Question about disciplining your doodle...

[Joey & Nellie]

I have a six month old golden doodle puppy and she is GREAT!! I love her so much, but I am having some trouble with her. She has learned every trick in the book and super fast, so I know she is very smart, but she grabs things that she not grad ALL the time and also puts her paws up on the table constantly. I have tried spanking her, squirting her with a water bottle, and rewarding her when she actually does do what I say. I know she understands and she is not always bad, but when she is, it is very frustrating. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to teach her better manners. Any help would be much appreciated!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Yes, Caitlin has directed you to the right groups! May I suggest you RUN ( not walk ) to each group and do some reading. Good Luck.

Remember, you are dealing with a Puppy. That is what Puppies do- All of ours have done these behaviors.
Spanking probably won't help. They do not understand complex thought and you will only instill fear.
Also, Join and attend Obedience Training Classes IT IS FUN! Believe me. You and your dog will bond better, form more stable relationships. Your dog will love knowing and understanding what you want. By nature, dogs do like to work for their owners and will do so if trained properly.

Also, check out the Puppy Madness Group <---there is a reason why the group has the name Madness in the title.

Good Luck... and ENJOY YOUR PUPPY

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Spanking her? I hope you are not really saying that you hit your puppy. A dog doesn't understand the concept of "bad", or "good" for that matter. And you should never, ever strike your dog. All that teaches her is to be afraid of you.
How about obedience training? A formal obedience class, or a trainer who comes to your home? Or even a book or video that you follow? Something with structure. "Tricks" are not the same as a good obedience program.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Karen is right. A dog should always look at our hands and think of love, comfort or help. They should never be afraid of them or shy away from them. Our hands are only "GOOD" in their eyes!

[Joey & Nellie]

Thank you very much for the tips so far! And no, I do not hit my puppy. I used a rolled magazine or newspaper and hit my hand with it or smacked her on the bottom. I made sure it didn't hurt. I was told that the noise of it might help teach her the meaning of No. I will be looking into some training!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Hi Joey,
You have great suggestions here from others.
Whoever told you to smack her bottom or hit the rolled paper on your hand is someone who's advice I would never seek out again. That is 'old school' philosophy and I believe that will only teach her to be afraid of you or the rolled paper and not whatever she was doing naughty.
Today's training philosophy is 'positive' experiences such as I am sure you used with teaching her tricks.
Whenever my girls are looking to do something that I feel is 'naughty', I even them a loud 'eh,eh' and it turns their attention to me. I then give them a hug or a snuggle that shows then I liked that they listened.
For us - that works every time.
Good luck and have fun with her! Remember, a dog is considered a puppy until they are 2 years old.

[Kyoko]

Yes. I agree with Adrianne. When we went to the puppy K, the instructor told us that when your puppy does something undesirable, roll up a magazine and smack yourself on the head!!! Rather, when she is doing something desirable, reward her so that she will learn that is the behavior that you like!! They do not automatically know what is the good behavior and what is bad. You have to mark the behavior you like, so she will know what is expected of her. I believe positive reinforcement is the way to go!!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

So did mine! I forgot that one!

[Natasha]

Does she know the "leave it" command?

It's really easy to teach and, next to a solid "come" is the most important command we have in our bag of tricks with Rouser. It has even stopped him from grabbing nasty dead things on our walks. He knows that if we say "leave it" it means - don't even think about it mister. HOWEVER, if we don't see the nasty dead thing first...

[Lynn D.]

I put vineger in my water bottle. You could also try the pennies in a can.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I agree with a lot of suggestions, however, most of us to not walk around with rolled up newspapers, a beer can attached to our wrist full of pennies, or a water bottle attached to our belts. There are times when the command needs to be done when the behavior you do not want needs an action command now!
For example, Spud is on the table eating my dinner. I leave the room to go get last nights beer can that I sat around and filled with pennies and I shake it--oh no...it is a full can of beer. Well then, there goes my dinner and Spud learned that good things come off that table. I now am soaked in stinky Beer and I have no dinner.
All is LOST in a moment.

How about the Firm Word~ NO. Lower or change your voice to get the dogs attention and " JUST SAY NO"! No is a great word to teach a dog.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

I agree totally with positive reinforcement and the word NO. However, Mitzi fooled me; apparently I kept using the word OUT! when she was in the kitchen getting underfoot. I guess I said Out! more than I said anything else
in a consistent manner. Anyhow, one day I realized that she was on the sofa jumping at the picture window and I must have said "Cut it Out" and she immediately got off the sofa. I realized that she responded to that word more
than anything else I have said. So OUT! is her "NO" word. Maybe others have a similar situation, these dogs are
very, very smart!

[Joey & Nellie]

I have been working on Leave It a lot lately and she is finally grasping it, which helps because she LOVES everything. Mostly she likes to eat everything but sometimes just to grab things and run. NO is still questionable because she does not take me seriously when I say it. And I did try the vinegar. I actually put it around the egdes of a table she was chewing on, and she liked it and licked it off. I was really not surprised since she literally does love everything. That's why finding a suitable harmless way to teach her is hard. But I am making notes of all the suggestions! And hopefully looking into obedience classes. Thanks everyone!