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??? 

[Lynne B]

For now, why don't you get a 'gentle leader' head collar? It's not painful or anything but will prevent this kind of behavior while walking him.  Fitting it can be a bit tricky, ask at the store where you purchase it for help if you can't figure out how to adjust it.

[Susan]

I actually have one in the back room that I bought a while ago, maybe it's time to open it and give it a whirl, can't hurt!  Thanks, all the tips help!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree that a good trainer is really important at this point.  Lunging at you, barking, biting to the point where he's leaving marks are behaviors that I don't think you'll be able to manage without help from a strong, experienced trainer.  If it was me, I'd be a little worried about getting on top of him to hold him down while he's in this "uncontrolled" state.

[Susan]

Yeah it's way too agressive!!!!!!!  Getting on top of him is the only way I could get him under control in the moment, but the bigger he gets the scarier it is for me.  Looking for a good trainer in the area.  We have a few names at the moment.  Thanks for the post. 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Sounds like Chip sees your trying to control him as a challenge for more play. When Lucy would do/does that (and I think all adolescent dogs do at some point), we calmly tell her that's enough, and control her only with the leash till she stops jumping. I don't make a lot of fuss, but have her sit quietly until the phase passes, then I ask her if she's ready to go. If I see she's still in that frantic state, we wait longer until she really is calm, then we proceed. Yes, I agree, its very embarrassing, especially when what you're doing isn't working. Soon though, you'll see yourself as a calm, collected dog owner who knows exactly what to do and you'll take pride in getting your dog under control without a lot of fanfare. I agree that a head halter can make a world of difference. We use a Canny Collar, which Lucy tolerates a whole lot better than the Gentle Leader. On a related issue, we deal with Lucy barking at us in the house quite a lot lately. Its her way of demanding attention. We've tried ignoring her completely (which takes monumental patience to wait out), or putting her into her crate for a few minutes. Sometimes we simply close a door so she can't interact with us, which does the trick. A pushy dog needs lots of consistent training, limiting attention to no more than 10 minutes per hour (that includes making eye contact with the dog), lots of 'downs' throughout the day, and making it work for the things it wants (having him/her sit or down before throwing that ball, etc.), as well as sufficient crate time. These steps will help to sweeten a dog. A good trainer helps too, but its important to understand that every trainer has his/her own methods, which don't work on all dogs. You may have to shop around to find the right fit for your dog.

[Susan]

thank you for all the good information.  We do have him sit before we throw the ball or any toy and he waits patiently.  Today I tried putting him in time out in his crate twice and it calmed him down.  usually I put him on the leash at the back door.  In the house I can control him more than outside, maybe it's because I'm more concious  of the neighbors hearing me.  What is a Canny Collar?  I was thinking of a choke/prong collar, is that a bad thing??  Our friends put that on their dog even when not walking him and it calms him down right away. 

[Lynne B]

I don't want to start a war here, because I know some people disagree with me- but I hate collars that pinch or hurt a dog. I simply  see no reason to use them. A dog with a halti or gentle leader is under better control than with any of those devices and they cause absolutely NO discomfort.  The danger with using something that hurts a dog is that they might associate the discomfort with something totally unexpected; i.e. you are walking the dog and he pulls really hard to try to go see another dog, his pinch collar hurts him and he blames it on the other dog..do that often enough and you COULD end up with a dog that is fearful or aggressive toward other dogs. And anyone who says pinch collars don't hurt need to put one on their neck and have someone drag them around by it for an hour or so

[Susan]

yeah i decided against the prong collar,  I think we are going to try a harnass and see what happens. thanks

 

[Cathy]

I cannot believe it, I logged in to ask the same question!  I have been beside myself with my 11 month old goldendoodle with the same behavior.  It's not aggressive (I've been a petsitter for 8 years), it's definately the negative attention, let's play situation.  I'm walking him early in the morning because it's so embarrassing.  He goes up on his back legs and grabs the leash with his front paws!  Using his mouth way too much, jumping and play-biting.  I think the long hard winter has been part of the cause of this, less walks, less training.  My thoughts are to get back to everyday training with him to show him he's not in control.  Sorry I don't have too much advice, but I'm relieved that this is happening to others and it may be an age related thing.

[Susan]

definitely nice to know we are not alone here.  I'm pretty sure it's just a puppy thing, but still need to get it under control now so it doesn't get worse.  do you take the dog to training??

[Pat and Traveler]

Really brings back memories!  Trav used to get play/aggressive when we got back from a walk, coming in the gate to the back yard.  He would jump up, grab for arms or hands, bark at me if I tried to correct him verbally, and he had that crazy dog look in his eyes.  It was really a shock, as he hadn't done anything like that previously.  I don't remember how old he was, but it was a teenage time.  The yard is fenced, so I just walked into the house, trying to ignore him, keeping my arms and hands protected, and closed the door, leaving him outside.  After a few times of doing this, he realized I wasn't going to play with him or give him any attention when he behaved like that, so he stopped doing it.  

I hope you'll get some satisfactory help--this really takes the fun out of walks.    

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Find a good trainer.  My 11 month old doodle started this at about 6 months --and he was early neutered.  I think it's an adolescent thing. Part rough play, part challenge. The most important command we taught him was "look." He learned it as a small pup but you can teach them at any age.  When he looks, he sits.  It breaks the craziness.  She advised (as did the breeder) to tether him to me for a 1/2 hour a day in the house.  He had to go wherever I went for a few weeks, and it was amazing how calmly he came along while I picked up laundry, made beds, etc. I don't know why that works but it works --and I was really skeptical at first.  On walks, I have a knot in my leash so that my arm can hang down relaxed and the leash is short.  We focus on moving forward.  If he acts up we'll do circles, figure 8's, anything thing to keep his attention. With the gentle leader he walks like a dream dog.  He's doing much better on the flat collar now but still likes to pull sometimes.  Before, on a long leash meandering around the backyard he'd jump, playbite, play tug of war but now he seems to understand that's not part of the deal. I'm sure Chip (who's adorable by the way) will get the idea too if you have the patience and a good trainer to guide you.