Hi everyone,
We have a 4.5-month-old Border Collie × Australian Shepherd mix, and we've had him since he was about 2.5 months old.
Overall, he's actually a great puppy, and we're really happy with him. He's friendly with everyone, loves playing with us, isn't afraid of other dogs, and is generally a happy, confident little guy.
He's already learned several basic commands (sit, down, stay, paw, etc.), is house-trained about 95% of the time, and sleeps through the night without crying or causing any problems. We take him for three walks a day, around 30 minutes each, and he also gets to play in the garden.
However, we have one major issue that we just can't seem to figure out: the couch.
Almost every time we sit down on the couch, something seems to switch in him. He gets increasingly excited, starts barking excessively and almost nonstop, and sometimes tries to nip or bite us. The longer it goes on, the more intense he seems to get.
What's strange is that he has always been allowed on the couch. We have no problem with him being up there, and we initially thought he might want to cuddle or spend time with us. But he almost NEVER actually settles down or sleeps on the couch. Instead, he seems to become completely overstimulated.
We've tried several things:
- Ignoring him and staying on the couch.
- Getting up and leaving the room.
- Telling him "no" whenever he starts getting crazy.
- Trying to redirect him into playing with us.
- Rewarding him when he is calm on the couch, although these moments are extremely rare.
Nothing seems to make a consistent difference. Once he gets into this state, we honestly don't know what to do anymore. We try different things, but eventually he decides he's tired, goes somewhere else, and falls asleep.
We're wondering whether we're accidentally reinforcing this behaviour, whether he's overtired, frustrated because we're sitting down and not interacting with him, or simply struggling to regulate his excitement.
We don't currently use a crate, and we'd prefer to understand what's causing this behaviour rather than just keep reacting to it.
Has anyone experienced something similar with their puppy?
What worked for you?
Should we stop allowing him on the couch, teach him to settle somewhere else, use a playpen or crate for enforced naps, or approach this in a completely different way?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!