Puppy Madness

[Kim, Abby & Beckett]

Hello all. I had a question to ask. I have an adorable standard F1 goldendoodle who has been such a calm, well-behaved dog. We passed puppy obedience with flying colors. Now that she is 5 months, she has become a huge ball of unfocused energy. She loves to play, which is fine. But walking her on a leash has become problems at times because she is constantly wanting to play tug of war. And I can't jog with her on a leash because she now can't seem to stay on one side during our walks. Also, my biggest issue right now, I can't seem to keep her from wanting to jump up on people. After she does it, she knows it is wrong because she will back off and sit and wait for me to pet her. But when others are involved, she is just too excited to care... jumping and kissing excessively. We are in our second obedience class now and the trainer keeps telling me 5-7 months can be bad because it is like having a teenager with a mind of their own. 

Has anyone else experienced this madness? I just want to make sure I am not alone and that it does get better.

Thanks for your support!

Kim & Abby

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

we got Cubbie when he was 5 months old she he was pretty much at the same stage you are going through now.  When it comes to the walks, don't give her a choice of which side to walk on.  Pick a side and be consistent (at least during this training phase -- we will switch sides on Cubbie just to mix things up a bit, but we waited until he could walk on a leash without pulling)  Use a regular 4 or 6 ft leash and keep her close to your side (doesn't have to be in heal position, but don't let her get out in front of you).  If the pulling is too bad, you can try a head collar or a no-pull harness, but she should still be small enough now that you can work with her.  If she gets too far out in front of you, quickly turn around and go the other direction, take a sharp turn into her so that she pretty much bumps into your leg, or walk in random patterns.  Any of these will require her to focus on you more because she will need to pay attention to see where you are going.  I would stick to walking only though; at 5 months of age, I think that she is too young to be jogging with you as it puts more stress and impact on her still growing joints. 

We still struggle with the jumping thing from time to time and I have had the most success with leashing them up before company comes.  when the doorbell rings, I remove the dogs from the room and let my husband open the door.  I instruct our guests to ignore the dogs until they are acting in a calm manner.  If either dog jumps they are told "off" and removed from the room for a few seconds and then we come back and try it again.  We really only have to do this with Cubbie because Ollie is afraid of new people so jumping is rarely an issue with him. 

whatever you decide to do for training, just be sure you stick with it and are consistent and she will eventually catch on.