In honor of the Super Bowl: Time outs!

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

In honor of the Super Bowl... Do you use "time out" for your doodle when s/he has been bad? Why or why not? If yes, how long does time out last?

I'll go first! :)

We FREQUENTLY put Maddy in time out! Most often the reason is for chasing the cat. Sometimes Maddy will tackle the cat and when she gets <i>really</i> into it (i.e. play growling, won't leave him alone no matter how much we tell her to stop) we tell her "GO TO BED". Sometimes she runs to avoid being physically put it bed but 9 times out of 10 she will race right into her crate herself and sit down waiting for us to lock the door! Because she knows she has been bad! Right now Maddy's in time out for barking at people shoveling snow right outside out door. She has even barked twice from her crate so this will be an extra long time out. As for length, we usually give her enough time to completely calm down and become submissive. Usually she is laying down and halfway taking a nap by the time we let her out.

[BG and Gavin]

I always try a down stay first, so our dog can make the decision to calm down. Thie works alot of the time, but if he repeatedly winds himself back up, we crate him for 5 minutes or so.

[Tamara & Giada]

This is what we do also! I will send them to their beds if they are barking a lot at the tv because there are animals on....mostly because when they are barking I can't hear.....always works!!

Oh yes, and if they are too hyper indoors....outside they go!

[GBK]

Time out's for Bud were constant as he was such a very trying puppy :) That is putting it nicely too! His time out's as a puppy were never very long, but he went right back in immediately if he continued the behavior he was timed out for when he was let out. We don't really have to time out in the crate much anymore at all, but when he get's a little rambunctious in play at the park, or tries to hump a favorite girl, he get's a time out at my side for a couple of minutes and then he will go and play nicely. My littel Kona has never needed time out's, thank goodness.......

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We never actually used a "time out". If Guinness got over excited we would use a "down/stay" and he usually calmed right down. That's not to say he wasn't excited again 10 minutes later about something else.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I take time outs. I did this with my sons also. Everyone goes to where ever they are supposed to go-dogs to crates or outside for a romp, kid to their room, husband leaves me alone... etc..... I put on good music with an IPOD and ignore all of them. In my home it is called, " Mom needs a time out."

I think it is good to redirect the dogs negative actions or play. It is not a punishment but rather just time to make some changes, redirect the mood so you can all live in the same house.

I do like down/stay much better. It is an ongoing training that needs to be done daily and is much easier to do for your sake.

I have heard that crates should not be used as a punishment. As long as you are redirecting moods I think it is a good idea.

[Adina P]

What's interesting to me is that she is so responsive to "Go to bed" that THAT command will stop her and make her do something whereas you telling her to stop won't. Don't know what it is about that that has resulted in such fabulous obedience but if you could do that with her "stop" command (or whatever it is you say) that would be cool. Actually I think the fact it's a command requiring her to ACT is part of what makes it more effective than "stop." "Go to your bed" is probably much easier to understand and respond to than "stop" because stopping is less active, less of something TO DO. Most dogs do better when told to do something (even if that is sitting and staying) than to not do something. I think the consequences need to be much stronger when a "NO" or "STOP" is issued for it to be effective.

So, I almost look at "Go to your bed" (in Maddy's case) as less of a time-out and more of a successfully obeyed command =)

As to my feelings on "time outs" I think they are great. Whether it's because it breaks the cycle of whatever the dog is doing and distracts them with a different thing to do, OR because it forces them to chill out, OR because it provides a boring consequence to an undesirable behavior...either of those reasons makes it a good thing in my opinion.

I used it more as the second option--forcing Rosco to chill. I don't think in his mind he ever saw it as a strong consequence to deter him from being a pest in the future, but it helped him calm down and it gave me a chance to relax too.

NOW, I mostly use down-stays to redirect him. But I don't really think dogs think about it too deeply so best length of time in time out is probably whatever works.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Despite the fact that I sometimes put my dogs in the crate when they've been misbehaving, they aey always willing go in thhe crates when I need to leave. I guess that's because they get atreat for doing so, so much easier than chasing them like I did when Luca was a pup : )

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

haha...yup Dexter frequents our time out corner. At least once every 2 weeks he's in a time out. We just block him in the corner of the kitchen for 5-10 minutes. Mostly he gets punished for instigating wrestling with Kirby while we try to eat dinner.

[Camilla and Darwin]

This may be off topic but, I don't like to put Darwin on time out in his crate. I think if they are being put in their crate as a punishment, they are going to associate being in the crate with the bad feelings of knowing they are in trouble. Then, if you want to crate them during normal activities, like during the night, they not feel as comfortable because they know they are punished there, and it won't be a positive experience for them. Because we have made Darwin's crate his own little place, with only positives associated, he loves his crate! He frequently goes in and naps during the day.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

In children time outs coincide with the age. For example, a five-year old does a 5 minute time out. A three-year old does a three minute time out, etc. I do not know how you time a puppy but I bet it is more along seconds to minutes.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Running and chasing each other in the house earns our girls a time out! At our house they get one warning which is "Do You Want To Go To Your Room"? Occassionally that is all it takes to get them to stop. However, if they run again they earn a "Go To Your Room" which they normally will do at the first request. If they are really wound up it might take telling them twice! Any time I tell them to "Go To Their Room" and they do it they get a treat, even if they were being bad to have to go, I always want them to go when I tell them so I treat for doing it! They normally only have to stay for a couple minutes the first time ...... if I let them out and they run again, the second time earns them probably 15 mins. It is really bad right now because they are pretty wound up because they haven't gotten much outside time because of the weather so I try to cut them a little slack!

[Camilla and Darwin]

A way we got Darwin to voluntarily walk into his crate when he was a puppy: We threw a small treat into his crate, and every time he would go after it we'd say "kennel" and give him another treat. After repeating this about 10 times, he had picked it up. He now knows the command "kennel" means to go into his crate.We keep a little stash of tiny treats near his crate, and randomly (about once every other day) we will treat him for going in. He gets so excited to go in, because it is a command he has learned.