At My Doodle Whits End..... Need Help

[Roni Wise]

Max is 6 months old and I'm at my Doodle whits end. We picked the calmest puppy in the litter and I took a breeder with me to be sure that I picked a puppy with the calmest temperment possible - I know it is in there somewhere I saw him with my own eyes.... but what I have now is Terror Puppy!!  I've had dogs before and even aggressive dogs but having a Doodle is way different - it's like nothing sinks in their head!!

He steals EVERYTHING, jumps on counters, kitchen table, people - despite knowing basic obedience commands, sit, stay, down, leave it, drop it (we've already been through puppy class).  If we are playing he can do any of these commands.  As a little pup he loved to snuggle and now he hates it and it is all my daughter wants to do with him.  He beats the snot out of my 6 year old daughter - jumps on her and when he jumps he is as tall as her, bites her hands, legs, long hair etc. So I have just started to keep him on a leash in the house to be able to correct him which has created new behaviors - he HATES the leash now and grabs and pulls and fights the leash and get very nasty with the leash and will bite my hands if I grab the leash from him when he is pulling on the leash.  He also seems to be VERY attached to me and my daughter and flips out when we leave the room - cries paces around the room and then when we come back into the room he jumps on us (more her than me he rarely jumps on me because I turn my back on him).  He seems to always be so VERY excited.

 

Are they always this excited?  I owned an agressive dominat lab before my Doodle and I trained him to be a great loving pet so I am certain I can do the same with this Doodle if I could just find what works - I just can't seem to find what works - nothings seems to sink into his head especially when he is excited he just goes wild and listens to nothing.

 

Can anyone help this new Doodle owner with some tricks that might work to get him focused?

[Roni Wise]

Well after reading all your VERY helpful posts it was a new day for Max and he didn't like it one bit!!  First we went outside and played fetch for 20 minutes in a blizzard and he had to sit before I threw the ball - he was not at all happy with putting his backside down in the snow (and I wasn't happy with being outside in the freezing cold snowstorm) but we went out to play and work!  Next at dinner time he had to sit to get his food and his water and after 10 minutes I picked the food bowl up.  Then the real battle started.  He wanted back outside and my husband went to take him out.  I told him he HAD to sit before he went out that he couldn't just bolt out into the sun room and my husband grab him and snap a leash on him and then go.  He had to sit in the kitchen in a spot my husband picked and that's where he would put the leash on - what a tantrum Max threw, barking, running around the room, nipping, growling at one point - my husband finally put him on his side to calm him down and then he got right up and sat down in the spot.  Next it was on to getting brushed and some basic brush up on his obedience skills and then a rest in his crate. Next we worked on playing with my 6 year old. On a leash in the living room. As soon as he would bite her she would leave the room. Finally when he still was bitting and jumping on her I told him "time out" and took him to his crate.  It was a tough day to really not give him attention unless all four were on the floor, be sure to give him positive attention when he was doing things right, stay calm but I did and I'm going to keep at it tomorrow and the next day and the day after until this little Doodle learns his place in this family.  I also found a place that has the second level of obedience classes and it was where I took my aggressive lab many years ago so I was happy with that and will start Max there as soon as he is neutered at the end of this month.

This site is great - the support and advice here is FANTASTIC!!

[BG and Gavin]

You go girl!  Way to attack this issue with gusto!  With that conviction you will have little Max whipped into to shape in no time!  Great work getting the whole family to participate too.

[Kyoko]

Yay!! Way to go!!!

[Bonnie and Kona]

I am really impressed with your techniques and fortitude. Way to go!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Great job!!!

[Adina P]

Good work!  It will pay off!

[Jenny and Chester]

Stay strong girlfriend!  The results are tremendous!  Been there, done that.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Instead of the leash in the house, we used one of the electric corrective collars.  I know a lot of people are against this but it worked wonders for us.  It got to the point that him just having it on made him think twice before he did something bad.  And it doesn't hurt (trust me, I put it on my skin and it felt like one of those electrode things you get at a chiropractor).  He more reacted to the sound b/c it beeps also.  We hit it as soon as he went for a sock, the rug, nipped--- you get the point-- this made him think the object was beeping b/c the remote control is wireless.  I just wore it around my neck and never once saw me beep it.  

Also, I ditto the exercise response.  Walks do NOTHING for Brinkley-- even long walks.  He turned one in November and I still notice a huge difference if he hasn't had the opportunity to RUN RUN RUN off leash and/or play with another dog.  

 

Hope this helps.  If you want to know the brand that we used for the collar, let me know.  We don't use it any more b/c we don't need to.  IT DOES GET BETTER! Hang in there.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Oh and my trainer and vet said don't give an reinforcing behavior after he's done something bad for at least five minutes (treats, hugs, etc) b/c they still think they are getting rewarded for the bad thing they did.

[Kyoko]

He is beautiful!! I love his coloring.... I agree with Jane and Adina. I also think that further obedience will help curb the behavior. When Charlie was around that age, I used ex-pen / baby gate even when we were home to limit her freedom, and kept her semi supervised. Kitchen is also off limit, and we have baby gate there as well. Puppy proofing the house can help prevent some of these behavior from happening, too. ( If there is a gate there, then he cannot get to the kitchen to jump on the counter.)  I think you can teach him to be a great boy....How about a positive reinforcement? How about giving him a treat when he is playing nice and not jumping or nipping at your daughter? He sounds like a smart guy, too.

[BG and Gavin]

I just posted a couple of articles on positive reinforcement in the Training Challenges Group.  They really made sense to me.

[Shelly Gouvas]

Thank you for this post,alot of good info for Jake and I.Jake is one of those excited labradoodles too.But with work we will too get a well behaved JAKE.