At a loss - kinda

[Ronda Businda]

So our Willow is now 6 months old and still the sweetest pup everrr!!!

To date - yes, she chews.....EVERYTHING!!!! Not a problem, we just 'chew-proof' whatever room she's in and give her appropriate stuff to chew on. Sometimes we miss it and when we do, its hard to stay mad cause we're mostly stunned with, "how in the world did she do THAT"?!?!? Lol!!! She loves roaming outdoors and the 'Labrador' in her is certainly coming out. So here are some questions and concerns.

• Are doodles always clumsy??? - hate to use that term but I've seen her fly off of 4 foot walls, no problem but sometimes it seems when she wants to jump UP somewhere (while she's running) she can take a tumble or hit it head on.....she just rolls right out of it, not phased at all but should she be...clumsy? 
• She is STILL jumping and nipping, sometimes biting us! Not in an aggressive way at all. For instance, took her on a great walk and other than being severely distracted by flying bird, grass blowing, she pretty much walks alongside of me. Not alot of pulling. So our walk was great, she 'sat' on command afterward, I gave her a treat and released her with 'all done' and what does she do? She starts jumping on me and nipping as we're headed back inside the house!!! I turn away from her, pull my hands in with a stern "off", "no jumping". As soon as she's still and I walked, no lie - she ran behind me and bit me in the butt!!!! I got mad then and couldn't pull her to me fast enough to put her in her crate! She is SO fast that its like she's a 'nip & run' dog now!!! It's gotten to the point my 8 year old doesn't like playing with her cause Willow will hog the ball and nip at her (playfully) if she tries to play with her. And then, I get tired....SO tired of telling her "off", "down", "no bite"...geez - she may think  its her name!!!
• Oh - I took her to 'manners class' and I could....not...believe how she barked at the other dogs!! Again, wasn't aggressive, but what a bark!!! Yep, my girl (& I) were in time out....quite a bit!!! And she seemed very distracted there too, skeptical about going back, not knowing if she'll keep her attention on me

That's about it. We plan to buy her a life vest in a month as we take our boat out and hopefully, she'll get some good swim time in, too!!! 

[Ronda Businda]

So encouraging, thank you!!! 

Yes, i'm adding some extra treats before I walk out the door to class and hopefully that will help as well! So good to know, Willow isn't too, 'out of the norm' here!! Thank you for sharing! I thought I was actually reading about my Willow as I read your!!! LOL!!!!!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

@6 months, she is still very much a puppy. The clumsy part comes from the gawky teenage stage.
We live on 5 acres and Enzo @11 months is just getting the freedom to run. Up until now, her recall was not all that wonderful. I'll be dammed if I'm going to call and call her on our own property and have her ignore me. That means she WON! Not acceptable in my book. The same goes for the jumping and nipping...unacceptable. A leash and maybe a prong collar , continued obedience classes for you both and you'll have this!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My advice is to keep exposing her to more and more - like the manners class, even if you are embarrassed. The more she sees this stuff, the less it will be an overly exciting issue.    I would try NOT to get her amped up.  Don't say all done - just be done with the walk. Don't have your child play ball with her, if Willow can't play nicely.  Others might have better suggestions for the 'bite and run' but I would grab her unless you have to chase her, and put her in time out. If you have a fenced yard and she does this when you are outside, I would go inside and leaver her out - a reverse time out.  If you are inside, I would go to another room and shut her out.

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

^^^All great advice!

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

Yarrow really responds to what Nancy calls the reverse time out.  Fun ends and I go in.  I watch her looking puzzled for about 30 seconds then go back out and NOT resume play right away but go through some basic commands to get her back in listening and obeying mode.  ...with lots of praise.

I don't leave it longer than 30 seconds because I still want the event fresh in her mind when I return. She listens better after a reverse time out.

[Ronda Businda]

Well Manners Class was MUCH better - must have been all the great encouragement I got before we went!!!

So we worked on 'strangers' greeting her and her maintaining a sitting position while I maintained my foot on leash. She did...GREAT!!!! So well that she's doing better at home now. I am playing with her differently, and event though she's still jumping some - its not crazy and persistent like before!!! So the consistency, patience and training are paying off! 

At class she still barked at the other dogs but not as much and thankfully - I have a great trainer who is great at training ME!!!! 

The reverse time out works GREAT for all of us!!! Willow just LOVES to be around people and as she continues to experience us leaving the scene when she's not playing 'nice', I really think she's getting it!!! She's learning 'down' really well, still walking with me really well (although still distracted but she stays with me at a great pace). 

Love, love, LOVE 'Doodlekisses' and all the doodle families!!! Thank you all so much!!!!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Great news Rhonda! Just when you think your dog is not doing well, they surprise you and GET it!

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

YAY!