Belgian Malinois

r/BelgianMalinois52.6K subscribers12 active
Isolating a Malinois puppy (different room) when he gets too worked up—bad idea?Question

Hello everyone,

plase don't be too harsh on me, I'm giving my best for this dog, I really do. But I'm learning as we both go.
So, my 12 week old puppy recently started biting me and my GF out of pure frustration.

During the day he also bites, but it's a playful biting, nothing too serious. Redirecting with toys usually works, giving him attention works, quick obedience session obviously works too.
When he gets tired, he usually becomes a little jerky and bites less and less playfully, still, what I mentioned above usually works to calm him down.

The most problematic thing for me however, is night time, he never really wants to lay down to sleep when we do it. I tend to spend at least an hour (sometimes longer) to calm him down so I can finally go to sleep.
And what he does during that time is not play, it's pure destruction. He usually starts by ripping off our bedsheet, then he jumps on to the bed and bites everything he comes in contact with. I don't allow him to sleep in the bed with us, so I try to convince him to go to his place using commands. Doesn't work. Luring him works a little but I don't want to rely on treats too much, not in those situations at least. He jumps back to our bed right after eating the treats anyway.
Eventually, when nothing works, I start picking him up (gently) using normal/firm tone of the voice while I do it, and put him in his place. He hates when I do it, gets all growly and try to bite me while i take him off the bed.

So at some point I honestly loose all my patience, I pick him up and I lock him behind the door to our room (that door leads to the kitchen area, so there's lots of space in there), leaving him there to cool off.
Every 10 or 15 mins I get up to let him in again and see how he behaves, at some point he just stops and just lay in his place.
Is it okay to do what I do in this scenario? Please advise.

Sorry for how long this is, I don't want to come out as someon who toses his dog out of the room all the time for no reason. I love my dog with all my heart!

Thanks upfront!