Introducing Obie

[Judith]

Obie and I recently joined and I've really enjoyed reading posts from other doodlelovers! The more I read, the luckier I think we are; my husband and I researched it all on the internet and after failing to adopt a rescue, ended up buying a six month old F1 mini labradoodle from a breeder.

Obie had lived outside in a kennel in the country with his sister most of his life and so was not habituated to household living and is still getting used to the things in a house; he's pretty skittish after being with us for a month, and I wonder if others have seen this in their pups. Obie is not afraid of people or dogs, just THINGS, like my pocketbook, a shopping bag, anything new in a room - and he does notice ANYTHING new! I bought him a little dog pillow for the tv room, and he will not go near it yet! Our neighbor's shitzu came in, went straight to it and curled up in it! My work as a psychologist has come in handy in helping Obie with desensitization and classical and operant conditioning - yay Pavlov and Skinner! (Obie will do almost anything for the tiniest piece of cheese!) I would love to do some clicker training with him, but he's terrified of the clicker noise, so I may try a ballpoint pen click. I was also interested to read about grooming doodles; Obie needs some combing to avoid matting around his face, but if I get close to him with a brush in my hand, he bolts, even after practically sleeping with the brush for a week!

At almost 8 months old, our pup is about 25 pounds. His mom was a yellow lab and his father was a miniature poodle. He's definitely our sweetie!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

This behavior is common in rescued dogs and Obie is facing things he never saw before. It does get better with time, but even after 2 years, when my Ginger encounters things she never saw before, she starts, barks at it and cowers.

Give him lots and lots of love and patience and he will come around. Come into the Rescued Doodles group and there's lots to read about this type of behavior. Welcome to DoodleKisses. This is the BEST place on line to keep our doodles happy and safe.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for the info on rescued doodles. We helped re-home Ned's brother and boy is he skittish and fearful. I set the new owner up with a doodlekisses membership but she is 80 and has some trouble navigating the internet - impressed that she can do it at all though. I will go to that site and share info with her.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

It's right here on DoodleKisses: doodlekisses.com/group/rescueddoodles

[Judith]

There is lots and lots of love here, and he's definitely responding. He does a mad dash into our bed when he comes in from his first morning do- whichever of us who does it gets to watch the other get loved!

Thank you so much for your interest and concern and support. It's the best thing around, other than doodles!

[Beth and Gang]

Obie sounds like one wonderful,lucky guy to have found a new home with you.

[Janie]

I am so glad he has found a good home. Be patient, encourage and praise him a lot. It will take a lot longer to get a dog that has been neglected... used to all things.

[Judith]

Hi Janie. Isn't it great to have a puppy to love! I feel so happy to have him!

[Melissa]

he is so cute!!

[Adina P]

How old was Obie when you adopted him? Depending on how much of his life he spent unsocialized to household items and other things that were not in his kennel, it may take a while to get him used to these things. Your work to desensitize and condition will probably go far :-) I believe training can do a ton for dogs with fears.

Anyway, welcome again and I'm glad you're having a good time here and learning and making friends :-) Obie is adorable!

[Judith]

thanks so much. Obie was six months old when we adopted him after we found him on his breeder's website. His breeder was great: they just lived way far out - and I don't think he was in a house much of the time. Most of their puppies are gone long before they're as old as Obie was when we got him!

At the moment, Obie is throwing his toy up and doing zoomies into the air. I'll post some new pix soon!

We were lucky, Dan and I, just as we were when we met each other, also on the internet.

[Nanette de la Torre]

Hi Judith. One of the tricks I used to acclimate Higgins to grooming was using a frozen Kong stuffed with peanut butter, or even Pets Paws frozen treats. This kept him occupied while I groomed him. Also, you may want to just hold the grooming instruments next to his face and give him treats but don't brush yet. Eventually, pretend brushing combing and provide treats. He will, overtime, associate the grooming instruments with treats and see it as a positive. I learned that from the SPCA trainer.

Another thing I learned was not to console or react to my dogs of fear. Many folks will pet their dogs when the dog is exhibiting insecurity or fear. I learned that this only enforces that behavior. So the more noise you can make without frightening Obie too much the more confident he will become. Overtime Obie will see that you won't let anything harm him. We all take time to adapt to change. Good luck and welcome to doodlekisses!

[Judith]

Great ideas. I'll get started! I'm also looking into puppy classes and just found a trainer who uses "rewards-based training." I'm really excited about that!