Rough playing

[Jill and Cody]

Hi fellow doodle owners. I have a 6 month mini golden doodle. He is really a good puppy but when he plays, he plays rough and I can't seem to calm him down. He jumps on me, grabs my clothes and has even bit my nose. Help. I don't know what I am doing to spur it on and I do try to correct him, but it doesn't seem to be working.

[Leslie and Halas]

Is it mostly at night when he might be getting tired? Or is it all the time?

[Jill and Cody]

hmmm, it IS mostly at night. I work during the day and then take him for a walk or to the dog park when I get home. So it happens around 9:30 at night. Why? Do puppies bark and play rough when they are tired? He kept coming back for more even when I tried to walk away.

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas was exactly like your puppy when he was younger. I'm no expert, but I think it was mostly a matter of him getting overly tired and therefore getting cranky. He didn't know enough to just lay down and rest, so he'd get cranky, just like a little kid. Any other time, if he was misbehaving, it was easy to distract him. But later in the evening, when it would be getting closer to bedtime, there was no way to distract him. He was relentless. If I stopped play by standing up and turning my back to him, he bite me in the butt with those razor-sharp puppy teeth. It sounds like your puppy is doing the same type of thing.

When you walk away, you can try sitting somewhere where he can't reach you that well, which will make it a little easier to ignore him for a few minutes. Are you handing him a toy during these times to try to turn his attention to the toy instead? That didn't always work for me, but you should always try it. That way he learns what is acceptable for him to do. Do you kennel him? A lot of people say to just put him in his kennel for a few minutes if he won't play nice. Ignore him and go about your business. With Halas, he was back to the same old thing as soon as I let him out, but it's worth a try. A lot of times, I'd just say, "Is it almost bedtime?" We'd go outside for our last potty of the night, and then we'd go to bed. There are probably a lot of other suggestions that people will post for you (you'll get a lot of good advice from people on DoodleKisses), so you may end up trying a lot of different things, depending on how long it takes you to find something that works. The main thing is to be consistent when you try something. Try an idea for awhile before you give up on it.

With Halas, the nipping during play time was getting out of hand, and the regular ideas weren't working for us. I finally resorted to putting a drop or 2 of lemon juice in his mouth when he tried to chew on me, but that was only because I'd tried everything else. He was probably about 10 or 11 months old when I started that. I would rather have taught him what is acceptable vs punishing him for what isn't acceptable. Positive reinforcement worked for him with everything else except for the nipping. So if I were you, I'd try all of the positive reinforcement ideas first.

[Leslie and Halas]

I've used the lemon juice for Halas' nipping, and it worked great. I only had to really give him the lemon juice 2 or 3 times. Now I just say "lemon" or show him the lemon while I'm saying No bite, and he stops. I've always felt a little bad about it, because I'd rather use positive reinforcement, but I was at my wit's end. Maybe I should have done it a long time ago. It worked right away, vs all of the other things I tried that didn't work. You think it's ok to go to the lemon idea right away? I'm only asking because Halas has one or 2 other minor things I'd like to stop, and we're making slow progress. If I used the lemon, it would probably be fixed in one or 2 days.

[Jill and Cody]

Thanks everyone. I am going to try the tapping on the nose "not nice" and then see if I can get him to go to sleep instead (may be hard since that is in the bedroom and I'm out in the living room watching tv) but I'll give it a go. If that doesn't work, lemon juice it is. Ann, he retrieves sometimes but doen't always bring it back. lol. He gets a lot of exercise. I walk him for 20-30 minutes in the morning, a walker comes and noon and 4 and walks him, and then I take him out again when I get home from work - usually to a dog park so he can run off leash.

[Leslie and Halas]

Maybe that's the secret! I should just get a 2nd doodle to give Halas someone else to chew on! Glad to hear it's not just me that thinks it's a tired/cranky thing. Halas is almost 14 months now, and more in tune with how tired he is. He'll just go off to bed sometimes now if he's ready and I'm not. He has very few cranky phases any more.

[Reilly]

Our Reilly is doing the same thing. We are careful but the tricks that Patty told us were to lighting tap her nose and say "not nice" or one that we've done and works is when we all completely ignore her. Reilly loves to cuddle up on our feet and sleep and chew on her froggie toy right then and there.. She wants everyones attention because Mom is the only one here during the day other then me on Thursday which is my day off.. She had done it earlier and I walked over the gates we have blocking her from rooms because of her not feeling well and having accidents in another room.. and she whimpered and laid there until I came back 30 mins later, regardless of Mom calling her; she would not budge. She knew she was wrong for it but she also enjoys bright colors we've become to see so thats almost something I'm being careful with around her.

I'd just say get in front of him and calmly just say "Not nice," and keep saying it until they get the hint... It does work... Or the ignoring method.. They love us; that is what Labradoodles enjoy is being with their owners because they are connected to us right away most of the time.

Hope that helps.

[sbis0oszc95r]

My puppy does the same thing when he's tired. I just have to put him in the kitchen with the baby gates up and he falls asleep on the floor instantly. They're like overtired cranky toddlers.....:)

[Sandy]

I tried the "pennies in a can" trick this evening. Toby likes to latch onto my pant leg, housecoat, etc. He's 11 weeks old and really trying to see who's actually the boss. He respects my husband completely, but me, not so much. Both times I used the shaker, which was quite loud, he stopped immediately and just sat and looked at me. I've tried water spray, and he jumps at the spray. I just need to find something that works, before this becomes a bad, unbreakable habit! I'll keep it up and see how he does.

[Loreta Janca]

Our 7 month old Doodle does the exact same thing! More often at night, he starts biting us. If we get up to move away from him , he would follow us, biting us in the back, butt, etc. He even gets right up on us and barks if we ignore him, than starts biting again. We tried the squirt bottle, but he liked it. I took him to a behaviour specialist a few months back and she said a lot of it is adolescence. She gave me some great tips to keep these moments at bay. Try and anticipate when he is going to act up, and give him something mentally stimulating to do. Chew on something else, hide treats or toys for him to find, freeze a treat in a container of water or broth and have him chew his way to it. (like a popsicle).. THe other thing that has worked best for our sanity is a time out in his crate. SOmetimes he comes out and starts back up again, but by that time, it's usually bed time, and we all go up and he's fine. There are nights where he might go in there 3 or 4 times, but it's the only thing that really gets him calmed down. I'm counting on the fact that he will grow out of this stage eventually. Other than that he is a very smart, and obedient dog!

[Tante & Jordan & now Annie!]

This completely works..
When your dog does anything you do not like Jumping,biting,pulling etc... Say "Ouch" in a high pitched voice.
They hear it as a yelp and stop.Now they will test you on when, and how hard.If you do it every time the behavior will stop quickly.
It really does work. I do it all types of dogs and everyone of them stop.
My friends are always amazed when I can get their dogs to not jump or nip at me.

[Roger]

My dog - Maia - is a female, and a litter-mate of Loreta Janca's dog. Maia behaves very similarly... enjoys biting and growling while wagging her tail... when I say "No Bite!" she backs off, but just barks and barks, getting closer and closer, until she's bumping my arm and eventually biting again. She has gotten better lately, and a few minutes in her crate calms her down completely. Usually she only has one of the "nutty" episodes per evening, and sometimes I grab her and turn her upside down in my lap.... she'll keep biting, but she does tend to settle and sometimes that'll do it. I do think she'll grow out of it, and it's the only thing about her that's not wonderful. We are really happy with her.