How Does Your Doodle Get Your Attention?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Guinness and I finally had a quiet day alone today. For the past several days, his life has been very full...lots of excitement and company. He was a bit "needy" today, probably because he was feeling a little bored. I noticed that he has a total hierarchy of "moves" to get me to pay attention to him. First, he sits by me and stares directly at me. If that doesn't work, he puts his head on my lap. If that doesn't work, he jumps up on the side of the chair. If that doesn't work, he starts licking (any body part that may be exposed). If that doesn't work, he starts "pointing" to what he wants. This entails running toward a toy and then back to me continuously or to his water bowl and back to me. If all else fails, he finds something he is never allowed to have (such as trash from the wastebasket) and parading it in front of me. That ALWAYS gets a reaction. I was thinking about my kids before they were able to talk, and they also had a similar hierarchy to make me understand what they wanted. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that our dogs have developed a very effective non-verbal way of communicating what they need and/or want. It's actually pretty amazing.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Since Ned talks to me I don't have to play 20 questions, F. Parker! Heehee.
Actually when Ned wants attention, he grabs something to hold in his mouth and he dances all around and on you, chortling. He also slaps his tail against a wall or piece of furniture (a trick taught to him by his oldest pack brother, Simon)

[cheryl & oliver]

Hi Jane, I had to chuckle when reading your post. Oliver will walk up to me, and sit and stare right at me. He will then give me his paw, and if I pay no attention, he will take his paw and pat my leg or arm...He does this with my husband too. He is 8 mos old, he will be 9 mos on the 3rd of Jan. and if he wants to go out, he will go to the door and just stare at me...No barking, just stares....Isn't it funny that we know exactly what those stares mean, it is like they communicate with their eyes, and we being such good mommies understand them the same way we understood or understand our kids when they were little...Cheryl

[Zoey's Inspirations]

It is amazing how smart our Doodles are and what they will do for attention. I think that is so funny and cute picturing Guinness parading in front of you with something he is not suppose to have saying - Hey look at me, being bad here, need attention!
Zoey's worse habit was pushing her ball under my desk while I'm on the computer so I would have to stop what I'm doing and get on the floor to get it out for her. Now I just point to the top shelf of the desk and she knows that is where her ball will go, so she doesn't do it as much. Also I have learned that means it's break time and we need to go outside and play ball.

[The Berry Oaks Doodle Ranch]

Hi Jane, I was laughing this morning when I read your post on Guinness....our Guinness is very much the same. This staring that he does just cracks me up, and also he will get directly in my face if I don't react.. my husband did not believe that he did this until he watched him one night after dinner. And the pointing he does also..very cute.

[Frannie & Callie]

Callie is excellent at letting me know she needs/wants attention. Her standard moves are nosing a book out of my hands, dropping a tennis ball at my feet over and over, and the "stare" (she has woken me up by staring at me). Last night, after Zoey, the Christmas visitor left, Callie let me know that she needed some "mommy" time by laying in my lap and refusing to get up. If I tried to move, she would just cover more of me up with that big furry body of hers. It may not be a "correct" behavior, but I 100% knew she was telling me that she just needed to be close to me and have my exclusive attention for a little while, so I gave her my full attention for a nice long time.

[Annie Starlight Dancer Hovis]

Annie gets our attention by stealing a sock droping it at our feet then we lean over to pick it up then she snatches it and runs and we chase her then she'll drop it and lay down and lock innocent.

[Sue & Willy Babe]

Wilson is pretty good about getting our attention too It can be digging in our pockets for kleenex, or sitting in front of us putting his head down for his ear scratch, giving us his paw, then the best is getting his ball and dropping it by our feet. Or even grabbing a pillow I just love how he looks at you with his big brown eyes and those long eye lashes. He will also nuzzle your arm for attention what a great doodle willy is

[Liane Thakur]

Barney is pretty good at letting me know that he wants to go outside to do his business...he will put his head on my lap. If I ignore this, then he'll start licking me. That's his big signal to let me know...it's the only time he does it.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Both dogs look longingly at me sometimes. Then Luca's next step is to whimper and eventually yip. Calla will pace around the door when she wants to go out. She never yips to come in, which Luca does. I sometimes worry I could forget her out there and she'd sit waiting patiently for days. Happily it's hard to not realize that a dog is missing after a while. If I'm petting Calla and I stop she'll butt me with her muzzle for more. Luca will sometimes be demanding something and I don't know what he wants so we go through 20 questions to try to figure it out. That's when I wish they could talk.