Anyone else have a hyperactive doodle?

Crazy doodle too!

We are also dealing with a hyper doodle!

She is 5 months old also. I walk her first thing in the morning, late afternoon and evening, but she still has endless energy! She jumps and nips and can be completely psycho!

A trainer told us to NOT give her affection unless she is sitting, so she will stop jumping and I think it's working a little.

I have clicker trained her to sit, down and shake a paw, but now I am going to try and train her to not bite. It says online to put a treat in your hand let them smell it but don't give it to them until they either lick your hand or touch it softly with their nose NO teeth!

I am hoping she will eventually calm down. My husband thinks when we get her spayed, that this will mellow her out...I don't know about that! My vet won't do it until 6 months old.

I am happy to know I am not the only one with a little maniac!
She does have an awesome personality and can be quite affectionate, it's just the :twisted: in her that drives us all crazy! :shock: :shock:

I have had a little experience with the hyper-doodle"Cujo" syndrome. And I sympathize completely. Here a few suggestions that have worked (sometimes) for me and my two doods:

1. Try to see the Cujo frame of mind as an "unstable" (Cesar Milan's word) condition and that it is your job to bring "stability." What this means to me is when this behavior starts to happen I cease any and all behavior of my own that could be considered excited or unstable. Including, but not limited to, laughing, clapping, yelling, shouting "no!", chasing, calling for help, beating your own head against a wall. I mention these because I have tried them all and they do not work.

2. Get dead solid calm and quietly move the cujo doodle outside or into the crate. (This can be problematic if you have to catch your doodle first, so it usually helps to have an extremely desirable treat in your hand.) Give a treat, saying nothing. Shut the door and leave the room.

3. Come back when cujo is acting like a doodle again and (still quietly and calmly) open the door. If cujo returns, repeat steps 1 & 2 above for a longer period of time.

3. (optional) A radical approach involves getting yourself another doodle and letting them play "Hyper-Doodle Cujo" with each other, outdoors and without human intervention (especially not children) Only take this step if you are completely bonkers for doodles. I mention this because I am and I have tried it and it works.

4. Continue this approach for 4- 6 months. Repeating the steps above as necessary. You will begin to see a new symdrome which we call the "speedbump doodle." Cujo will return briefly from time to time, but less and less often. Really.

Dora is also 5 months old. She has changed a lot since I had her spayed. At first I thought it must be just post surgery taking longer to get back to her old self, but she is really a lot more mellow. She still has issues with company. I was trying to talk to my neighbor last night and she wouldn't stop jumping and barking. I think she will get over that too. I think like with everything they all have these little phases. I am so tickled that she is completely house trained, including the overnight, I could care less if she barked at the neighbor!! But I will work with one thing at a time. Dora now lays at my feet when I cook or do dishes and has stopped using the kids as chew toys. My toddlers poor legs were a mess for a while!! She has slowed on the biting since most of her adult teeth are in! Good luck everyone!! This puppy stage is no joke. They are so lucky that they are sooo cute!!
Beth and Dora

Quin is only four months but I am trying some preventative strategies. (Maybe this'll help any lurkers with younger doods.) Hopefully I can remember to post again in a month or two to tell you if we're successful! I would definitely reiterate Maureen's training comments. The training program we are enrolled in (not a big box store) has had many wonderful suggestions for instilling appropriate behavior in the pups. Most boil down to key words ("enough" and "settle") and time-outs. (Like 2doodsmom suggested.) Also, they say to set expectations about what behavior is ok in the house. So, I no longer allow fetch, chase, tug-of-war or any crazy-making games inside. This is hard for our [human] daughter Zoe - she is 3.5 and can't resist running around and exciting Quin ... and of course he loves it. But I am trying to be really firm re: hyper games are for outside only. The anti-jumping training we're doing is that when the dog jumps on you, say "oops" and immediately turn around and walk away (withdraw your attention). When all four paws are on the floor, reward / praise. We did this in class - we actually rotated puppies (everyone got a chance with each dog) because they may behave for you but not a stranger / guest. Basically, we baited the dog to jump up (patting your knees saying "c'mon Quin!") and when they didn't jump they got lavish rewards. I am having Zoe do this training with Quin.

Again, I'll check back in a couple months to let you know if it works (I can hear your snickering :wink: - c'mon, let me be naive and I'll let you say "I told you so!" ... )



Lisa