Am I creating a monster????

[Gayle Miller]

Hi everyone....we're now into week 3 with our dear little pup, Jackson!  Like all of you, I wanted to make certain he had a chance to bond with me (us) and his new home and spent most of that 1st (and a lot of the 2nd) week on the floor with him.  He loves to run for his toys, etc., but his most favoriate place is always coming back and bouncing on my lap....so cute...hugs, licks, etc.  Well, now that he's more confident of his home (barks when he hears a noice outside and is into EVERYTHING) for the 1st time today I'm noticing that after I give him "quality time" on the floor together and get up to get some things done, like washing some dishes in the sink, he stops what he's doing, follows me and stands there and barks at me.  I ignor him and tell him "no bark" with my back to him.  He continues. So I wanted to see if, in fact, he wanted me on the floor....and yup....that's exactly what he wanted!  I want to give him all this wonderful puppy attention, but I'm so off track with the rest of my life!  Have any of you experienced some sort of spoiling the puppy with too much attantion???

(BTW, first time photos of Jackson to be posted within the next 2 days.  Have an appointment with an IT guy tomorrow at my husband's office!  yeah!)

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

he has been with his littermates his whole life..it will take time.. too bad we aren't inthe same town and we could exchange puppy care to get some work done..

[Gayle Miller]

wow....so appreciate all your comments...and they all make sense.  I will try hard to remember that I AM THE ALPHA....LOL!!!  We have our 1st puppy kindergarten class tonight. I can't wait...it should be fun and informative.  I'll share the experience with you all tomorrow!  (And hope to have photos soon!)

 

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

wow.. puppy kindergarden already..waiting to hear how it goes.. I am sure that Jackson will be the cutest and smartest.

[Gayle Miller]

yes, the weeks fly by and it gets to be more and more fun.  Can't believe how much we love this little guy and how he lights up our life!  Loved your comments, Kristen.  I'm doing just that...ingoring his barks and then he smacks himself down on the floor, head and all and lies quietly until I place the bowl in front of him!  Consistency, consistency and patience!!!

[Kristin & Hudson]

This sounds just like Hudson but we have worked really hard at this the past few months and he is SOOO much better.  He used to bark for attention when we are sitting on the couch, or on the computer, on the phone, etc.  He also would bark when we were preparing his food.  If he started this I would put his bowls down and turn my back to him.  Once he stopped I would go back to preparing his food.  If he started again I would stop and wait until he stopped.  I think this lasted a couple of days and he got it.  Now he sits quietly while we get his food ready.  It is so worth it to be consistent in your training.  Our pups are so smart and catch on really quickly.  Good luck!!

[Brandi]

One thing I have learned quickly owning Doodles, is they have a way of communicating with you one way or another...They are extremely intelligent and they can quickly wrap themselves around your little finger.  They are like children in a lot of ways, they push and push to see what they can get away with.  I agree with Adina's advice totally, although its hard because it's cute right now, put a stop to it now.  You can spoil them all you want, but at the same time, they need to learn manners.  It's easier to train a pup with daily training then to try to break bad manners or a bad habit later when they are big.  Out of 3 dogs, I have one barker, Magnet.  She has a way of telling me what she wants, if her ball rolls under the couch and she can't get it, she comes to me and barks at me, and takes me to the ball so I can get it.  If she wants a "cookie" she barks and takes me to the cookie jar lol.  I was out in the back of our property one day and someone pulled in the driveway to look at a RV we had for sale, she raced to me barked at me, and ran 10 or 15 feet back toward the front, looked over her shoulder at me barked again and took off.  I knew right away she was trying to tell me something, sure enough, someone was here looking at the camper. Even the ppl said "did she just go get you?????" they were impressed,  she was only like 8 months old when she did that. But when she was little, I put a stop to the nonsense barking or the demanding barking, she very quickly learned that barking is a tool, and for the most part she uses it wisely.  Dont let him dictate to you what to do, just correct it right away, he will catch on quickly.