Help is on the Way!

[Phoebe's Mom]

I finally broke down yesterday and called a private trainer to come and help us with Phoebe's newfound tween behavior. My poor oldest son is taking the brunt of her biting and jumping with the awesome growling thrown in for good measure. When I consulted the trainer, she told me that dogs growl a lot in play sometimes and that it is not to be confused with the teeth baring, snarling growl of aggression--which Phoebe is NOT doing, thank heavens. While that made me feel a lot better, we still need help learing how to handle her jumping and biting...one minute we are calmly petting her then BAM, the next minute she starts the jump and bite routine. We are all very frustrated as we seem to have tried everything--she wears a leash in the house, we turn our backs, we walk away, we put her in the ex-pen when it will not stop, etc--but nothing seems to be working. Hopefully, we will have a better handle on what we are doing wrong with our corrections by the end of the day. Of course, she will probably act like the cream puff she is around other people and we will look like the crazy ones!!!!

[Sam]

Isn't it funny that we all seem to know what we are doing but can't correct ourselves..... My husband is forever quoting Cesar to me and I know that I am too affectionate to Ollie and not being enough of a pack leader but I still struggle.......... I can't help it if I love him to death.....................aaarrgghhh...........

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Me too. Sept 13th we classes with a trainer. I can hardly wait.

[Phoebe's Mom]

Believe me, I get frustrated as well at times and think about those who have the calm dogs but, when I look at my phoebe I melt. i know it is I who has the problem with her training and that if she is doing something wrong, i must not be correcting her properly or being consistent enough with her. I found that having our trainer come to the house was so beneficial as we were able to ask all the questions we were able to watch a professional correct Phoebe as the poor behavior was happening. Sometimes the hardest thing for me to do with phoebe is for ME to be calm and not overreact--afterall she is really just a puppy and with time and consistency, the behaviors we dislike so much with soon fade.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I also have the problem of not staying "above the situation" like Cesar says. I cant help it, but an example is If I take Abby to the park and she starts barking at a person for no reason, and carrying on despite my effort to get her to hush, I find it rude (I know I shouldnt humanify) but I find she is being rude to the person and it embarrasses me. So I am uptight trying to shut her up closing her snout, saying "Shhhhhh STOP" even grabbing the scruff of her neck. If Cesar were watching he would probably tell me I am being irrational and taking the behavior personally treating the dog like she was a person. At times I feel like taking the dog to the farm because her ignoring my wish for her to shutup, or not jump and claw at people, or not pull my arm off, irritates the heck out of me. She ignores the training...it is frustrating with such a stubborn puppy. Some people have such complacent calm dogs...ugggh!

[Phoebe's Mom]

The trainer told me that doodles lead with their mouths and that it lasts long into adulthood, sometimes never going away. She said that poodles are very mouthy and very smart which makes them a tad difficult with this issue. She was very effective in stopping the biting by turning her back and continuing to turn as phoebe kept right on jumping. Most importantly--this is where I mess up the MOST--the trainer was SO calm!!! Phoebe eventually quieted and the trainer praised her immediately. I would say that would be the hardest with the children--calming them down first in order to deal with the dog. i know i share that problem with all four of mine. I think it will really take time and maturity on the pup's part and consistency on our part. Good luck! I know we need it in our house!

[Melissa & Porter]

Oh oh oh. Please share some of the tips your trainer gave you. Porter has been increasingly treating my three kids like dogs. When they get excited, he jumps in an nips them or jumps on them. We tried the tuck your hands into your armpits and turn away thing, but then he nips their butts. Until today, the kids kinda thought it was funny--which did nothing to really fix the problem. But today, he had the older two, six and seven, in tears...not exactly from pain but from frustration and fear. It gives me a sick feeling like I have to really change something.
Our basic training teacher said NOT to grab the dog's muzzle when he nips (I hadn't been doing this, but have seen it done). I guess it can rile them up more. How do I teach Porter the word for "bite" so I can say, "NO bite!"???

[Phoebe's Mom]

I would LOVE to see how others train their doodles as I feel that would help me so much. I know I am too lenient and, at times, a little afraid of her. The trainer told me that I we were doing a very good jo b and that my concerns were unfounded--as she saw it today. Luckily, she was able to elicit the behavior I wanted her to see from phoebe. She told me that the barking and the mouthiness were very typical traits of the breed--especially with so much poodle in her--she told me that will last through adulthood., I--we--need to help Phoebe readjust her jumpiness and mouthiness in a more appropriate manner. The trainer gave us some tips and walked us through somethings to make us feel more comfortable with the training. I feel a lot better and much more in control than I did. As I have said before, I am the work in progress, too!!!

[Tammy & Gracie]

If Phoebe is like Gracie she will be an angel around the trainer. We took several obedience classes in the puppy days. I would always tell the trainer about her jumping, mouthing and over enthusiatic behaviors. Does she act like that in class? NEVER! LOL

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

In a way it would be cool if we all could set up camera's in our homes and watch how we train, and see what our dogs do when we are not home, and where we go wrong with training.

[Phoebe's Mom]

I am looking into getting another dog come 2010 but I need Phoebe to be respectful and cooperative even if that does not happen. I cannot wait to hear what the trainer says we are doing wrong. Phoebe is such a love most of the day. I have to believe we are encouraging--unwittingly--this behavior somehow.