Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Our Dewey is 6 months old and every single day we've had him has been a trial. I've been through one trainer who made things worse. A dog class where he didn't fit in. We then contacted our breeder who basically explained we have an alpha dog and we're a pushover family for him. I just took him to an excellent vet who basically said our dog has a strong personality and is very smart so we will have our hands full guiding him through life. I hired a dog walker and she lasted three minutes before bringing him back and telling us we need a training walker. The new trainer is coming by tomorrow so hopefully that will help. I also just signed up for Doggie Dan in a last ditch hope to make things right. But then this morning on what I thought was the beginning of a great walk, he decided to try to lie down in a dirt patch and when I called him to stand, he went after me. It lasted about 3 minutes of him trying to bite me. I know how to hold his collar and hold him down but it just made him more mad. Thankfully there were no kids around. He's really friendly with other dogs and a bit afraid with strangers. Please tell me I'm not alone with having a dog with issues like this as I'd like to be hopeful we can make this work. But really, with a ten year old in the house, I'm really worried trying to keep him is a bad idea. I'm really curious to hear what the specialist trainer has to say. She works with problem dogs a lot. She did say over the phone that she sees this a lot with doodles. Great.
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Well this sounds very familiar...our Angus is also a stubborn, smart puppy and we do have difficulty with him...ESPECIALLY on walks. Check out the discussion called "Difficult Walks" that I posted on Puppy Madness a week or two ago. You'll find lots of people who feel your pain and give additional suggestions. What has really been working for us since we started our training last week is to step on the leash, so that the pup only has about 4 in. in front of him. This makes it uncomfortable for him to stand and eventually he will lay down. This helps to calm them down when they get all crazy. Now, if Dewey is anything like Angus, he will thrash and try to pull out of his collar and eventually will do a somersault - this is Angus. Because he often doesn't believe that we'll follow through with things. We are finally at a point where we don't talk to him or even make eye contact, but just calmly step on the leash and wait. Maybe this will work for Dewey? Make sure you hold the other end of the leash when you're standing on it. Angus is strong and would otherwise pull it out from under me and run off. After only a week of doing this, Angus will lay down quickly or even just stop grabbing the leash and calm down before he lays down.
Hang in there! You just have to be firm and consistent - they're smart enough to get it, but the smartest ones seem to think they know better than us.
Oh wow, Laura, I'm sorry you're dealing with this too but thankful I'm not alone! So frustrating to see all these sweet dogs with dangling leashes walking by every day, sigh. I will definitely try it. I had tried something like this but I clearly gave him too much leash so he was able to bite my leg and foot. And not making eye contact, good point. I do know to end the walk right there so hopefully that helped a bit. Can't wait to watch the leash training on the Doggie Dan site. One day, one day ...
Yes our trainer reminded us that talking or making eye contact is reinforcing to a pup...even if you're yelling at them - I feel like it's easy to forget that dog communication and human communication is so different. Woops! We have been trying very hard no to make eye contact/address Angus at all unless he's doing something good. We're using clicker training (I know there's debate about this) in our sessions and so we're also doing a click-treat when we catch him walking calmly on our walks. Reinforcing good and working to extinguish bad behavior. And yes, you definitely have to make it "uncomfortable" for them to stand, so for Angus that ends up being about 4 inches of leash. Someone also mentioned on my discussion that their trainer told them this was a "good time to check your email." It's so true! We have started to pull out our phone and wait because Angus is stubborn haha. But we're having to wait less and less time now, so I feel like we're having good results.
What is the dominant pack leader thing? I agree about positive reinforcement! It really helps when the pup is calm and listening- that's why our trainer told us to make sure we're reinforcing the good things on walk (e.g. when Angus goes 5 or more steps without biting us or the leash). But the tough part is that if the dog is having a fit and grabbing and biting you, no amount of positive reinforcement will help because they're no in a mindset to understand what you're reinforcing. Did you see this same stuff with Bentley on walks?
You're absolutely right about the 'no amount of positive reinforcement will help' when they're in they're in their crazy attack mode. You can either stand there and try to hold the leash far away from you so they can't get to you but yes, it all just makes him crazier. There was something the second we saw him where he had these crazy alert eyes and just stared at us. Had I known! So, I think the keeping off the eye contact is going to be very helpful. About to attempt that second walk!
Good luck! You can do it!!
Rosco, who just turned 9 years old today and has been a therapy dog since before he was 2 years old used to attack me on walks. It really freaked me out. I can tell you that sticking to training made a huge difference. But I had to find the right training. I don't agree that this is common in a lot of doodles, it's pretty individual. I also know that with Rosco holding him down didn't do anything except tell him "game's on" and that just riled him up more. You probably are too soft with him, BUT that doesn't mean that the answer is to be harsh or yell or physically fight with him. And it also does NOT mean that you can't learn how to handle him and train him to be a good companion. It's going to be a combo of:
There's no easier route.
Wow, I can't even imagine a dog can go from attack to therapy dog. Well, I sort of can. Our vet told us our dog would make a good working dog so perhaps that's what he meant. If we can channel that intelligence into a good thing, it would be amazing. I have really stepped it up with the way I am around him but so far, it's clearly not been enough. I have a long way to go it seems. I'm really looking forward to meeting this new trainer. The reviews sound amazing about her so I hope it will work out. I also signed us up for a teenage manners class that starts next month. Yes, his maturity has a long way to go. He still freaks out when he needs to just go to the bathroom.
I have a 6 month old too. She was the smallest in her litter, but she is alpha or at least she tries to be. She is a mini and only weighs 11lbs. She is a lot better than she was 3 months ago. She will still plop herself down on a walk once in awhile(we call it the Annabelle flop), but she doesn't try to bite me anymore. There for about 6 weeks, we thought we had made a huge mistake in getting her because of her growling and biting. It was a nightmare trying to walk her. I thought she was possessed. Now she is just really playful with a lot of energy. She was spayed on Monday and it did not slow her down any. She wanted to go out an play the minute we got home. We had a trainer come out to the house back in November. It helped some and she gave us some good tips. I want her to come back in the spring so we can do the training outside on the leash. Good Luck
Thank you. It's those little dogs you have to worry about, right?! I heard that neutering would do nothing for this dog either. Wishful thinking. It's happening in two weeks!
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