Bullying

[Carrie king]

Hi there, need a few pointers on what to do about my 3 month old little goldendoodle. We've had him about a month now. He's doing quite well on potty training & I have been working with him on simple commands. Sit, down, stay, come etc. he's doing we'll with those as well. The problem we are having is that he is a but of a bully with other dogs. His play is less playful & more fight. We have two toy poodles. Our girl Daisy is the alpha and our boy, Cosmo, is very submissive. With Daisy, he tries to bully a bit, but she backs him off. With Cosmo it is relentless. He will stand up to him, but it usually ends up in him running for the hills & hiding most of the day. He also loves to pick on my parents poodle (we are sitting). All of the dogs try to avoid him, often piling on my lap to get away :-) dog pile! When he has a little bully session with a dog he sometimes thinks he can pick on us too! He will start pouncing, biting us. We have been trying just breaking up any rough play with a noise he doesn't like (can with rocks in it) and rewarding nice behaviors. We also do time outs when he's going nuts.

Anyone have any input on this? I hate to discourage all interactions with other dogs, but he's never nice to them!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I would get him into a puppy socialization class as soon as possible. He is a very young puppy and It sounds like the other dogs he has met so far are quite submissive and he needs to learn how to get on with all types of dogs.  Also please bear in mind that what often looks like aggressive behavior in dogs is actually their playing. Sometimes you would think there is a war in my home when the boys are in wrestling mood. I only intervene if I hear a yelp!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

He is still very young yet and as Nicky suggested I would get him into puppy class ASAP.  My two doodles are very rough in play and you would think my medium size Sasha is killing my very large Oliver when they get to wrestling.  They get very rough with each other but I usually let them work it out, I never let it get to the level of a fight and if I see it getting too rough I will split them up.  They also stalk each other with the crouch down and then pounce, but that is their way of initiating play with the other doodle.    It seems like the other dogs are just not into having the puppy around, plus the puppy needs to learn his place which he has not done yet.  I think with puppy class and some supervision you can make this work.  When I had my Shih Tzu's my Daisy was 6 yrs old when I got Calla Lilly 10 wks old.  My poor Daisy would look at me when the puppy was all over her and wanting to play, Daisy looked at me with the look of "Mom why did you go and get this puppy, we were fine with just me and you"  But they worked out their differences and ended up being best buds as Calla Lilly grew and got out of the puppy stage.

[Ginny Nightingale]

i agree---adult dogs often do not like the crazy energy of a puppy and the size difference adds to the discomfort for your toy poodles. Play needs to be closely supervised and your pup needs to be GATED so that your other dogs can relax and get off of your lap! He will eventually calm down and learn manners, but right now, he is not going to be able to control himself--since the others are not able to control him, that is your job.
I am puppysitting right now and have three adult doodles. The pup is 6 months old and is the son of one of my doodles and the half-brother of another, so they all know each other and have similar temperaments. HOWEVER, my adult dogs growl and get upset around the pup, who wants to jump on them and play too rough. My three play with each other very nicely and have a ball--but they do not like puppies. The only interaction has been in a big pen I have outside--I put the puppy and his mom in there and watched them play for a few minutes--they were fine for a while, but then momma had had enough and wanted to go out of the pen.
That said, puppies love to play together. I have had three play dates with three pups this guy's age this week and they have a blast. (One is the pup's brother, so they are the same size and age, which is ideal.) They play until they can barely stand up. Puppy socialization classes are the answer!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Take him out alone and exercise the snanooks out if him. No, not just a walk. Most doodles like fetch or Frisbee. Instead of time outs ( which really don't do a thing except for your sanity).
Do it every hour, especially in the evenings. Wear him out until this phase passes

[Hua]

I have the exact same problem with my Charlie (who's 13 weeks old and a mini).  He's very good with bigger dogs but tends to bully/playing rough with similar size or smaller ones.  I've been taking him to puppy class 3 times a week since he was 10 weeks old. I've noticed that he's getting better and learning (slowly) to back off more if he's too rough (especially if his playmate happens to be feisty too. lol)  My trainer advise me to let him play/interact with dogs outside of puppy class as well (which I have done so mostly with neighbors' and friends' dogs).  I'm also very strict with him at home, no attention at all if he's naughty. 

[Sally S Miles]

I agree with Ginnie and JoAnne - make sure your pup gets plenty of just puppy time and do wear him out.  Each dog should get a few minutes of one on one - meanwhile supervision is critical.   For interaction, only one of the other dogs at a time, little by little increase time.  At such a young age this is basic boisterous puppy stuff, but before he drives the other ones crazy, it will take time and some grumbling - while your dogs have already established their pecking order, this new interloper is shaking up their world.

[Carrie king]

Thx for all the replies :) i should specify, he is a mini, so hes not much bigger than my poodles right now. I really do believe it is just pent up energy, like you have all been saying. I have been trying to get him to do things throughout the day to stay active. Its extremely hot here during the summer & he seems to hate it. I take him for walks and he just looks at me like, are you crazy? its freaking hot! :) he seems to have no interest in fetching, yet. Right now the best we can do is get him to run the length of our yard a bunch of times (we have a HUGE yard). We have to sprinkle him with the hose to get him cooled down enough to want to do that! Most play happens inside for now. if only we had a pool :) Seems to be going a little better with our poodles. I definetely give them plenty of time apart during the day & try to spend individual time with each of them every day. Im confident he will learn the boundaries.

Any recommendations on places for training?

[Carrie king]

Oh and I also agree, it seems to be something about the puppy energy. He was completely fine with my cousins boxer pup!