[susan]

Hi. Just need some reassurance from my doodle friends. Biscuit is 8 months old now. And, I notice he is beginning to challenge me. He barks at me to play with him. It seems to be a bit dominating. I have stood and looked him in the eyes saying no, I have turned my back on him. Well, yesterday, when I turned my back on him, he bit at me. It was not a "bite" but enough for me to notice. I guess I would say a "nip". Well, I put his prong on with his long training leash. It happened again and he received a good correction. He settled down after that. I don't like that behavior at all.

Can anyone offer any advice. We walk every day, make sure to get exercise. We have been doing really well but I don't want Biscuit to think that he can dominate me to play with him.

Thanks.

Susan

 

[Keith]

thats just it. He's exibiting dominance. Typical testing his limits, Bandit has been going through similar type issues... but weve had progress so there is hope!
He needs to be put in his place. Several articles about leadership and curbing dominant behaviour out there. I will see if I can locate it.
Things like:
* He eats after you do, and remains in a down-stay while you eat.
* He waits for you to enter through doorways, stairs, etc and not allowing him to charge through before you.
There are several more... like a top 20 list, I will see what I can find...

 

[Donna]

Tucker is 9 months and I notice him trying to push the boundaries a little. He's been trying to jump up on us. I think he is trying to see if we will let him get away with it. Kind of like a rebellious teenager. All I know to do is continue to be consistent with all the training and eventually he will grow out of it and make sure he knows I'm the pack leader! Good luck

Donna

 

[gracielou]

This is clearly an Alpha issue he wants to see if he can be the boss of the pack so you must let him know that he isn't. Good strong corrections and my trainer also says never sound meek keep a good stong voice and always stand tall. Keep him on a leash with you if you have to go back to that for a while he'll get it your the Alpha. :wink:

 

[Keith]

here's a decent link.

Google is your friend.

If I have time, I will scan in the article I got from my trainer with tips on it.

http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/behavior.html

 

[KMO20057]

I am not looking forward to the "teenage years"! :shock:

 

[dshell74]

Gus is 10 months old and he has been doing this too - nipping, barking and jumping in an attempt to get what he wants. He also growled at me the other day when I tried to move him from his sleeping spot on my bed (he sleeps on his own bed on the floor). I've been working with a trainer the past month or so for my GSD/Dob mix who has issues (born to a junkyard dog, wasn't socialized and is shy, to top it all off) and she suggested that I make both of my dogs "earn" their food, ie, give them tasks like sit/stay, lay down/stay, find it, etc and use their food as a reward after each task She said that this fulfills their need to be "working" and shows my dominance as the pack leader that delegates the jobs and controls the food. She said that all intelligent dogs will challenge their owner if the owner's behavior doesn't consistently demonstrate that they are the alpha of the "pack".

 

[Chesterpal]

Ny sister in law was having such issues with her 2 black labs (one was an abused dog she rescued and another the family just didn't want any more), she finally got a hold of a dog behaviorist (a dog whisperer). He's been coming to her house to help work on the dominence issues. She says its been worth every penny. Since she didn't have the dogs as pups she's working on retraining and teaching them who is the Alpha.

 

[AnneG]

Do all Doodles go through this stage? Starbuck is testing us to the limit!!! :shock: I thought we had a lamb but the wool came off and we found a wolf. Are there any lucky ones out there with the sweet "teenager" doodles? do they exist? I want to get a second doodle for Starbuck to "play" with but not if it means 2 bullies in the house!! With all the foster dogs we have had through the house I have NEVER come across such a stubborn ,willful, large dog!!

 

[seazr]

Teens are a challenge! But I must say, at 7 months, Dakota is beginning to settle down!
Diane (and Dakota)

 

[Keith]

Teens are a challenge! But I must say, at 7 months, Dakota is beginning to settle down!
Diane (and Dakota)

BWAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! :lol:

That's the calm before the storm. You wait, just wait... it will test your patience to no end, and then throw in a 12.5 yr old boy (going on 30) and it makes it all KINDS of fun.

I dont know if it is bredd specific, but there are times where Bandit wont listen to me, and then others where he wont listen to Tia. HOWEVER, I knock on wood as there has yet to be a time that he hasnt listened to either of us.

 

[bdbanddad]

Thanks for posting this, I feel so much better about Murphy, he's normal, not a up and coming neurotic like I was beginning to believe!

 

[AnneG]

You don't know what a relief this is to hear!! We were sure that we got a crazy, power hungry dog! and I guess that this means no sweet teens so no second doodle for us.

 

[Keith]

I guess that this means no sweet teens so no second doodle for us.

Why would you say this?

I think that a second may be a calming influence on both of them, a mentor/student relationship if you will.

We will have to ask HookedonDoodles how it is working with Ceasar & Brutus (who happens to be Bandit's brother). She is in a good situation to test out that theory.

Like I said, I would tend to think this is common with dogs in general as they are pack animals and testing for dominance/superiority within the pack(family). With the proper training ANYTHING is possible.

Dont give up hope, and Im sure that its a phase that can be corrected.

 

[Julee]

Hi All!
My Reagan was doing the same type of behavior. Some of it was finding
her place in our family pack - and some was due to being bored and lonely. Getting our second Doodle was the answer :!: :!: Reagan
loves being 'big' sister to our new little Doodle boy.[Lincoln] She is bossy-
and extremely patient, but most of all - she is SO HAPPY :!: :!: Getting
a second Doodle angel was one of the smartest things I've ever done
I totally recommend it :!: :!: :wink:
Julee Reagan&Lincoln

 

[Hooked on Doodles]

Well Brutus (9 mo) is definately a bit of an alpha so we did a lot of work with him to show that he was not in charge. Your typical work like rolling him on his back, making him submit whenever he was getting overly dominant, stepping on his feet when he gets into our space, consistently correcting him for undesirable behavior (we also use the pinch collar - best invention ever for helping with training such a large dog - Brutus is 80 lbs and can pull me down the street if he wants to).

We were a little worried when we brought home his little brother (9 wk old chocolate/cafe doodle) that he might try to be overly dominant or jealous with the pup. We did have to work with him for a couple of days until he started to understand that Caesar can't play as rough as the other pups Brutus usually plays with, but over all he really liked Caesar from the get go.

We have noticed that Brutus doesn't pay as much attention to us - especially if Caesar is fussing, but we are just re-inforcing his training and it is getting better already. I will say that Brutus is able to quiet Caesar at night - which is nice! And Caesar seems to be learning from his big brother already.

All in all I am very happy that we chose to get another puppy at this stage. It is definately a lot of work - and you have to be able to seperate the pups enough that they stay attached to you as the leader and they don't grow so attached to each other that they ignore you - but to see them together makes it all worth it.

All this and Caesar has only been with us about 10 days! I can't wait to see what happens next - you should watch Caesar chase big ole Brutus through the house - it is SO funny!