# What are realistic expectations for a 3 month old puppy?



## Sitz&Platz (Oct 20, 2012)

This forum has helped me very much with my 3 month old Dexter.  I have a few questions in regards to my expectations when it comes to his learning/behavior and what I can really expect from him at his age. 

Here's what he's accomplished so far: 

Does not chew anything in the house and understands that only his toys are for chewing. We can safely leave him and our other dog out at night. He understands leave it and off. He knows not to get on furniture.

He's fully potty trained. 

He doesn't jump up on us. He sits nicely for strangers, but unfortunately they get excited and then he jumps up.  

He knows sit, down, stay, watch me and follow me. He will stay upstairs now when I tell him to and not follow me. 

He is still a bit mouthy, but reading that they are all land sharks, I don't mind as much. He stops when I tell him no biting, and his mouth is pretty soft. 

Dexter lays down in the backseat during car rides and behaves well. 

Today we went on our first walk and it didn't go too well. First off, he's really attached to my other dog, and Lola was throwing a fit when we tried to leave. Dexter didn't even want to leave the house, because she was barking. I finally got him out of the house, and we were able to work on the heel command. He saw 2 men and barked at them. :crazy: We walked for about 15 minutes and he seemed happy to go back home. We will have to repeat that soon and do better.  

Sometimes he plays a little too rough with Lola for my taste, and I correct him for that. She doesn't seem to mind, because she's always back for more puppy play. They "fight" over toys sometimes, and I correct them for that. But then 5 minutes later they bring each other toys to fight over again and seem to enjoy that. Should I stop correcting them? 

We have started taking him out quite a bit to meet other people and dogs, and he usually does well with dogs and all people. My friend has a 4 year old GSD and she comes over for play dates which all of my dogs enjoy. No problems there. 

His puppy class is starting next Saturday, they moved the date because of the weather. After that we are continuing to CGC and moving on to bigger and better things, hopefully. 

Dexter has been a pleasure to be around, he's usually responds pretty well, and I have no major issues. My life with him has been pretty easy so far, and I wonder if I can just lean back and relax a little at this point or should I be doing more? Other than continued training and puppy classes. 

Every book that I read makes it sound like 4 months is the cutoff for the most important life lessons in a puppies life, and I feel like this biological puppy clock is ticking away fast. I don't want to miss anything that could affect his further development. But at the same time, I really don't want to spoil his puppyhood by being anal about every little thing.


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## jen1982 (Nov 29, 2012)

Great thread! We have a 12.5 week old GSD and I'll be following the answers others post to your questions very closely. I have some of the same concerns with our Malcolm, even down to the playing a little too rough with our older boys for my taste followed by a correction by my husband or myself in those situations but advice from our vet telling us they'll work it out and as long as no one is getting hurt not to worry. 

It seems our pups are right around the same stage as our boy is doing so well with many of the same commands and is starting puppy classes on the 9th. We'll hopefully be moving on through training formally and at home for obedience etc., but I'm afraid due to waiting to take him out until after his second set of vaccinations on the advice of our vet due to a rise in Parvo scares where we're located that we may be missing out on some of the prime opportunities to socialize and teach our boy everything we can at the correct times. 

I'm eager to hear what more experienced owners have to say.


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## OffgridAlex (Dec 11, 2012)

Sounds pretty good to me! 

In the Leerburg 8 weeks - 8 months video he basically says not to worry about any more than house breaking, sit, down, stay (10 seconds) and socialization in the first 8 months. It seems a bit unambitious to me but he has much more experience than me. I think he reasons that you need o let them have a puppy hood, make sure they develop happy and mentally healthy and there is plenty of time for the rest of their training.


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## LauraJav (Nov 29, 2012)

Sounds like he's doing great. My 13 week old knows sit.. he kinda gets lay down and speak. Come is a 50/50 chance. We've been training him daily but he's just so hyper and crazy still. He does well walking though- pulls, but enjoys his exercise. I don't know if I'd ever trust him alone in the house though- he'd eat the furniture and make a mess in about 3 minutes. lol. We are focusing on the don't bite and gentle commands now, but he's kind of dumb... we still love him.


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## hotrod2448 (Oct 12, 2012)

Our 13 week old understands look, sit, down and is working on heel but, needs food for motivation to do any of it reliably. She is really good about going in her crate when we need her to or when she needs to honestly. 

She's about 90% there on potty training but, she has a bad habit of deciding she needs to go when you are in the middle of something you can't stop immediately, like going to the bathroom yourself. Or not giving enough notice for you to get out of bed, get dressed, turn off the alarm, etc...

She does jump up when excited and we're working on that.

Our biggest problem by far though is the biting. I would say mouthing but, it's pretty much progressed to full on biting at this point. We've tried all manner of corrections from as simple saying "ouch" and stopping play to lifting her front legs off the floor by her leash for 3 seconds and everything in between. She seems to view each correction as a challenge and then escalates the bite. You try to walk away she goes after your legs/feet. Today my mother was doing me a favor and letting her out while I'm at work she bit her 3 times and broke the skin and bit my sister twice. We are seriously debating sending her off for boarding and training because we either have no idea what we are doing or she is a bit of a hard case.


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## Meesha43 (Dec 5, 2014)

My Layla is 3 months old today. She is fully potty trained, knows sit, shake, we are working on her "stay", she pulls on a leash but enjoys to walk. She has never been left "alone" yet. I only crate her when I am in the shower because she drives my cat crazy. We are working on that too. Her biting has gotten a lot better, but a couple of times a day when she gets really excited, it becomes really annoying. She is definitly a "land shark". We are trying EVERYTHING to get her to stop. She starts obedience school on the 27th. Hopefully they can help.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Sounds like everyone's pups on this thread are doing great! The biting will lessen when they're done teething.Vicks vapor rub on your hands will help,also closing your hand in a fist so it's harder to grab.Don't worry about the anxiety on first walks.Lure with treats or toys.Take your other dog with you sometimes to set a good example and boost confidence.If you are calm and patient your pup will be enjoying walks soon.It's overwhelming for them at first.


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

*Gunner*

Our Gunner is 4 months old todaya and whopping 45lbs!

He knows sit, stay, shake, lie down, speak, quiet and leave it.

We are almost over the hurdle of puppy biting.

Recently he has been barking at us when we grab a snack and sit on the couch. Our immediate reaction is to tell him NO and to make him lie down which i think he is translating into play. So we will need to try to ignore him or just get up and leave so he realizes that when he braks, we leave. 

He also has a nasty habit of jumping up at the door when either my husband or i leave the house (only one at a time.) I need this to be fixed before we attempt to let him roam when we are both gone.

He is good on a leash for the most part. He does this weird thing where if we hold him and the leash on the right, he walks behind us to the left. Once we switch the leash to the left, he moves back to the right. It's not bad, but with all the snow on narrow sidewalks, it does get annoying.

He does love it when he gets to meet new people and does jump up to them. Need to stop this immediately. I think with our past dogs we just ignored it so i just need to make sure that people ignore him (which is difficult in the city because everyone wants to come up and pet your dog. UGH)

Last night he slept on his bed in our room for the first night and he did great! So nice not having him in the crate both day and night now.

I'm thinking we are going to take him to some obedience classes now to fix this whole door jumping issue (as well as some other minor things). I don't think it will hurt any, and it should be worth it considering we are still renting.

He is fully house broken. He lets us know when he needs to go. But we still keep him in the crate during the day because I know he probably won't hold it otherwise yet. 


Any tips for the afformentioned issues? 

Thanks!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Meesha43 said:


> My Layla is 3 months old today. She is fully potty trained, knows sit, shake, we are working on her "stay", she pulls on a leash but enjoys to walk.* She has never been left "alone" yet*. I only crate her when I am in the shower because she drives my cat crazy. We are working on that too. Her biting has gotten a lot better, but a couple of times a day when she gets really excited, it becomes really annoying. She is definitly a "land shark". We are trying EVERYTHING to get her to stop. She starts obedience school on the 27th. Hopefully they can help.


I would get her use to being alone for short periods of time. Dogs that never learn that being alone is ok tend to develop separation anxiety.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

stobias712 said:


> Our Gunner is 4 months old todaya and whopping 45lbs!
> 
> He knows sit, stay, shake, lie down, speak, quiet and leave it.
> 
> ...


Instead of ignoring him AFTER he starts barking...set him up with a treat of his own when you sit down for a snack. Keep a special chew bone or filled kong for these times. 
Teach him 'place' so he has a go to place area when you have people come over, or whenever you want him to be contained without being actually crated. A crate pad or bed work well for this exercise.
Don't allow him to approach other people, GSD's are aloof at maturity and being neutral to strangers and other dogs is what I would rather have, as not everyone wants a strange dog rushing up on them. Instead of having people ignore him as your focus, you need to teach HIM to ignore others! 

Classes are great, but make sure you keep your puppy's confidence level high. Don't correct if the pup is unclear on why he's being corrected. 
Many trainers in pet classes seem to think we need to dominate our GSD's so they won't become monsters when they are full grown. I've found that when the dog is willing to work with the handler there is no reason to 'dominate' or over control an eager enthusiastic puppy.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Apollo is about 3.5 months...

We have learned sit, down, watch me, leave it, and touch. He is really good with his stays and heels well to. He knows to sit and wait for his food and he sits when approached by people. We are working on recall(he is good unless he has a piece of bark or mulch). We are also working on drop it and bring it(for fetch)He is great with the cats, he loves them and wants to be by them all the time. We have had really no issues with biting. He hates his crate and goes ballistic when put in there--he is only in there when I'm at work, I might have to put him in there when I'm home so he learns. We start classes on Sunday and will be doing a drop in class tonite for the first time.


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

onyx'girl said:


> Instead of ignoring him AFTER he starts barking...*set him up with a treat of his own when you sit down for a snack. Keep a special chew bone or filled kong for these times.*
> Teach him 'place' so he has a go to place area when you have people come over, or whenever you want him to be contained without being actually crated. A crate pad or bed work well for this exercise.
> Don't allow him to approach other people, GSD's are aloof at maturity and being neutral to strangers and other dogs is what I would rather have, as not everyone wants a strange dog rushing up on them. Instead of having people ignore him as your focus, you need to teach HIM to ignore others!
> 
> ...


We do provide him with his favorite bone, but he will quickly leave it to see what we are up to. USually, when it's just me, it only takes one or two reminders that he has his bone and I have my food. When my husband is home is when it takes a bit longer for this to set in. I don't want to have to crate him when we have food out.


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## dhaney81 (Nov 5, 2014)

We're at 4 months and he knows sit, down, stand, stay, crate, bed, go get it(fetch) with a decent drop it, and I use his name for watch me. I wouldn't say they're perfected but he knows them. Heel, leave it and back up are in the works.


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## Jayfeather (Dec 28, 2014)

Sitz&Platz said:


> This forum has helped me very much with my 3 month old Dexter.  I have a few questions in regards to my expectations when it comes to his learning/behavior and what I can really expect from him at his age.
> 
> Here's what he's accomplished so far:
> 
> ...


At three months, it sounds like you're doing really well. Don't worry, there's plenty of time to continue training throughout his life. This is great for his age, you can't expect him to be perfect yet. As for walks, it took mine a while until he was comfortable going out of our yard, but eventually he did learn to like it with loads of treats and praise.


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