A Few Questions On Our 5mo Old Pup

[Llodlean]

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are the proud owners of a 5 month old Miniature Poodle, who we have had since the age of 8 weeks old.

He's a wonderful companion, very intelligent (possibly too intelligent), and affectionate.

We took him to puppy preschool when he was younger, but due to a variety of personal circumstances missed this year's obedience school classes (Our plan is to book him in as soon as we are able to do so in the new year).

Our puppy is well socialised, and spends his days with other dogs and people (we drop him with family and their dogs), and has met probably over 100 people including children of a variety of ages, and about 30-40 dogs. He is excellent with children (always supervised), and has never been aggressive.

He is a quick learner generally, in that he has known how to sit, lie down, shake hands etc.

Unfortunately we've got a few issues that we want to address with him, and whilst we would otherwise wait to have our obedience classes, in the interim a friend suggested we ask a few questions here (I hope that's okay!!)

Our puppy is great when he's with us, but struggles with being alone, probably because it doesn't happen often. He sleeps through the night without issue, and is happy to be put to bed most nights in the bathroom (which we have set up as his playroom, so it's always got food, water, toys, a comfortable bed, his crate and a pee pad so he can go to the bathroom as needed), so the issue isn't being alone at all, but if we put him outside and close the door (without other dogs there), or if we leave the room without him, or put him in his playroom when he it isn't his 'bed time', he barks, cries and paws at the door.

Sometimes he's also a bit destructive (ripping up toilet paper etc), even though he has all his favourite toys with him. We have done our best to try and ignore the behaviour and not reward it, but sometimes it is unavoidable (ie to prevent annoying the neighbours too much, because we have to take him somewhere, or because it's the morning, he's woken up, and if we don't get to him quickly he will pee inside). He is also incredibly persistent and will bark for an hour or more without break (so our plans to wait for a gap in his barking and reward him with treats has been difficult to achieve).

Other than trying to wait him out, and then rewarding him for being quiet, is there anything we should be doing?

Secondly, whilst he knows all sorts of commands, he will often simply ignore us, especially when we ask him to come to us, both inside or at the dog park. We have tried bringing treats to the oval, and trying to get him to run between us when we call him to come, and this works for a few runs before he gets bored and runs off. Part of the problem is that he isn't too keen on treats/food in general, and we have tried a number of options (dried liver, ruffs, roo sticks, pigs ears etc). We also try and take him out before his evening meal so that he is hungry when training, but this hasn't seemed to help a great deal.

He is interested in fetching a ball, so we always make him sit/come when he wants it to be thrown, but he will often just run off with the ball rather than bringing it back.

When we are doing this play/training, when he stops paying attention, should we stop trying and take him home, or should we persist? Also, is there any training technique we should be looking at in addition to what we are trying?

The next issue is he seems to have a fixation with other dogs' tongues. He will run up to them and try and lick/bite at the other dog's tongue. Fortunately he has only done this with family dogs who are far more relaxed than I would be if I had a puppy trying to grab my tongue, but we are worried he will try to do this with a less tolerant dog at a dog park, and we can't exactly spray the other dogs' tongues with bitter spray. Is there anything we should be doing to stop this?

I'm sure we will have other questions, but I thought I'd start with those.

Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much,

LL

[MarieEvans]

It seems to me like your dog wants your attention to be all on him all the time. As with your mentioning that he would sometimes run off with the ball in tow, it's as if he is testing you. He's trying to figure out how long it would take before you guys go and get him.

[persephone]

Welcome :)

What daily training are you doing with your juvenile delinquent?

Pups need a few minutes spent on manners every day .. and they need constant reminders that recall/paying attention to the human when they speak , is a Very Good Thing!

I will strongly suggest that your pup and you will benefit from these two things ... they will help you realise your dog is all dog ..and doesn't think as a human does , and they will help your dog realise that humans are the all powerful, and provider of good stuff------------------- and that the DOG is responsible for how much good stuff he gets!! LOL

Triangle of Temptation

Nothing In Life Is Free

have a read HERE as well .

a couple of points

your dog is not seeking to dominate you and your household forever.

your dog will unfailingly do the 'correct thing' if his reward is great enough ( and rewards can be a simple pat , or playing with a ball/tug toy) .

Your dog will often learn bad habits MUCH easier than good ones, because we humans encourage it :p

I also suggest feeding your pup outside .. giving him a big bone outside ..and having pup friends who are gentle come and spend time outside with him...

there will be others with advice ... and I hope that you & your pup can get a better understanding of each other :)

The next issue is he seems to have a fixation with other dogs' tongues. He will run up to them and try and lick/bite at the other dog's tongue.

I am thinking (and it may not be correct, as I have not seen your pup )..that your puppy is simply doing what puppies do a lot .. do submissive mouth licking of adult dogs .This starts when cubs/pups are young and being weaned.. they lick/bite at a parent's mouth, and the parent then regurgitates food for the litter . It is an instinct :) A lot of adult dogs will still do it to other dogs ... meanwhile sending out body language that says, in effect ..." Hi, it's just me - I mean you no harm ..aren't I cute and inoffensive?"

Edited December 26, 2012 by persephone

[juice]

One other thing, don't leave food out for him all the time, feed him at regular times, if he doesn't eat it, take it away.

You are in charge not him, he won't die if he doesn't eat for a day, it also doesn't help with training as he is never hungry.

Being tougher on him isn't being mean, dogs respect a leader with boundries, its less stressful for them.

[Tassie]

Some good advice here. I would add a couple of things.

You might find he's more interested in soft treats..easier to use in training as they can be delivered more quickly and are easier to eat quickly...and usually tastier. Things like small cubes of chicken loaf, low fat cheese, Devon sausage ..a whole variety of things can be used....it's good to have a mixture.

At his age, he'll be starting to test boundaries, so you might want to have him on a long light line ( not a retractable) when he's in a park...that way he has plenty of independence, but you have control and he doesn't learn to run off.

[Tassie]

And have a look on the net for some puppy foundation training you can do .... Little and often will help teach him that working with you is fun. Have a look on YouTube for kikopup ..she has some great stuff.

Frozen stuffed kongs can be great for alone time.

[dancinbcs]

Some great advice here and don't forget he is still very much a puppy at 5 months old and will not be 100% reliable to commands for some time yet. It is a ongoing process that takes time and maturity. Also keep in mind that Poodles are very smart and have a sense of humour. Sometimes they can be very inventive in their interpretation of commands.

Edited December 27, 2012 by dancinbcs

[Zenith]

I'm no expert, but a few ideas that we have used for our dogs and with our new puppy - In addition to the great articles mentioned above by K9pro, we also use many of the principles Leerburg uses. We've used them on adults and rescues with great results as well as our newest addition.

We have an exercise pen in the lounge room that our puppy is in during the day whilst we are inside - he has toys in there that we regularly change. He is fed in there at mealtimes, anything not eaten is taken away. I take him outside for toilet stops as soon as he wakes up, finishes eating or once he has been playing for a while. He can see all the goings on in the house, but has had to get used to us walking away from him etc etc. We also crate him at night, he's in our room at the moment, so I can take him out as soon as he wakes up to toilet. He must sit before coming out of the crate or pen, and is always on lead outside of these times. If he's not crying when I walk past etc, I just throw a treat in - I don't say anything to him as he starts carrying on again. We just ignore him if he is carrying on. K9 pro has lots of info on his website about crate training.

I also have an exercise pen over at our stables, and he also has an assortment of toys in there. We also have a separate run for him in our backyard, and we started off putting him in there for short periods of time, and building it up. So we give him a kong or a nice big knuckle bone and we leave him in there (also with toys too) before leaving the house. All of these are assisting in him getting better with us leaving him in the 2 weeks we've had him.

Our older dogs are also crated at meal times and whenever we want to train separately or we have people or kids over etc.

With treats - try a few different things and see what he likes most. Mine love sausage (chicken or beef), cheese, BBQ Chicken, steak! I just cook up whatever I have, cut it into small pieces and freeze then defrost bits of different treats - that way I can mix it up and not get them bored. I will also miss a meal or 2 if they aren't that interested. Although one of our girls is more interested in playing tug as a reward, she's funny with taking food from your hand no matter how hungry she is.

With regards to recall, we don't allow our dogs off lead until they have reliable recall. Being on a farm its too dangerous with our horses, and snakes and other wildlife if they can't be called back. Whilst our adults are all great at home, I don't trust all of them off lead when under massive distractions whilst not at home, so they stay on a long line then too! There are lots of resources on the web regarding producing a reliable recall.

[mixeduppup]

Have you tried telling him to be quiet when he barks, distracting him with a loud clap or "ah"?

[Simply Grand]

Agree with everything that's been said, especially that poodles are very smart. They are also EXCELLENT at learning to manipulate humans :D

I LOVE NILIF and TOT as linked by Persephone, they are invaluable and dogs thrive on it. Teaching a Poodle what he needs to do to earn things is a good way of teaching him that he is not the boss and cannot manipulate you but that he can have some control in getting what he wants by doing what is asked of him.

With the recall (coming when called) I also agree with the suggestion of using yummier treats! Mine loooove cheese, chicken, cabanossi etc. People food totally beats dog food :laugh: Reward him when he just happens to come over to you voluntarily, and if he already happens to be running towards you from a distance start calling him and reward him when he arrives. You're teaching him that coming to you is a great thing so that he'll be willing to do it whenever you ask.

And with all games and interactions you need to be super exciting! So calling him in a high pitched, excited voice should help get his attention and encourage him to want to be with you. Puppuppup in a super high voice works well with most puppies. Also standing up straight and waving your arms helps him see you and think something exciting is happening, and running away from him is more likely to encourage him to come with you, running towards him is likely to make him run away because being chased is a fun game!

[Simply Grand]

Oh yeah, with the mouth/tongue licking mine all do it occasionally with each other and some other dogs. Just like Perse said they will do it if there has been a little bit of a scuffle, even if they've not actually been involved in it, they will duck down a bit, come up to the other dog from below and lick at their mouth to say "I'm no threat, happy to submit to you, let's just be friends"

[Llodlean]

Thank you so much everyone for the fantastic advice! Lots to read and absorb, but we have started with TOT and NILIF already.

I'm certain we will have a lot of questions, and I will post back with them soon :)

Thank you again for all your help.

[frufru]

Miniature poodles are very people orientated and would be with you 24/7 if they could. You need to teach your puppy that it will be left alone sometimes and that this is not the end of the world. Perhaps you could start a thread about teaching your puppy to be alone - I am sure you would get lots of very good suggestions.