Is your "grown up" doodle good ALL the time?

[Frannie & Callie]

I don't think it's a big secret that I think Callie hung the moon. She's adorable, sweet, loving, and snuggly all the time and good...most of the time. There are a few things that I know are training issues that I never worked all the way through with her, but there are other behaviors that I don't really associate with "training". Leaping and twirling and making it impossible to get her harness/leash on - training. That one is one me. Removing the roll of toilet paper off the spindle in the powder room downstairs and shredding it all over the den...what the heck Callie? You know better.

Part of the problem is CAHOOTING. Callie and her BFF Louie are no longer allowed to have unsupervised play dates. They used to all the time, but then if they were alone together they were naughty. They would shred anything that wasn't nailed down. I have to admit...I kinda blamed Louie (as did Louie's mom) and figured he was the instigator. However - Callie and Luna are also cahooting in bad behavior. I can't pretend Callie isn't instigating here, even though when left alone, she really is good. When Callie is the common denominator in bad behavior though...

Last week, they had the toilet paper party. This week, the cahooters knocked down my stainless, lidded kitchen trash and shredded garbage all over my house (I found string cheese wrappers at the top of the stairs). Luna gets a bit of a "bye" on this...at a recent point in her life, I know she had to forage for food. 

Is she bored? And why would she bored with her billions of toys, a mom who now is home much more frequently, and a live in friend who adores her?

Thoughts?

(here's a picture of the culprit...she's super furry right now)

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Cubbie just turned 3 and he is "goodish".  His worst trait is his non stop barking at every stupid little thing.  We have tried a spray bottle and a soda can with pennies in it and haven't had any luck.  His recall is about 50/50 and his drop it is terrible.  We past the CGC with that silly dog and in the past year he has become a bit of a brat.  I really need to step up the training with him.  Ollie is 2.5 and while he didn't have any training before he came to us he listens very well.  He isn't the brightest doodle on the planet but he means well.  His recall is great and his drop it is excellent.  Now, if I could just get them to teach each other their best traits I would have 2 perfectly behaved doodles!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Guinness is a real good boy.  He's the "perfect child".  He doesn't chew or destroy anything.  He's also the "Gestapo" around here.  From the time Murph came to us as a puppy, Guinness "policed" him.  Guinness is a "no nonsense" kind of guy, and he expects his brother to act accordingly.  I really think left to his own devices, Murph would be in lots of trouble...but his big brother is always "watching"....literally.

[Martha & Cooper]

Cooper is 2 and most of the time, he is trustworthy.   It's when he wants attention or is bored that he gets into trouble.  He is still the king of paper shredding of any kind.  Toilet, magazine, newspaper, etc.  The thing is, he knows he isn't supposed to have these things because he will get a magazine and lay at the end of the hall with it in his mouth and bark, just once.  I guess this is to notify me that he is about to do something bad or to get me to come and pay some attention to him!!! Even if it is to put him in time out!    He had me so worried this weekend because between the time my husband left and I got up, he managed to get my plastic colander off the counter and chew part of the handle off.   I couldn't find the plastic pieces laying around, so I assumed he swallowed them.   We had to watch his poo all weekend for them.   Not the worry I needed this week when he has his procedure for his liver scheduled this week!  

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin is good all of the time.  Well okay, there have been a couple of exceptions, like when I was busy marking papers last week and ignoring him when he was hoping for some indoor ball tossing.  He came out of my bedroom with something in his mouth and was prancing about.  When I spoke to him to put the item down on a chair.  It was a five dollar bill!  Oh yes and ysterday he was visiting with the four year old girl next door over the fence and he stole her mitten and was reluctant to give it back.  When his friend Mylie is here, I have to be careful as they have been known to take paper off the counter and shred it.  I place the blame for this behaviour squarely on Mylie's shoulders ;)

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Looks innocent to me!!

Chloe is 5 and we still cannot use the toilet paper holder or kleenex box holder!

She will go investigate when we walk away to make sure she can't have a paper party!!

[GBK]

No, they are not good all the time.  The other day DH came home to find unopened canned dog food in the living room, on the ramp to the backyard and in the backyard.  We know it is Kona, because we caught her trying to grab a can right in front of us.   LOL  Buddy is a pretty good boy when we are not home, it's when we are home that he will blatantly steal clothes etc. and tease us with it.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

My Gracie Doodle is an only child just like JD.  She is PERFECT and never gets into trouble...UNLESS...there is a tennis ball involved.  She is 100% trustworthy inside the entire house and never jumps up on things, steals or chews.  But should there be a tennis ball she will dunk it in her water bowl and carry it around the house dropping it on the carpet.  Or, heaven forbid, she brings inside a dirty tennis ball that she has rolled around in her outside water bowl and then the dirt, then she is less than Perfect!  I find muddy ball rolling marks on my carpet and a face that says..."Look what I found" outside while you were gone.  She has a doggie door that allows her to go outside.  She now has taken to hiding her tennis balls just for that very reason.  We have to keep inventory on the balls to make sure they are all accounted for and put under lock and key before leaving her for the day!!!  "The tennis ball devil made me do it"!!! 

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

My Murphy is and always has been perfect.  Really.  He has never chewed, counter surfed, stolen laundry, eaten anything he wasn't supposed to...he has been a complete angel since the day we got him.  And then there is Wilson.......Wilson is BAD!!!! But he is only 7 and a half months old!  Murphy tries to keep him in line, even tells on him...LOL.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Kona is and always has been perfect, too...best puppy ever in the world. Owen makes up for it all...most mischievous puppy ever. Kona does not keep him in line. He is so disgusted he just lays quietly on the floor at my feet. When Owen has been in big trouble Kona has come to find me. It took me several times before I realized what he was doing. Owen is now 1 year 4 months and Kona has just begun winning at wrestling with Owen. I think he let him win until they are an equal match. Sweet big boy, but I do wish he had put him in his place when Owen was a pup.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna is about 1.5 so is still a "puppy", but she's always been quite good.  We just recently started giving her the run of most of the house while we're away. 

She has never touched furniture (thankfully) or drywall (I've heard some dogs do this?)  but there are things she will and has destroyed if given the chance:

- Kleenex (best toy ever - it rips up into little pieces!)

- Pieces of paper/flyers

- Shoe insoles (we have to keep our shoes in the cupboard, she reaches into the shoe with her little snout and extracts the insole)

- Plastic bottles

- Dryer sheets (thankfully she's only found used ones and she doesn't eat them - these are toxic)

Her latest escapade is to run out the front door to go see her best friend (2 doors down) - she actually runs to their back door and tries to get into their house even if her friend isn't there.  Not sure how to cure her of this one, a work in progress...

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Lucca and Izzy were being wayyyy too quiet.....

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Haha, I love how one looks guilty and the other is laughing it off.  Silly doodles!

Generally quiet is bad...