9 month golden doodle - destruction and crating

[Melanie & Rusty]

We brought Rusty home at 8 weeks and he is 9 months now.  He is a standard and weighs about 55 pounds right now.  He is crated at night and off and on throughout the day, particularly when my 6 year old twin boys are home.

He is the sweetest pup and is very loving and eager to please, but he is destructive and strong.  When my boys are home and Rusty is out of his crate, he will jump on them, knocking them down and terrifying one of the kids.  The other twin will play fetch with him, but I frequently have to step in when Rusty gets too wound up.  While out for a walk the other day, he saw someone walking and he broke out of his sit (even though I had my hands on his collar, petting him), jumped up and gave me a bloody nose.

When the boys aren't home, I try to have Rusty out of the crate as much as possible.  The problem is that I have to watch him every single second or else he is getting into shenanigans.  He roams around the room and counter surfs, snatching anything and everything.  I swap out the inappropriate item with a bone or one of his many toys, but he is only interested in whatever he can't have.  Earlier this week I went into the bathroom for 5 minutes and when I came out he had chewed up a rug and eaten the rubber off of a hand weight.  He ended up at the vet later because I feared a blockage.

I'm torn with guilt because I'm supposed to work from home (I'm a photographer) but I can't focus on anything when he is out of his crate because he is into everything.  That means, to do any work, I have to put him in his crate which makes me feel terrible.  

Will he outgrow this behavior?  And if so, when?  How much time in the crate is too much?  What else can I do?  We've tried puppy classes and having a trainer coming to the house (to teach me how to train).  We are trying doggie bootcamp in a couple of weeks. I'm starting to feel like maybe we aren't the right home for him (which is breaking my heart).

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

The one thing that quickly came to my mind, esp with all the crating is that he needs more exercise. Is it possible to have a dog walker come to your home a couple times a day while you're working and take him for long walks or to play at a dog park?

[Janet & Jaxson]

Doggie daycare a couple days a week also does wonders. A lot of what you're describing is normal puppy behavior! You do have to be right on him to train him to be the dog you want him to be.

[Mary]

I am so sorry about this situation.  I seriously thought about re-homing my doodle many times for similar reasons, but we eventually had a break through and he is an awesome, chill dog.

I will also say that despite the younger days of doing A LOT of what you describe, after the first year, mine is just happy being with us.  He lays at my feet and follows us everywhere, having to be in the mix of things.

You asked if he will outgrow it.  I think that depends.  It depends on if you guys "connect" and come to an understanding of what is expected of Rusty.  Generally, they are very intelligent dogs and with consistent reinforcement, can learn a lot more than what we might even think they can.

Personally, one of the largest obstacles I had was eye contact.  His fur covered his eyes and we just were not connecting.  Once I trimmed his eyes so we could better "read" each other, things improved.

The second largest obstacle I had was getting the cooperation of the family to reinforce the training/behaviors we wanted.

Our doodle seemed to want everything that was not his, too.  He did outgrow that.  I had the children tell pup that “This is MINE” and hug it.  I did this to our chicks (live chicks) and our doodle understood not to touch it.  We gave him his own toy bin that he could reach and he started to just play with his things.

Basically, our strategy was to set him up to win as much as we could.  He liked being with us, but couldn't be trusted.  What about keeping him in the kitchen with you, but in his crate?  We did that for a long time.  We'd let him out and work with him.  If he got all crazy, then he went back into his room.  We didn't yell at him - we just told him in a serious tone that he can't act that way if he wants to be with the family.  Then we'd wait a bit and bring him back out and try again.  This did not go on for very long at all before he understood.  Going to his room wasn't really a punishment because he actually loves it in there and voluntarily goes on to chill - it was more of a "calm down" space for him as a puppy, but he was still happy because he was still near us and was not totally isolated.  So, I said all that to ask: where is your crate?  Maybe it is possible to have one in your most trafficked area(s)?

Here is what we did with the basic manners parts:

Jumping up:  ours did this on our 3 and 5 year old and we stopped in within a couple of weeks, though I think it would have been sooner had the children been more consistent.  I repeat: the big thing was getting my children to reinforce my training, otherwise, these smart puppies will try to treat them like litter mates and we do not want that.  So, the answer was continuos supervision until everyone learned, and if I could not be there to supervise the "training" then the dog was crated, but still in the mix (i.e. crated where he could still see and hear us).  Because you have a pup who wants to please you, it's really a matter of not rewarding the behavior nor freaking out when it happens.  In our case, we just refused to pet or pay attention or otherwise reward his jumping.  I would calmly let him know I disapproved - something like "no thank you" or tell him to sit.  If he wants attention, he has to sit.  "OFF" is a general command we taught him to put all four of his paws on the floor, then we would never pet or put his leash on him until he sat patiently.  Then we'd reward him with praise.  If that does not work with your guy, I've heard of people just turning their back to the dog (because ultimately, he wants your attention) and if that doesn't work, then it comes to associating the jumping with something displeasing - like a loud noise they don’t like.

If I did not have time for all that, then in the crate he goes for a bit to chill out.

Also, if he starts jumping on the children while playing, it was "game over" and we would tell him to "go to your room" - his room is his crate.  He'd be disappointed, and then we would try again later, but immediately, game was over when he jumped.  We had to get him to connect the jumping with the game being over.  This stopped entirely within a couple of sessions after I allowed him to run around like a wild dog in the yard for a few seconds before the playing "training session" when he was a pup.  Ours just got so excited that he needed a moment to release some energy before playing calmly.  Today, he is 5 and he still sometimes needs a few laps around the yard before he comes over to calmly greet us because he is so happy.  He has a look he gives me and we both just KNOW :)

Ours will still try us on the counter surfing things.  Here was our remedy to that:  If you are going to be a jerk during dinner time, then you will spend dinner time and/or clean up time in your room.  I would just tell him and he seemed to understand that.

I hope this did not come off in the wrong way - I really desire to help you and encourage you.  I look back on those days and am so thankful every attempt to re-home him failed.  (I literally was trying to line up a new home for him!)  I look at my dog now and know in my heart that we belong together and has brought our family so much delight.  It really was just a communication issue between us.  Once I made a few changes, everything got better very quickly.

P.S.  I too, worked from home, so I know what you mean :)

[Lois Maturo]

I too have a standard who is now 3 years old and 62 lbs.  The first year I often wondered what I had gotten myself into. The key for us was exercise. We walked 2.5 miles everyday or he went to doggy daycare.  We also played in the yard everyday. Training and being consistent is also very important. He honestly is the most loving dog. My two older grandchildren (11 and 5) NOW love him. I also now have two grandchildren under two he is wonderful with them. He calmed down somewhat after a year but two seemed to be the magic number. I think if you have the time walking him yourself would be good.  It is a good bonding time and you also could do some training at the same time.  Mine would lunge at cars. He now sits every time a car goes by without being told.

I now have a one year old medium doodle.  Trust me the first few months with him brought back memories. It was not so bad with this one.  I think that is because he is smaller and he has a big brother to tire him out.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Doodles and other high-energy dogs need lots of attention, and training. If you have time to train him and your kids in how to interact, he is perfectly trainable.  Mary's advice was very helpful.  You might need to consult a professional.  However it takes tons of time to train a dog, and it sounds like you simply don't have it.   We had a foster in a similar situation who was crated too much and couldn't get her energy out.  The rescue found a wonderful new home for her. It really sounds like this is not a good time in your life to have an active dog who needs attention focused on his training for a while. You might want to consider re-homing him through a legitimate rescue organization like Doodle Rescue Collective, and get another dog in a few years when you have more time.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I agree with what others have said- more exercise, and doggy daycare a couple of times a week. My Winnie wasn't destructive with chewing things, but she was very hyper and always doing something to get attention when she was a puppy.  She was very annoying! She started to setting down more after she turned a year old. And, now at 2.5 years, she is content to lay around  if I'm home during the day. 

Same with Bob, who just turned 3 last week. He is mellow and content. He is a doodle that was rehomed to us 6 months ago. The family we got him from just didn't have the time and energy for him. They were a young family with a 2 year old and a baby on the way. He is MUCH happier being in a household that is quieter and has another dog that he can play with. We absolutely love him- he has been such a blessing to us!

So, I've got mixed feeling for you- on the one hand I'm thinking that with more exercise and time Rusty will settle down and be easier. But, on the other hand, he might be happier in a different environment- like my Bob is. It's something to consider...

[Melanie & Rusty]

Thank you so much for the support and feedback. He gets 3-4 30 minute walks each day and I do take him to the dog park. He goes to doggie daycare 1 or 2 times a week. My heart breaks at the thought of rehoming. I love my Rusty Doodle. I just want him to be able to contain some of his overjoyed energy around the kids and not eat things that can hurt him. The 2 week bootcamp will be followed with a 9 week novice session, so I'm going to try those.

At what point did your pups stop hoovering down anything he can reach?

[Mary]

Ours ate gravel out of the driveway until he was a little after one year old.  We did have to watch him about that and stay on him.  Inside, we put everything away and just watched him a lot.  If I saw him in his crate with his butt facing out, I knew he had something he should not have.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I really hope this works for you.  I can tell that you love Rusty very much. I'll bet the boot camp will work as long as you can do the follow-up.  Good luck.