Help, I have a 9 month old Cujo....

[Susan]

I have a 9 month old labradoodle who can be the sweetest puppy most of the time, but when he is tired watch out.  There's no doubt my boy "Chip" wants to be in charge at all times, but I'm trying to stop this behavior ASAP.  He completed beginner training at Pet Smart about 2 months ago and did rather well. Now, today while walking my pooch he started to "attack" me   When I say attack I mean he lunges at me, barks, bites my arms and hands very hard leaving marks all over and jumps up on me.  He get this crazed look in his eye and barks at me as if he's talking to me   The only way to control him was to get on top of him and hold him down.  Then when I let him up he did it again. Did I mention how embarassing this is!!!!  He used to do this a lot and it seemed to calm down quite a bit after he was nuetered back in December, but now I feel like we took 10 steps back.  Anyone else have these "attack" issues with their  doodle??? 

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

When you say attacked you...do u mean aggressive or rough play? If it is inappropriate rough play, you need to get back to working with a trainer ASAP. Aggression toward you is a whole nother matter that is much more serious. The too rough play sounds like obnoxious teenage doodle...and this can be corrected fairly easily with some sessions/classes with a trainer. If you are comfortable with the trainer you used at petsmart, call him/her tmrw.

[Susan]

I call it negative attention seeking behavior.  He's trying to get my attention.  The more angry I get at him the more he does it,  I literally had to get on top of him and start rubbing his belly til he calmed down.  It worked until we got back him which thankfully was only a few houses away. I feel it is rough play,  He always wants to play 24/7.  We are looking into getting him some better training. 

[Bug]

have you tried making yourself a tree? looking down crossing arms turning back to him and ignoring him until he calms down?

[Adina P]

Rosco was like that.  But he was like that from 9 weeks on....  What seemed to help us was a concerted effort at training.  If he can't/won't obey in a crazed moment then he's far from done with training.  He needs more or better or a different kind of training so that the end result is a dog that will obey you at all times.

[Susan]

He's been like that on and off from the beginning too.  It got much better for awhile, but now the negative bahavior is back.  We are looking into some better training.  Thank you.

[Aimee Santa Monica]

I'm glad you posted this- my pup Storm (now 6 months) used to do that (attack me) alot toward the end of our walks. It was crazy embarassing! :)  I think it was because when we were near our home outside, i make that "happy excited tone" , and he goes burzurk & starts biting at my feet & pants - like he did when he was 2 months old. Nowadays he hardly does that- i try to not get him overly excited when it's just me & him.

[Susan]

crazy embarassing to say the least, lol...  So sometimes less is more I guess!!  I think what prompted it is I picked up a stick to give him and he got excited and started to go "buzurk" so I held back a little with it, then that's when all hell broke loose cause he wasn't in charge anymore.  thank you

[Julie, Boomer, Milo & Casey]

I'm glad you posted this as it reminded me of what Boomer  use to do.   He only did this on our walks - within a block of home.   We could easily walk 1-2-3-4+ miles and he'd be great.   But once we got close to home (and within view of all the neighbors...how embarrassing) he'd turn toward me, jump toward the leash, grab it in his mouth and totally go buzurk!   I normally just stood there until he stopped (some times it lasted a while and other times it'd only last a minute or two).  It was real bizarre.   I had to start mixing up our walk and approach the home from different directions so he didn't always "see it coming."    I started to wonder if he knew we were almost home and didn't want to go?   Is that possible?   He enjoyed walking so much that he didn't want the fun to end.    He no longer does that and I forgot that he ever did, until reading your post. 

[Susan]

It does sound like that was the case, he wanted to keep going, lol!!!  Chip usually does it when we get down to the corner, in fact most of the time it's the same house.  There is no rhyme or reason to it.  Maybe I will try bringing some treats and make him sit and calm down, not sure what to do.  I don't want to stop the walks cause I think they are good for him.  Thanks!

[Kathy Hoppe]

My Lauscha does the same thing as soon as she can see our house. Shes 6 months old.

 

[Lynn & Casey]

When I Play with Casey, sometimes she gets way too excited and starts doing the same thing. I just started bringing training treats outside and when she starts getting that crazy look we go right into training mode. Sit, down, stay seems to snap her out of it. She never does it while walking.

[Susan]

I will try it!  He's getting to big for me to control now so it's even more of a problem.  We are also looking into some better training, I think he needs more than Pet Smart at this point!  Thanks!