Tips anyone?

[Kayla Jean Ashley]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum and must properly thank all of you for welcoming me here so generously. It's greatly appreciated.

I recently got my goldendoodle, Bella, and she's adjusted quite nicely aside from some issues that I'm hoping we can fix. She's very mouthy, hates to be alone in her crate in the living room at night, and thinks her leash is a toy and gets really excited, insisting tugging matches with herself when its put on. So far we've tried to be consistent and the crate, is gradually easing, so its not that much of an issue any more.

Bella is really mouthy, and when I mean mouthy I mean EVERYTHING is in her mouth and she's chewing it. Hands, pants, shoes, anything on the floor or ground outside (and some plants that are most certainly not on the ground), it's gotten to the point where nothing can be within her reach and she must be watched and corrected constantly. Now I'm new to this whole puppy thing and I might be being totally over protective, and I'm ready to hear that, but I have evidence on my side that when not watched she's eating very stupid and silly things (she's already had an upset stomach to the point of vomiting and we're thinking its from eating too many leaves/sticks from our yard).

We're doing our best to keep up with her and followed puppy proofing guides even before she came home. But she's found a way to outsmart or just plain do things we never expected at every turn. All in all her mouthiness is getting old quickly. She bites people and clothing constantly; when they're petting, playing, playing with a toy, just sitting near her. I don't see where scolding her every five seconds is going to get anywhere, she'll just get confused and not bother to listen any more.
She has plenty of chewing outlets and knows that they are her's (some by name). She has bones, which she loves, a kong, a stretchy squeaky, two (one small, one big) soft plush bones with squeakers, and a little green ball with feet that squeaks quite loudly.

She also gets really excited, jumping biting, chewing, tackling, climbing, whenever she sees someone on the floor (laying down, not sitting up, anything that seems to get anywhere near "her" level). It's actually already quite painful and attempting the usual biting messages, no and closing her mouth, doesn't work she seems to not understand and actually believes that we are roughhousing with her so it becomes ridiculous. Eventually, we just stand up and go somewhere else after disentangling ourselves from the attack. The thing that gets me is that she loves car rides, they instantly calm her down and she goes into a zen and cuddly mode. She'll just sit in my lap or at my feet and be perfectly content no mouthiness at all. I've already tried the whole "we'll maybe we're rallying her up bit and that's not it. You could just be petting her and all of a sudden you feel puppy teeth.)

I'm not quite sure what to do. Sometimes she only mouths something once or twice, I'm guessing, to figure out what it is, and then leaves it be. We have bitter apple spray and I've sprayed her "hot spots" already and that seems to work in terms of furniture. I'm guessing this is my big issue other than this and the norms of puppy house training (she's doing great btw) Bella is great. It is a central issue and one I'd love to fix ASAP. She gets along with all of our animals and wants to play with all of them (although most are too old to even consider that :D) so far no biting them but I'm just not sure how long that will last. When she does that she's not going to get just a no and a walk away form our boxing champ cat Binny. :/. Any suggestions, tips, and stories are appreciated. Please tell me I'm not the only one with a chewbacca/ crazy pee poop machine!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Any retreiver type dog - spaniel, retriever, poodle ( who is a water retriever) will tend to be very mouthy. That is what they were bred to do - pick up things with their mouth. That said, some are much more mouthy than others. Looks like Bella is one of the some. In addition to all the other advice, tie her to you when she is not crated. Bella is way to young to be left unsupervissed. Use a very lightweight piece of roping, about 10- 15 feet long with a snap on the end. About $6 at the hardware store will make three. This does two things, it limits what she can get into and it keeps her from turning chewing into the extremely fun game of keep away, where she keeps the forbidden item out of your reach by running just out of your reach. She is very young - remember that she does not speak any language. Don't use leave it, drop, no, or whatever without being right there to "explain" the word by removing the forbidden object and replacing it with a chew toy. This means that you will either take chew toys around with you or have them all over your house for awhile.

As for mouthing people, never ever play with her without an appropriate thing ( not you or your clothes) in her mouth. if she drops it make it desirable by scooting it along the floor - not waving it in the air as this just encourages jumping.

my Roo was the mouthy one of my two doodles and at two he still greats me with a big rubber bone in his mouth. Tiger at 16 months was much less mouthy but will choose a soft toy when excited and wanting to hang on me over a rubber bone. Figure out what Bella likes and make a big fuss over her when she is holding it.
Take heart, have patience, and enjoy these pupppy days they pass soon enough.

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

This is just a phase... this to shall pass :)

[Kayla Jean Ashley]

Thanks everyone for your advice its really appreciated. I think we've narrowed it down to two things that cause the really bad "I'm a shark, roar..." phase that we've nicknamed chewbacca phases.The first is that she gets really energetic (rough house type of play) before she needs to sleep. Basically we scoot her into the backyard with one of her chew toys, a rawhide and a squeaky bone, and let her run around the yard like a mad dog. After she'd had about a half hour of that we call her to go in and usually she just plops herself in her crate and goes right to sleep. That's quite helpful.

I think the second, non-chewbacca phase type chewing, is just a normal level of puppiness that we can easily combat with a barrage of bones and chew toys. She actually gives up items quite easily, which is a relief, so no keep away games yet :]. She's always got a set of eyes on her and is never alone. Rest assured that Bella is being supervised constantly, just like a toddler. The areas she spends most of her time are completely puppy proof and hopefully I'll convert the rest of the house while everyone is back at school. Thanks for all of your kind and generous replies, I really appreciate it. These tips ahve been invaluable in terms of solving our chewing problems.