Loopy Labradoodle

[judypark]

Bess is 12 months old, she constantly craves attention, pawing and nuzzling, which is nice but not 18 hours a day. I am at home with her all day, so it's not company that she lacks. If we go out she settles quietly in the kitchen for several hours and does not bark (we have checked with neighbours) It's just when we are with her that she becomes totally attention seeking. In the evening she flies about literally throwing herself on us like a thing possessed and the only respite is to put her out of the room which we dislike doing as she is part of the family. We have been puppy walkers for Guide Dogs, so know that Labradors can be quite scatty, but Bess is half Standard Poodle, is this a trait of the that breed? Any advice would be welcome.

[jules77]

I have friends with labradors and poodles, and havnt noticed a particular trait, although they are all lovable.

I have three all fighting for attention and they are rough collies. I havnt had to shut them out of the room though, they just have to wait their turn. The eldest one of the trio has just gone four and rather like a mountain goat as if we sit down she just takes off, lands on us, and gets in the most awkward positions just to get attention.

[judypark]

Thanks Jules, I can understand your 3 dogs being in competition with each other, I had 3 kids who did exactly the same for attention, but this is one dog who has my attention for most of the day. As I type, she is in the hall, again, door shut, she is warm and has a cosy bed out there but if I open the door, which I have done on 5 occassions tonight, she will fly in with a tirade of playful barking. Having lived next door to a barking dog I am very aware of how annoying this is.
Hopefully this is just a phase, Guide Dog assessors always said that 9 to 11 months were the worst for behaviour, terrible teens.
Any Standard Poodle owners, or anyone else with suggestions?

[raggies1]

Personally I would ignore the behaviour. Not to say dont give attention, but if she gets too much rather than shutting her out I would either stand and turn my back or leave the room for 30 seconds. As you sit down, if she does it again just repeat it, you have to be consistent though. We have a 16 month old mongrel and he doesnt do it with us anymore but he will still get excited with visitors, we ask them to ignore the undesirable behaviour and he settles so quickly. He's learnt that sitting nicely gets a fuss.

[judypark]

Thanks Raggies
That is exactly we were told to do with Puppy Guide Dogs, turn your back, cross your arms and ignore them until they have calmed down, then lots of fuss to reward good behaviour, trouble is, Bess doesn't seem to recognise these parameters. One of our main worries is the barking, it is loud and late evening. I do not want to disturb my neighbours. Help

[horselady]

Sorry I don't have an answer but I'm interested in this because my daughter's 9 month old retriever is a nightmare in this way. Every time any of us sit down she launches herself at us and claws at arms, face, anything. We've tried all the usual tricks but nothing's working.

[divegirl]

I know some don't agree with it...so don't jump on me...but have you tried rattling a can of stones when she jumps...sort of shock tactic! Some will say it's too aggressive, but as the owner of a nutty Dane it worked for me!

Lisa x

[divegirl]

Should have added that the 'can' is used along side firm commands. As she jumps shake and a 'no' or 'down'....what ever is appropriate in your training plan!

Lisa x

[daffidazey]

I know it might sound weird but we had a dog when I was a kid that was like this. My mum bought a door bell kit (wireless one I think) and put the sound box of it the other side of the room, everytime he jumped at us mum had the bell bit in her hand and pressed it, Obviously it made him jump and he'd go off in the other direction looking for it . After a while he stopped looking for the bell but also stopped jumping at us. Everytime he was settled we made a fuss of him. Hope you get this issue sorted. Daffi x

[jules77]

My friend has two standard poodles, they are both very affectionate, but very intelligent too, and if you tell them to lie down and be quiet they will. How old was the dog when you had her, perhaps it is an anxiety thing and she needs to be re-assured.

Have you tried some herbal remedies?

[judypark]

Thanks for all your suggestions, Guide Dogs advocate rattling a tin, and I have tried it, but it only works for literally seconds and is as noisy as her barking. Jules, she was 7 weeks old when we had her and has always been a confident dog, there is only 3 things she is slightly nervous of and they are fireworks, cats and the window cleaner, and these are no threat at 9pm.
Our last GD puppy Lois, left us in November 2006 and I had despaired of her, however, in August this year she had qualified and now is the guide for a Cardiff university student, so hopefully there is hope for Bess yet.

[fredpuli47]

Whatever the reason for her doing this, the answer is that you have to give her a bit of a cuddle, on your terms,at the outset then say 'No, down, that's enough!' and push her away. Then steel yourself to ignore her, whatever she does.My, that requires strength of will (by you: her willpower is already proven) !.If she keeps coming back don't give her eye contact or do say anything towards her, not even the 'reward' of saying 'No 'all the time: she thinks even that's attention, and better than nothing, so she'll repeat the behaviour.

It helps if she has something to chew on or play with quietly, to occupy her when she's not getting your attention.

She behaves like a Standard. I have kept standard poodles and also bred the other sizes. Standards differ in behaviour only in that they are a lot longer in growing up and maturing than their smaller relations. At twelve months she'll still be daft and exuberant, given to wild bursts of dashing about for any reason and none.However, they are very intelligent and while that's part of the problem it's also the answer. She has learned very quickly that her behaviour gets attention (any reaction from you counts as attention) and she'll exercise every brain cell to devise as many ways as she can to keep it. But, given stubborn resistance to her wiles, she'll learn to be satisfied that once you've said 'No' once and ignored her completely nothing she can do will change that.Thereafter she'll wait to be called upon by you and not demand of you.(It'll still take time though)

[judypark]

Thanks fred, I know that Poodles come only second to Collies in the canine intelligence stakes, Labradors are about fifth down the list, so genetically she is MENSA material of the doggy world. She has plenty of toys and bones but it's our attention that she craves. I agree that blanking unwanted behaviour is the only solution and praising only desirable behaviour. We can put up with her barking, but at 9 pm to 11, can our neighbours? I think maybe the best thing to do is approach them, we get on well and they are dog lovers, and explain the situation, if it doesn't bother them, I think we could crack the problem within weeks. Thanks for your input.

[lankeela]

I would try a water pistol or spray bottle of water and spray her whenever she barks. Hopefully this will stop her, and if you use a word or phrase as you do it you will soon be able to just use the words, such as 'where's that spray' or 'where's that gun' (not recommended out in the garden, your neighbours might think you are gun toting madmen).

[judypark]

Definitely not in the garden, my neighbour is a police officer with the proportions of a Sherman Tank. Unfortunately Bess likes nothing more than to play with the jet from the hose in summer, I know this method works well wiith many dogs, but not this one I fear, thanks for taking the time to reply, it may help someone else though.