Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Questions, pros and cons of doodle ownership
Greetings Doodlekisses members,
This is my first post here and I hope you seasoned doodle lovers have some thoughts on our doggie. I love our 16 month old female doodle. However, at times she can be quite a handful and as a result causes rifts between my husband and myself. She is very willful and often does not obey commands which we have been using since she was 9 weeks old. This is the first problem- she does not consistently obey us. I chalk it up to youth but my husband insists that she doesnt respect us and therefore only obeys as she sees fit. She is also very independent. My husband envisioned a dog that would lay at his feet while he worked, one that would snuggle and a dog that would show "affection" . We get a tail wag about once a day and she can do with or with out hanging out with us. I should mention that we are home 24/7 as we work out of the home. Perhaps she is just used to us because in the park she gets overly excited to interact with other humans---she loves people and dogs. We take her to the park up to 3 times per day to exercise and socialize with other dogs. We consider ourselves loving and responsible dog owners and hope that some of these behaviors are indicative of puppyhood and not what we can come to expect for the next decade or more.
Another notable behavior that we cannot seem to break is the stealing of socks, undies and other small cloth items. We do our best to keep these items out of her reach but occasionally she will manage to retrieve something. This week she vomitted a sock belonging to our 7 year old. In the last few months she has vomited several items of barbie clothing at once, and 3 hair scrunchies at once. Obviously this is very alarming to us and would not want it to be fatal. Can we expect a lifetime of this goat-like behavior??
To her credit she is quite intelligent and I think her willfulness is attributed to being a puppy. She is so much fun in the park--retrieving and playing with other dogs- and people just adore her and she them. It is those times that I have hope that we have a normal dog. Any thoughts or suggestions??
This is my first post here and I hope you seasoned doodle lovers have some thoughts on our doggie. I love our 16 month old female doodle. However, at times she can be quite a handful and as a result causes rifts between my husband and myself. She is very willful and often does not obey commands which we have been using since she was 9 weeks old. This is the first problem- she does not consistently obey us. I chalk it up to youth but my husband insists that she doesnt respect us and therefore only obeys as she sees fit. She is also very independent. My husband envisioned a dog that would lay at his feet while he worked, one that would snuggle and a dog that would show "affection" . We get a tail wag about once a day and she can do with or with out hanging out with us. I should mention that we are home 24/7 as we work out of the home. Perhaps she is just used to us because in the park she gets overly excited to interact with other humans---she loves people and dogs. We take her to the park up to 3 times per day to exercise and socialize with other dogs. We consider ourselves loving and responsible dog owners and hope that some of these behaviors are indicative of puppyhood and not what we can come to expect for the next decade or more.
Another notable behavior that we cannot seem to break is the stealing of socks, undies and other small cloth items. We do our best to keep these items out of her reach but occasionally she will manage to retrieve something. This week she vomitted a sock belonging to our 7 year old. In the last few months she has vomited several items of barbie clothing at once, and 3 hair scrunchies at once. Obviously this is very alarming to us and would not want it to be fatal. Can we expect a lifetime of this goat-like behavior??
To her credit she is quite intelligent and I think her willfulness is attributed to being a puppy. She is so much fun in the park--retrieving and playing with other dogs- and people just adore her and she them. It is those times that I have hope that we have a normal dog. Any thoughts or suggestions??
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Willow on
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Thanks Nancy,
Come to think of it the very first toy we gave her the day we brought her home was a tube sock tied in a knot!! Interesting. You are right about her personality and I am fine with that. I have owned other breeds in my life and they have all been unique. My hubby is the one who is having to really work through the fact that she has her own personality and that she is not going to be like his beloved childhood companion. Very sorry about your collectibles...we have to watch the barbies around here
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Permalink Reply by Corinna and Krimmi on
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I totally get where you AND your husband are coming from. Our Krimmi, for the longest time would prefer not to be petted and it is pretty hard not to take that personally. He was definitely independent in that way, but he has started to change at the tender age of 2. He too comes to work with my husband and I every day so he is with us ALWAYS. lol He now comes for cuddles (still on his terms) but these sessions are becoming more and more frequent. He is sitting beside me right now with his face on my lap. I would have thought this impossible 6 month ago. I am not saying your dog will ever be a snuggler but they all have different personalities. The turning point for me was when I let go of trying to compare him to our 2 previous dogs who although both different in personalities were "my babies" and Krimmi is NOT them, not even close. Nothing about him resembles either one of them. When I finally accepted him for him and all his goofy quirks things became so much easier and BETTER. As to stealing socks, Krimmi's passion are our daughter's little stuffed toys which we have to closely guard and keep her door closed when she is not there. Krimmi is also consistently inconsistent with obeying commands. We keep working on this and it is getting better but we still have a long way to go. At least your dog loves socializing with other dogs which Krimmi is not to keen on. He has a few dogs he tolerates but that's about it. The dog park is out of the question for him. We do have 2 cats at home who he gets along with just fine. :) Hang in there, I honestly believe doodles take longer to mature.
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Oh yes...she prefers not to be petted on top of the head but if you go under the chin she will allow. Thank you for your input it has helped tremendously to know that these are just the usual growing pains =)
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