At my wit's end!

[Amy Galvin]

In reading this forum, I so wish my doodle experience was as wonderful as most of yours, but it isn't.  After reading the interview with Karen, I'm wondering if a doodle just isn't a fit for me.  We have two issues:  biting and housetraining. 

 

Clara doesn't just puppy nip.  She snarls and bites at me when she gets angry and she definitely wants to be the diva of the house.  We attended a private training session in which she was a perfect angel the whole time.  HA!  I have continued to work with her, but everyday she breaks through my skin at least once!  I'm keeping Band-Aid in business.  My arms look like I've been in a fight.  My son is terrified of her.  He does all the right things - he doesn't use his hands or run etc, but she always tries to nibble on his ears or ankles.  I know puppies chew and nibble, but our last dog (a basset hound) was never like this.  There have been a couple occasions where she actually scared me and I kept thinking what am I going to do when she's 50lbs??  Is she going to knock me down and kill me! 

 

Have any of you had any trouble housetraining your Labradoodle?  Clara is 15 wks old.  We have no problems in the morning.  I come home at lunch to let her out of her crate and it's always dry.  In the evening, it's accident after accident.   For example, tonight I took her out at 7, within the next hour, she peed 3 more times by 8:15.  I'm so tired of cleaning!  She hasn't learned how to tell us she needs to go.  But I'm wondering if some of her accidents is her being mad.  When she gets nippy, we put her in timeout in the kitchen.  The accidents thankfully always happen in the kitchen. 

Thanks for listening, if someone can give me advice, I'd welcome it!   Did I get a doodle who inherited the bad traits of both breeds?? 

 

[Amy Galvin]

I'm planning to put her in puppy daycare 3 days/week.  I'm so hoping that this will help as she doesn't seem to be nippy with anyone else.  She loves people and is very friendly when we go out in public. 

[Kimberly Cook]

I would like to hear some responses here too! While our boy Chopper is not as bad he has similar alpha dog  issues. He too was a star student in puppy class. /:) Also he is wonderful during the day about his potty training then everything falls apart at night like you said. He wants to go out every 20 mins or he pees on the floor. >:/ This make me so upset I just put him in his crate now if he does this instead of taking him out. He wont pee in there. Chopper is 6 months old and I know he can hold it for at least 3 hours! Since doing this he has not had as many "accidents". ;)

[Kyoko]

Amy, I am so sorry that you are having a rough time.... I think, though 15 weeks is still a such a baby.

About snapping and nipping, I still think it is a puppy thing. I remember my kids calling Charlie "Sharky" because she used to nip and bite like a little shark with sharp teeth!! I had a couple of pajama pants with ripped bottom, because she used to bite at it. Did Carla go to puppy K? or basic obedience classes? If so, your trainer may have a good advice to the nipping problem. Charlie's trainer gave us a great way to curve the behavior, and it worked right a way. ( If you are interested, I can write about it.) I think continuing with training will be helpful not only for the nipping, but for Carla to learn that relationship with you is the best thing in her world, and she wants to listen to you...

For the potty thing, it is still a learning process....How long is she home alone? Does she get excited and playful when everyone is home in the evening? How much out door play time does she get? All of these things play a part in potty training... I don't believe that puppy gets mad and pees in spite to show her anger... When Charlie was a puppy, we took her outside every so often ( 45 Min ~ 1 hour, depends on the age she was at that time ) regardless to if she indicated or not. She had a bit of set back after she was spayed. Eventually, she began to give us a little "rrrrrrr" when she have to go. We tethered her when she was very young, kept her close to one of us when she was out of crate at home.  

My standard poodle came to us at age 18 or 19 weeks. It was difficult at first, because he was used to going outside on his own and going to bathroom on his own. He used to pee at the door without indicating anything to us. Also because he was used to going on his own, he refused to go when leashed. When we were home, we kept him in the room wherever we were at, so that we can keep close eye on him, and he did not have free range of the house until he was solid on the potty training. Eventually, he began using the doggie bell that was hanging from the door and no one was using ( I tried to teach Charlie when she was little, but she never took to it, so it was just there left alone )

I don't think Carla is being "bad" or "mean". She is going through the developmental stage, and needing some on going and consistent training. Good luck. This is the best place to be, so that you can see that you are not alone!! And Carla is soooo adorable!!!

[KLN]

Kyoko is so right, this is a great place for you to come to for support. I guarantee that you are not the only one going through this situation. I am fairly new to the forum and have found it so helpful and supportive. Puppies are HARD! I do not remember it being this much work! ;0). It was very overwhelming for me the first few weeks but we are starting to find our groove...you will find yours too!

[Kyoko]

I would not have got through the puppy phase without DK!

[KLN]

My doodle is 13 weeks old and he definitely bites, not nips and he LOVES ears and hair. I started to notice early on that his biting and growling was more aggressive when he was overly tired. I did two things: when he bite/nipped at all, I would immediately put a toy or chew bone in his mouth and divert his attention. Second, when I noticed the biting getting aggressive in nature I would put him for a time out in his crate. This was usually only in the evenings or on the weekends when we had been playing for hours without a nap. If you use time out too often it might not be as effective.

Is Clara getting enough exercise/attention for a puppy? This could be part of it? It sounds like she might be biting for attention. I get up an hour and a half to two hours before I have to get dressed in the morning to wear the little one out. We run in the backyard, fetch, and play with his toys. I give him a chew bone while I get dressed so he as a solid three hours of "go time" before he gets into his crate for the morning. At lunch, I come home and feed him and then run as much as I can in the backyard with him and try and keep him moving for a solid 45 minutes before he goes back into his crate for the afternoon. Then in the evenings he is usually non stop until about 9pm. My breeder could not stress enough with me how high energy and smart doodles are. Because they are so intelligent, they need mental stimulation constantly.

I have noticed that in the last few weeks the biting has gotten a bit milder and less frequent. He still nips but its not (usually) an aggressive biting unless he is just overly tired.

Have you looked into a trainer doing a home visit? They might be able to help diagnose the problem. Sorry you are having such problems. You might really see a difference with daycare once he's old enough to go...this should get him plenty tired! Keep us posted.

[KLN]

Also...in response to the housebreaking...Finley pees ALL THE TIME. He is pretty house broken, he sits at the back door and rings a bell (most of the time) but he asks to go out almost every twenty minutes and pees every time. I got large jingle bells and strung grosgrain ribbon through three of them, tied a knot at the top (the length from my door knob to about six inches off of the floor) and hung them on my back door. Finn got used to the noise when we opened the back door to go out and now rings the bells to tell me he needs to go out. It took awhile and consistency (if he rung the bell, no matter what, I would stop what I was doing and let him out) but he's 13 weeks and rarely has an accident in the house anymore....but I spent A LOT of time getting up and letting him out. Good luck!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Amy, Clara is still very young and puppy biting is just part of the deal when getting most puppies. If you do a search on nipping or biting, you will see a ton of people/discussion who went through this same stage. I thought Fudge was part shark. How old was Clara when you got her? How much exercise is she getting? Many times when they are at their worst, they are tired and a time out is a good thing for both Clara and you. However, you need to get control of this and I would think a puppy class would be a great option for Clara. In the beginning, I swear I was taking my dogs out every 15-20 minutes religiously. Consistency is the key and learning her signals, but she either needs to go out more at night or make sure she does not have a UTI by taking a urine sample to the vet.  One of my dogs just stares at me when he has to go out. The other one stands by the door. How long is she being crated? These dogs need a lot of exercise and if she is being crated all day, she is going to release all that pent up energy somewhere. Puppies are a lot of hard work and need a lot of attention. Distraction is another tool when she gets nippy. Put a chew toy in her mouth. I used bully sticks in the beginning. In my opinion, you got a normal puppy with a lot of energy :) Good luck and keep us posted.

[DJ & Chance]

Amy, hang in with your pup.  I don't think this is an example of "bad traits" of both breeds but rather of an energetic puppy that may need much more exercise and frequent potty outings in the evening when the "mistakes" seem to happen.

I had lots of bandages on my hands and wrists when Chance was a young pup.  That stage passed, with some consistent redirection of the biting by me, and now the most he will do is softly "mouth" my hand.

I always had some toy at hand that I would immediately put into his mouth when the nipping started.  If he was too crazy, I put him in his crate for a time out.  But most of the time, exercise and more exercise and redirecting the biting to a toy did the trick.

[Amy Galvin]

Thanks so much for responses. Im so glad to know its not just me.

As for exercise I walk her twice a day. We play fetch several times. I bought a little pool but she hasnt taken to it yet. We give her bully sticks, pigs ears and other chew toys. I try my best to keep her busy.

[Jodie Marie O'Neill]

Our Fozzy was exactly the same when he was little , we thought we were going to have big issues when he grew up with agression etc,we tried everything, the squealing when he bit, the walking away, the time out rule, NOTHING worked,  he generally grew out of this by the time his new teeth came through. He is now 10 months and absolutely lovely, so although it's awful to have to go through it, they do grow out of it honestly!. 

[Bob Johnston]

I would suggest not doing a doggie day care until Clara sees you as the Alfa. Yes it will tire her out but it could also make her time at home when she is not tired worse. A puppy play group or kindergarten class or even a group puppy walk a few times a week would be better. If you know she has gotten enough romping time and is still chomping away and barking at you she needs a nap or time out. Sophie would get 10 to 15 mins in her crate depending on how tired I thought she was. If at the end of the time she was fast asleep I would leave her if she was awake I would ring the bells before taking her out pick her up and out we would go to potty. Her crate is and was in the living room with us and was covered completely with a table cloth. There were no toys or any stimulation in her crate and we did not bother her even if she whined a bit until she settled down. The most important thing she can learn from you at this age is you are her boss she is not yours. If redirection does not work you can always pick her or get down to her level both hands on her body or head and tell her NO then walk away and go back to what you were doing. A very stern meaningfull NO not high pitched or repetative just one deep loud NO. Sophie would get 3 warnings then it was a time out. While it may seem that clara is plotting to take over the world but really she doesnt remember what she was doing 3 mins ago its all one giant game to her.

You may also want to look up bell training. Sophie did not signal at all and most puppies younger then 3 months don't even know they need to potty until a few secs before. We took Sophie outside every 15 mins and rang the bells every time and said lets go potty. She could also not go down steps until she was 4 months old so we had to carry her. This sort of helped because she isn't going to pee while we are carrying her. The rule of thumb is if a puppy just ate they need to potty if they drank 10 mins prior they need to potty if the just got excited while playing or running around they need to potty if you blink at them they need to potty :)