[jderden]

Need advice

We adopted a six-month old labradoodle about 3 months ago -- so Robi is now 9 months old. He had a lot of bad habits we've been working on and he is soooo very smart, but also has a stubborn streak. He is very sociable and was rehomed because his former owners' work situation changed and he had to be crated all day during the week.

The biggest issue lately is this attention-seeking behavior. He will go and grab something he's not supposed to -- pillows, blankets, cans from the recycling, trash, etc. etc. and run off with it, then come and stand where we can see him... He usually will "drop it" if we refuse to chase him (which is a BIG improvement over when we first got him), but it's such a challenge! I can't decide the best way to handle it - just take the object and totally ignore him, "correct him," put him in his crate???? I have tried to "puppy-proof" the house -- put all the pillows away, used Bitter Apple on the recycling and trash, but he then just moves on to a different object. Yesterday he grabbed one of my fancy notepads off my desk!

This dog gets LOTS of attention-- we play ball (his very favorite thing in the world) 4-5 times a day (for 30-45 mins at a time), plus at least one 45 minute walk a day (often two). It is like his need for attention is insatiable!

Any advice????

I really love him and think he's going to be a great dog, but this little habit is driving me crazy.

 

[jderden]

Thanks everyone. We've had a better weekend with Robi. He DOES do better when he's really, really worn out. But sometimes even then, he's like an overtired toddler -- he just can't settle down until you actually hold the leash, make him "down" and next thing you know, he's sound asleep. We are starting to get to know him better and anticipate the times he'll do the attention-seeking. Getting him at six months was harder -- we missed that early puppy bonding. (but I'm grateful we missed the having to potty training part)!

We've done a basic dog training class, but it was pretty basic and for half the class we were the only ones there. I've watched a lot of online videos and have lots of books. I struggle a little since there are so many different opinions about training, and figuring out what works best for us and our situation and our dog.

I do follow the "Nothing in life is free" attitude -- we ask him to sit, down, leave it, stay or give "kisses" etc. for any treats, before his meals, etc. And I try to intersperse training with his play and walks. Just try to mix it up a bit to keep him guessing!

Flutter, not sure what you meant about an obedience school that doesn't teach "leave it." How do you teach that everything in the house is off limits except his toys?

 

[jderden]

Robi's mom back here again. I've been doing some reading over the last six weeks or so about high energy/reactive/anxious dogs. One of the points that these authors are making is that you can over-exercise a dog… building up their stamina so that they need increasing amounts of exercise to get tired.

As I mentioned a few months ago with Robi, it often seemed that the MORE we exercised him, the more hyper he got. And the more activity I provided, the more he wanted -- it.was.never.enough. He would eventually calm down and nap, but he often had to be forced to do so (as in I would have to keep a lead on him and tell him "down" and not let him up) and then he would finally relax and fall asleep. I also noticed that his ball play (his activity of choice), often seemed to have a frenetic/frantic quality to it. It's been very interesting. Another problem with over-exercise (especially for an already anxious dog) is that over-exercise releases cortisol, the stress hormone. This has negative effects on the human body and canines as well.

One technique that is supposed to help a hyper/reactive dog is to intersperse calming with the activity -- high energy/low energy. So, we've been interspersing down-stay, wait, target my hand, target the ball, count to three, default sits, etc. with throwing the ball. It has really helped his focus. We've also cut our ball playing time and walk time about in half - from 2-3 hours total per day to about 1-1.5 hour total. We continue to do inside mental work - nose work, practicing mat work, downs, sits, etc.

Today we met with a behaviorist/trainer and her opinion is that you can indeed overexercise a dog and that in all likelihood we have trained Robi to be hyper (or at least encouraged it) through excessive ball-playing. Her prescription is LESS exercise -- just a few short walks with potty breaks and LOTS of mental work inside primarily emphasizing focusing on us - for at least a few weeks, and then gradually add in a few minutes of ball-play as a reward for a great training session.

We'll see how it goes. Just wanted to throw that out here, because all the advice we have been given has been exercise, exercise, exercise and "a tired labradoodle is a good labradoodle." That advice hasn't worked in our particular situation, and I thought it might be helpful for others too.

The books I've been reading: Control Unleashed and Fired up, Frantic, and Freaked out. They also have great blogs!

Jaymie