At my wit's end!

[Amy Galvin]

In reading this forum, I so wish my doodle experience was as wonderful as most of yours, but it isn't.  After reading the interview with Karen, I'm wondering if a doodle just isn't a fit for me.  We have two issues:  biting and housetraining. 

 

Clara doesn't just puppy nip.  She snarls and bites at me when she gets angry and she definitely wants to be the diva of the house.  We attended a private training session in which she was a perfect angel the whole time.  HA!  I have continued to work with her, but everyday she breaks through my skin at least once!  I'm keeping Band-Aid in business.  My arms look like I've been in a fight.  My son is terrified of her.  He does all the right things - he doesn't use his hands or run etc, but she always tries to nibble on his ears or ankles.  I know puppies chew and nibble, but our last dog (a basset hound) was never like this.  There have been a couple occasions where she actually scared me and I kept thinking what am I going to do when she's 50lbs??  Is she going to knock me down and kill me! 

 

Have any of you had any trouble housetraining your Labradoodle?  Clara is 15 wks old.  We have no problems in the morning.  I come home at lunch to let her out of her crate and it's always dry.  In the evening, it's accident after accident.   For example, tonight I took her out at 7, within the next hour, she peed 3 more times by 8:15.  I'm so tired of cleaning!  She hasn't learned how to tell us she needs to go.  But I'm wondering if some of her accidents is her being mad.  When she gets nippy, we put her in timeout in the kitchen.  The accidents thankfully always happen in the kitchen. 

Thanks for listening, if someone can give me advice, I'd welcome it!   Did I get a doodle who inherited the bad traits of both breeds?? 

 

[Amy Galvin]

We do not have puppy kindergarten in my area. I will get her into obedience classes as soon as one's available. Long story short, Clara was removed from her mother too soon and did not learn bite inhibition. The purpose of daycare was to give more socialization with dogs while she's still so young.

Thanks for tips. They are helpful

[Darcy & Millie]

I can understand!  While Millie is not "bad", she does give me the aggressive growl sometimes.  Mostly it's when she doesn't want to be picked up.  I have now officially told my boys not to pick her up anymore.  They were picking her up to get her in the house, or to move her.  They weren't just carrying her around for whatever reason.  The last time my son did it, he stopped, and then went to pet her on the head, and she growled at him!  UGH... She has a bit of food aggression too,  that we need to get a handle on.  Not with her regular food, but with higher value items.  I am intending to work on that with something higher value this weekend.  I'm constantly working with her on her kibble.

There's also barely ever a time when you can pet her and she doesn't play-bite you.  That doesn't bother me really though.  I think age will change that.  I've taught her a lot of tricks, and I think the next thing I'm going to attempt to teach her is to "be nice" so she doesn't bite while petting!

Anyway, hang in there, you're not alone!

[Gail and Bailey]

When you said that Millie growled at your son when he went to "pet her on the head"....I just want to point out that most dogs do not like it when we reach over their head to pet them on the head....they prefer if we put our hand under their chin to pet.  Dogs see reaching over their head as an aggressive move.

[Darcy & Millie]

Thank you for that reminder!  Normally, she doesn't mind at all to be pet on the head.  I suppose since she was already on the defensive side, the petting on the head did not help matters!  I'll inform him of this too.  I know it makes them feel bad when she growls at them (luckily, isn't too often).  I try to remind them why she's doing it, and will continue.  :)

[Adrianne Matzkin]

When people on the street ask if they can say hi to our doodles (we have 4) I always tell them under the chin to say hi. Those without education look at me funny and I show them what a dog sees when you go to touch their heads - take your hand and go towards their face - 99% of them back away from my hand. I say - that is exactly what a dog feels when you go towards their head. They see that as an act of aggression. That is doggie language and we humans have to learn their language just as much as they have learned ours.  

[Kyoko]

HI, Laura. No offence to Pet Smart ( I love that store and I use their grooming salon ) but I would not give a 2 cents to their training program. I would look to see if there is a dog obedience class near by associated with APDT ( Association of Pet Dog Trainer) or AKC training. If you go to their website, there is a search for the local trainer. Some local humane society give really nice obedience class as well.6 months old is still very very young!! Some private trainer can charge crazy amount of money for short sessions ( like 2 ~ 3 session ) and I don't think that makes sense.....

[Linda And Loo]

Amy, you are not alone! Doodles are smart and can be rather head strong! You need to assert yourself as the alpha! When she starts nipping and or biting, you need to let her know that it is unacceptable behavior. A sharpe no, extend your hand, palm facing her and stand up, shoulers back, so you are taller they she is. If she does't calm down and stop the nipping, take a subtle step toward her and back her up. You want to make sure she doesn't think it is a game. After a couple times when you take a step toward her she will sit. This is an alpha move on your part. If she does not stop the nipping give her a time out in her crate. She probably won't pee in her crate! One reason she behaved so well with trainer was because she knew who was in charge! This will not be fixed over nite! You will need to practice asserting yourself in everything you do with her. When you feed her, make sure she sits and waits for you to put food bowl down. Do not let her start eating until you give her a signal that it ok to eat! When you walk her make sure she walks with you and not out in front! Exercise will help lots! This nipping phase will pass especially after she looses her baby teeth. I used crushed ice to help with the teething! Good luck! Practice being assertive in a positive ways! When she realizes you mean business a no or an extended hand is all it will take to stop an unacceptable behavior! Practice, practice, practice!

[a.k.a. Rodney]

Well, you are welcome to read my posts under the training group..or a similar "vent" under the general newest posts...all under Rodney...that's me.
We seem to share the some of the same challenges with our pups.... Mine is enormously headstrong and very alpha oriented. That being said..she is going to Boot Camp in 4 wks. She has not lost any teeth yet, She gets average outside walks nothing really long or more than 20 min at a stretch. I do realize this is a contributing factor. I did engage a dog walker, but decided to wait & stick to our short schedule till after camp is finished. I have recently realized she is ready for bed long before I would have ever predicted...so, she does get ornery a little before bedtime.
She walks great & Loves her crate, but doesn't really use it till bed time..so, I don't think she actually relaxes outside of it.
She is probably more over tired than I realize.
I think she is a handful, b/c I never anticipated all this Alpha stuff...last dog was a submissive sweetie...must really stress that reading that she's not only one exhibiting these rude & distasteful behaviors..makes me feel less deeply concerned
I am sorry you are experiencing difficulties with your pup, but it is comforting to know we are not the only ones!!
I a.m. Sure we will all figure out solutions that best fit our dogs and achieve a satisfactory resolution eventually!
My son, who is an educator, always says " the hardest thing about it takes time..is that it Takes Time!"
I believe that is where we are at!!
Hopefully we will have great wonderful doodles.....soon :)

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Rodney,

what is boot camp?

[Adina P]

She sounds like a handful, but not particularly abnormal or 'bad'.  My Rosco is a 85-95lb adult labradoodle.  He was quite the nipper as a pup--AWFUL.  I belonged to another doodle forum back then and I was constantly posting about how awful he was and venting and seeking more ideas...so much that one person thought I was just trying to get attention.  I absolutely was not, it was just that 1) I was a NEW dog owner, 2) Rosco was huge and liked to bite me and only me, 3) Techniques don't always work well via internet translation, nor do they work right away.  So I would try something different each time...usually something that just riled him up more.  Or I was scared of him.  I remember trying to take him on a walk and a couple blocks down the road he would start attacking my legs--furiously.  I thought for sure someone driving past would panic and try to save me, but nobody ever did.  It was truly frightening and it hurt.  He wasn't a very hyper puppy except when he would get in these moods--then he had all the energy in the world!  I remember out of desperation finally trying to alpha roll him (bad idea) and I am pretty sure it was close to ten minutes I held him pinned down on his back on the floor and even after all the time he never ever 'gave up' or submitted to me.  I practiced obedience with him a lot and occasionally there were 'aha' moments when in the middle of an attempt to bite me I'd tell him to 'sit' and he would.  But quite often it didn't matter.  And he was huge.  I remember him biting my belly and me thinking he might eat me alive in a few months.  If he jumped he could reach my neck.  There were times I had to cut training short because of him trying to nip at me.

Fast forward to him being about a year and I suddenly realized he hadn't bitten me anymore!  He became a therapy dog at about 19 months even and he is a sweetie.  However, it took his maturation and concerted obedience training to get there.  It may have also helped that we had another active dog for him to jump and play bite--although that was the case from 7 months on...so I'm sure that wasn't the major factor.

Rosco also took forever to quit peeing in the house.  I really think he was technically housebroken within a few months, BUT he tended to drink a ton in the evening and get most frisky then so he just had to pee more/lots in the evening.  That's probably part of the issue for your pup...that and she is YOUNG still.  I would start taking her out more often in the evening during her high pee time :-)  Rosco literally wouldn't let us finish a single tv show in the evening because he'd be ringing the bell to go out and pee...for years due to his drinking a huge amount of water after his supper. 

Anyway, hang in there.  It does get better if you put in some work (obedience).  Don't be afraid to crate your pup during her crazy episodes to give her a cool down period. 

I'm curious, what about Karen's interview made you feel a doodle wasn't right for you?

[KLN]

The part about not being able to finish a tv show made me laugh! It literally takes me an hour and a half to watch a 22 minute show now that I have Finley!

[Sarah Bennett]

Salvador is almost 20 weeks old and there are times that I think, "Wow, what did I get myself into!"  But then I have to tell myself, he's a puppy and adding him to my life is different than anything I've experienced before-I'm single, no children, have been in school for the past 10 years and have never owned a dog as an adult.  Salvador is very teethy and I feel that at times he is out of control too... But I keep telling myself, "if" I can make it to a year, it'll be better...  (Not really "if", but just keep telling myself that after the year mark, it'll get better-it has too-that's what everyone is telling me!!!).  So, as an unexperienced dog owner, hang in there... it'll get better :)