[anns5]

We adore our 7 month old doodle, but he is a handful. We have 3 kids that play with him, we take him for walks, to the park, are with him all of the time, have taken obedience classes since he was 14 weeks old, but it is just IN him! A lot of people in my neighborhood got puppies this spring, so I can't help but notice how much calmer all of these other dogs are, and a lot of their owners haven't taken classes, read the books, and don't have this forum like we do!
After reading A LOT of other posts where people have said, "I have had dogs all my life, but none that were like this" I have to ask, what is it? The poodle and the lab mix?

Most importantly, be honest guys, do they really ever outgrow it, or is it going to be a management thing? I'm not throwing in the towel, I'm head over heels, but I am wondering what to expect for the future.

 

[kim26]

I've been wondering the same thing myself. I have to say that the last few days have been going alot better with Doc. So, I've got renewed hope that he WILL outgrow it.

 

[K9Summer]

He's the most energetic because he is smack dab in the middle of adolscence! From six months to 1 1/2 (or sometimes 2!) they are adolescents, which means they listen about half the time! I observe puppy kindergarten and older puppy classes at a training facility, and it is amazing to see how mellow all of the dogs are until they hit 6 or 7 months. The little ones are all calm and sweet, and then all of a sudden they turn! I would guess that your neighbors puppies will be entering this stage soon too. For now, you're right- it is a lot of management. Two very important things- exercise and keeping up with the training. I would make sure he is getting plenty of exercise- they need at least an hour a day. Walk him, play fetch with him- a tired dog is a good dog. You can also keep him busy when he's inside with chew toys and interactive toys that dispense treats (twist n treats, buster cubes) because the mental stimulation will wear him out too. I promise that it will get better, but it will probably get worse first If you look at dogs in shelters, most of them are between 6 months and a year and a half because of what you're feeling right now- it is overwhelming. I have two LD's- Duke is 12 months and Summer is 16 months. They have calmed down a lot since they were 7 or 8 months old. Good luck!

Bridget, Summer, and Duke

 

[Angie]

I find that if I walk Otto three times a day for at least 1 hour each walk he sleeps for a short while, then is full of life again and runs around crazy, it must have something to do with the cross breed, as a lot of people are saying the same thing. Some of you have older doodles, truthfully when do they calm down like other dogs?

 

[Jac]

Yes...what Bridget says!

 

[dixiedi]

What I have found is about 1 1/2 years of age, they have mellowed out immensley. Each dog is different, as with any breed and they all go thru the puppy and adolescent stages. Just stay on top of the training, enjoy your doodle and the end results are priceless :wink:

 

[2doodsmom]

This week I got a little insight into this matter. My 20 year old daughter came to vist and met our 13 mo. old littermates for the first time. I was apologizing to her for the general rowdiness of her meeting them. I said, "These dogs are a little more difficult than any other dog we ever had." She said, "Are you kidding? Don't you remember when Bailey (our Old English Sheepdog who passed away last summer) was a puppy? He ripped the faces off of all my stuffed animals and he jumped on my friends when they came over and he even bit me a couple of times! I hated him until he was about 2 years old!" Now, this is BAILEY, my angel dog, she's talking about. Clearly my memories have faded considerably. (I have been heard to remark over and over how much more difficult raising the doods has been, than it was with my sweet mellow Bailey.) So part of this may be that it's hard to get really accurate info from us doodle moms who have had our difficult doodle moments replaced by so many wonderful ones!

But as best as I can remember 6-11 months was a circus. Now at 13 months we have lots fewer crazy moments than we used to. In fact in about a year I'll bet I'll have to go back and read my old posts to actually recall how hard it was!

I do know that, as with children, you keep trying and sometimes things work and sometimes they don't. Now and then you get a brilliant idea and it solves a problem permanently....but mostly I think you love them, train them, keep them safe.....and then they grow up and they become adults and you can't remember what all the fuss was about!

 

[anns5]

Thanks everyone, we're hanging in there, trying different things. Had to laugh because he jumps up on everyone and everything, so we tried a trick we read on this forum about grabbing his paws and keeping him upright longer than he might like, not causing pain, but not letting him do as he wants either. Our dog loved it! He is a small medium/large mini, so I swear he is more poodle when it comes to walking on his hind legs like a circus dog. He would wag his tail and stay upright happily until YOU got tired of holding him up!! LOL

Trial and error plus obedience school!!

 

[movistar]

I can certainly tell you without a doubt that its not the mix.
My doodle is calm and has been from the beginning, I got him at 4 months.
Our litter parents tell us there pups are calm(yet still puppyish) but two parents had a bit of unruliness with some biting but it was puppy biting and quickly resolved.
with that being said I read the forum and know that you are not alone.
this is a fabulous site and if needed there are many people here who are more
than happy to share some discipline tactics that may work for you.
I would be a millionaire I bet if I knew when a dog would be bouncy and when it wouldnt!
In my old neighborhood it was a jack russell that was out of his mind
and before that it was a collie!!

 

[dixiedi]

I will ditto that Movistar. I get e-mail after e-mail from puppy buyers who say they can't believe their Labradoodle is a puppy because they are so calm. I believe a lot of it is in the breeding. If you get a puppy from a breeder that breeds for temperament and health first and foremost, you will get a wonderful puppy :wink: