppies will do it at the oddest moments, and though it's obviously natural, you should gently correct them when they do it and move them away from what they're trying to hump and say "no". They may continue doing it for a few seconds after you stop them, but just divert their attention with something else and they'll move on.

We hope this helped soothe some of your worries and prevent any future stress about these normal occurrences in the life of a puppy (or maybe it was just amusing, that works too, lol ).

What weird things does your puppy do?

The RLD Team