We Sit..... He Runs!!

[Abby Strange]

Hi everyone.. wondering if any of you experience this with your doodle or can offer any advice to stop the behavior!

Oscar is our sweet 8 (almost 9) month old Goldendoodle. While we still have much to accomplish in the training department, overall - when we're inside the house - he's very well behaved. He stays off furniture, doesn't chew anything that doesn't belong to him, slowed down his barking (it was terrible when he was 5-6 months old!!) sits patiently for his food and is genuinely a pleasant companion when inside.... outside... is a totally different discussion.

All of this great behavior.... stops at dinner time. He's a mad man. The minute we sit down to eat - which is about the same time every single night - he's running around the house, wanting his ball thrown, bringing us toys, barking, etc. Does anyone know WHY this happens right as we sit down to eat?

His routine when we get home from work is... let out of kennel, 90 minutes of exercise (swimming, running, walking, a combination of all the above) and while I make dinner - he relaxes. When we sit down.... it breaks loose!

Any advice/thoughts/experiences would be greatly appreciated!

[Bill Burkhart]

I have no advice. But I can certainly relate.

Our Lucy is nine months old. She does pretty much the same thing. No matter how much exercise she gets during the day, when we finish dinner, hit the couch, and turn on the television, she starts. She get in our face with squeaky toys, bones, balls, whatever. She barks. She jumps. She goes to the door. She will do anything to keep us from watching television, reading the paper, or picking up a book. It's almost as if she can't stand the fact that we intend to ignore her for an hour or two. She's like clockwork. 

It would be hilarious if it wasn't actually annoying. The only reason we don't get mad is that we love her like crazy, and maybe it's her way of keeping us from becoming total couch potatoes.

[Abby Strange]

Haha! I think you may be right... I appreciate you sharing your experience too!

[Gail and Bailey]

We put food down for Bailey at the same time we sit down to eat.  She eats and then she knows to lay down and wait until we finish dinner.  This took a while to become a habit but it did.  Then during TV time we keep her from "going wild" by giving her a special bone or bully stick during that time.  She will lay down and chew for an hour or so then fall asleep.  On the odd night when she is just full of energy,  I sit on the floor and play with her while I watch TV....LOL!   She is 2 years old now but this has been our normal routine for at least a year.  

It takes a bit of tweaking to come up with what will work.  Maybe Oscar needs to be leashed to the table and have a special treat when you sit down to eat.....that way he can't run around and bring toys.  He would soon realize that it is a special quiet time and then he can get to have you play with him after dinner for a while.  Does he get to sleep with you or at least out of his crate?    

[Abby Strange]

Thank you for replying! I am going to try and put his food down while we're eating vs. putting it down when I'm cooking. I was doing it while I was cooking so he would stay out of the kitchen! Ha - that worked quite well, so maybe I can switch it up a bit. Thank you again and enjoy Bailey - she's DARLING!

[Linda And Loo]

When the dogs were younger we gave the dogs a treat or a favorite bone and put them in their crates while we ate. Now we just tell them to go lay down while we eat. At first they gave us no peace while we ate, that is why they went to their crates. Good luck!

[Abby Strange]

Thank you!!! I'm going to try and distract him with food/treat/bone!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Kennel him while you eat.

[Abby Strange]

Thank you for replying!! I don't have the heart to put him back in his kennel :( Right or wrong... I'm gone from 8a-6p every day and he's in there during that time. I try and not put him in any other time. I'm going to try food/treat/bone. Thank you again!!

[Missy]

our pup is only 6 months old, but I find that no matter how much he gets 'play time', if I am trying to do something without him, he 'acts out'.

I am trying to train him to have 'independent play time'.

We ignore the taunts to come play while we eat, and at first I too gave him a special chew treat that he only gets during 'independent play time'. we are using the antler right now. Now he seems to just pout while we eat supper.  When he was younger, he got gated near us while we had supper, so he could be present, but not apart of supper. (we ignored all behaviors while he was gated) Now that he has free range while we eat, if he acts out (takes a shoe), he gets corrected and shown proper things to chew on. 
I really believe these doods are very smart and want constant attention. Ours tends to act according to children, always good as gold UNTIL the phone rings, or you try to accomplish the daily work chore list! lol  Being consistant with discipline seems to help and worth it in the end!! of course, I am still in the puppy stage!!

[Abby Strange]

They certainly LOVE to be the center of attention! He plays independantely very well when we are "doing" other things... cooking, cleaning, office work, etc... But when he sees us sit down and do (in his opinion) nothing... eating, watching tv, even sleeping! he gets all wound up! Ha. I guess it's growing pains... good thing he's so funny!!

 

Thank you, thank you! I will keep trying all of these great tips!

[Pat and Traveler]

Early evening is inevitably Trav's high energy time of day.  I don't think he's doing anything on purpose--it's just like his batteries are recharged at that time of day, and he's all about running and playing then.  Maybe Oscar's energizer bunny time of day just coincides with dinner time.  Which doesn't help with the problem, but might be a reason for the mad dog activity then.