Zoomies x a million!!

[Lindsey]

I swear Molly goes through "bad" stages.
She is a great dog...but she's starting to test the waters now. I caught her counter surfing for the first time two nights ago. UGH!!! I was reallllllly crossing my fingers that would never start. She has now figured out when her bark collar is on and if she is outside without it on, she'll bark...and I swear it's just to say "haha! you forgot my bark collar!".
She has NEVER chewed a thing...and we've caught her chewing on the wooden base of DH's recliner and on the coffee table....silly dog has one million chew toys, we only allow 5-6 of them out at a time and switch them up regularly so she won't get bored with her toys, yet she's just now (at almost 6 months) wanting to chew furniture.
Yesterday she grabbed an icecream wrapper from DH's hand and tried to swallow it before I could grab her and pull it out of the back of her throat! yuck! She KNOWS the "leave it" command...but really wanted to test it yesterday. **sigh**
I came home yesterday and she had managed to chew a hole in the kitchen rug!!!??? Really?!
Where did my sweet, good, puppy go?
and her zoomies.....well, now she's in constant "zoomie" mode until she crashes around 11pm and sleeps through the entire night....at least she sleeps through the night, right!?

I love my doodle girl....but I have to be honest when I say, I hope she grows out of this crazy stage SOON!!
She really is smart, she knows what I want her to do and if I give her a command she is very quick to listen (with the exception of yesterday when she wouldnt "leave" the icecream wrapper), its just those moments when we're not training and we're just hanging out that she goes bonkers.
She gets walked often and we're constantly throwing a ball for her...so it's not like she doesn't get excercise.

On one hand I have a puppy that is going bonkers and making me wish she would hurry and grow up and on the other hand I have my little man that is getting older, blind and his teeth pulled...who has me wishing he would stay young....crazy dogs :-)


eeeeek!!

ok, end vent :-)

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Oh, wow! This sounds really familiar. Barley seemed to be the perfect puppy until he hit six months of age. I guess six months is a behavioral marker. Anyway, it prompted me to get on Puppy Madness and ask, "Is it common for puppies to backslide at six months?" Here is the link to that discussion:

 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puppymadness/forum/topics/is-it-c...

 

Maybe this discussion will at least encourage you and you'll know you're not alone in this. Maybe people's responses to me will help you, too. Basically, everyone told me that I was now dealing with a puppy adolescent, to be patient, to be consistent, and to start back at the beginning of training if necessary. My perfect puppy became destructive and I started a list of things he had destroyed. He was particularly interested in my clothing, but he also went after books and a table leg.  It's now a year later and Barley is one and a half. He is such a good boy now! That bratty stage seems like a dream, and your post reminded me that Barley wasn't always so good. Your puppy is being very normal, and will definitely grow out of it. Never fear!

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

I forgot to mention that Molly might be at the age in which she needs more exercise. That was something several people had recommended to me with Barley. We played a lot more frisbee and took longer walks. It helped!

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Yes, it's all normal and we've all gone through this, sometimes even 2 or 3 times:) Patience and exercise, exercise. Hopefully at the 1 year mark things will calm. They did with Lucca who is now 2 1/2. We're hoping the same goes for our 8 month old Izzy but I'm not holding my breath as she is MUCH crazier!!!!!

[Dos Doodles--Sam & Luke]

Hi Lindsey--

I love that you call it "Zoomies"!  That's funny.  When Sam was younger (and still sometimes now) he'd go into run around mode, and we'd call it Crazy 8's!

The "problem" with these dogs (as I see it) is that they have both physical, mental and social energy that has to get burned off each day.  If I'm missing any of these things with Sam, he gets busy doing something he's not supposed to.

So I make sure he gets at least one good walk, time to play with people and dogs (if possible) and then if he's still busy, we play some brain games.  That usually does the trick.  Sam's favorite brain game is "find it".  I get him to do a down stay at one end of the house and hide a favorite toy at the other end of the house.  He has to find it with his nose and bring it, drop it, repeat!  15 - 20 minutes of that, and he's done!

The breeder told me that dogs (puppies?) do have high energy times in the evenings...

I read somewhere that a tired dog is a good dog.  That's the approach I take with Sam.  If he's being "bad" it's usually because he's frustrated. Burn off the energy, and he's a (mostly) perfect angel.  :-)

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Wow...you are bringing back memories...ha ha.  It is the right of passage for a Doodle and it too shall pass.  My Gracie Doodle did all of those things (except the barking...she is not a barker).  The kick pleat on my recently reupholstered sofa got chewed, chair legs, counter surfing, throw rug chewing, cell phone, TV remote...you name it!  But, I kept on her and she became the most trustworthy dog I have ever known.  I basically had to strip down the counters and not leave stuff laying around...just like having a toddler!  Now she doesn't touch a thing in the house and you can leave food out...she knows the rules!  She is now 4 years old and I keep wanting to freeze her right where she is.  I miss the constant zoomies.  We get them from her after a bath and when another dog comes to visit or if we initiate a "you give me that" game!  Hang in there because what seems like forever goes by very quickly!

[Lindsey]

Thanks for all of the tips and advice DKer's!!!!!
I appreciate the kind words.

I keep telling myself she will grow out of this phase....and to try and enjoy this time, because she won't be little forever (just like my little "old" man dog).
She just gets so antsy now. If we're doing the "sit" command she will jump up and then sit, if I say "down" from the sit position she will jump up (high- like tigger!) and then land SPLAT in the down position...she's a nut!!
Yesterday she was running full speed from one end of the house to the other....we have hard wood floors, so every rug she ran over went sliding all over the place...by the end of it all, we had one big pile of rugs in the middle of my house. I kept trying to make her "sit" and then I calmly would pet her head and say "good girl, calm down Molly" and when I was done petting...zzzzooooooooommmmm!! She was off again!
She gets a GOOD run in once, sometimes twice a day, but good grief...if she keeps these zoomies up, I'm going to have to wake her up in the middle of the night to run her...then maybe she will take naps during the day! ha!

The CRAZY thing is...if she is outside, she is an ANGEL (besides barking at people that pass, if her bark collar is off)..she lays around, doesn't chew, doesn't dig, doesn't do much of anything...but inside she's a maniac, lol.
DH says it's the heat...which is probably true....

**sigh***

Again, thanks for the words of encouragement!!!!

[Jenny & Henry]

HA!  I totally understand.  It too shall pass.  :D