Please help - 10 month cockerpoo

[Cuppasoupmonster]

We got our cockerpoo in April as a 10 week pup.

She’s lovely but very very excitable. We’ve tried dog training, using training methods ourselves, we’re consistent in our approach, but nothing works. When she sees somebody she doesn’t know, even just walking past us on the street, she goes mad jumping at them trying to lick them. Of course this means she is always on a lead, but it just won’t calm down.

A delivery driver just came to the door, our floor has recently been replaced so the porch door won’t close properly. She managed to slip past me and went wild jumping all over him and licking him. It was really embarrassing and now I’m worried he will make a complaint about her or that her teeth/claws accidentally caught him (they didn’t but I’m a huge worried).

I’m going to put a stair gate across the hall until the porch door issue is fixed. But does anyone have any advice that might help? She really is very gentle; has never growled/snarled or shown a moment’s aggression, she’s just very excitable. She gets 2 walks a day (to an enclosed field where we only let her off if no other dogs) where she gets a good run around. The general advice on cockerpoo Facebook pages is that she’ll calm with age but when?

No one outside of your household cares if your dog is toilet trained or doesn’t chew the furniture but they do care if a dog comes barrelling at them and jumps all over them. Particularly in winter when it’s wet and muddy.

Yes which is why she’s on a lead and we only let her off when we’ve had the okay from another dog owner. What’s your problem? 🙄

Look, you come on a dog thread and ask for advice .you don’t have to listen to the advice but I’m telling you what you need to do to stop your dog jumping up. From experience of terrier and active breeds.
You haven’t trained your dog properly. Teach her she only get attention when she sits. Ignore her if she jumps. If you can be bothered.

@Cuppasoupmonster I posted a similar post recently about my 6 year old cocker and also received a few judgemental comments.

Oh think that was recommended was specific gundog training so we've just booked him on to that (we did puppy training a lot when he was little).

I don't have much advice as we're still in the thick of it but don't worry about any judgement. You're asking because you want advice for it to be overcome - shows you care in my opinion

No wonder people don't post on here - you can give advice without being rude.

Sympathies OP. I've a poodle cross who's exactly the same. He adores people and actively looks for interactions with strangers. So we do a lot of "swerving" away from people when on the streets. He sits on command but is a wriggling whimpering mess as he's hoping for attention 🙄
Part of the problem is lack of consistency on my part I know. A training walk from the beginning - and he's great. But if I don't pay attention / bump into a friend I really want to chat to and forget to check him - he's a hot mess on the end of the lead.
Fortunately, he's a loving well behaved dog generally but I do curse myself when I've not anticipated a challenge in advance.

You do realise training is a process that takes some months, it isn’t an instant thing that you master before taking them outside? She doesn’t jump at passers by because I don’t let her and she’s on a lead. The only people she jumps at are family members (dog lovers who don’t mind) and the one incident in my OP. And that was enough to make me start this thread.

So jog on with your snotty posts.

Thank you to the other posters. Yes I very much care that she behaves and isn’t a public nuisance which is why I’m asking for advice. Gun dog training sounds like an excellent suggestion I will look into it. I feel like we need a bit of input here from somebody more experienced with gun dogs than we are - DH’s lab was badly abused and very nervy when he took her so he didn’t have this issue, my Doberman was cautious around people he didn’t know due to his guarding instincts. But our poo just thinks everyone she meets is her best friend 😆

‘When she sees somebody she doesn’t know, even just walking past us on the street, she goes mad jumping at them trying to lick them.’

is what you actually said. I feel sorry for the poor thing, stuck in a lead all the time. The sooner you master the training the better.

‘Trying’ being the key word here. She makes no contact with them because I don’t let her. And if you had read my other posts she’s only on a lead until we reach the field which is enclosed then we let her off. God you sound miserable, are you okay?

’Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy’ is a great book for inexperienced dog owners.

Thank you I will have a look for it on Amazon.

Anyone who thinks that anything less than perfect behaviour from a 10 month old dog is entirely down to lack of training is talking out of their bottom. And the perfectly behaved 10 month old dog could be an arsehole in 2 months time. Behaviour is very fluid at this age.

You're doing the right thing in not letting her off the lead so she can rehearse the behaviour. At that age all our walks were about quiet places with good sightlines so we could put her on the lead whenever we spotted people. Asking for a sit out in public would have been just setting her up for failure. We did also do some sitting and observing people at a distance and rewarding for attention on us not the people but otherwise it really was just management (i.e. on the lead). I can't really pinpoint when it changed but at 18 months we can walk her off lead past dogs and people now.

I would hope a dog is on a lead on the street no matter how jumpy or calm they are.

I think the op has had some tough responses because posters are fed up of people buying cockerpoos then getting surprised by their challenging behaviour which is entirely characteristic of the breeds involved. Bright, energetic breeds need a lot of input.

I’ve not read all the replies just OP’s, so I may be repeating something someone else has said!

We know a few (as in, I’ve lost count!) cockerpoos. They are all lovely natured but with SUCH a zest for life! Apparently they mature a bit later than other dogs (according to that Tv show - the doghouse)

I’m not sure if this is helpful but; We’re part of a dog walking group and that seems to help a few of the giddy pups, they tend to not run off because they like to stick with the pack and all the exercise plus mental stimulation from dog company seems to get them nice and tired. And, all the owners have said how much their overall behaviour has improved since going on the walks. BUT it’s a good well balanced pack with a few older good dogs and a few very experienced humans…. So everyone (dogs and humans!) reacts well to the giddy pups and they seem to learn the rules after a few outings…. So maybe that’s an idea?

I honestly think half the battle are other people - cute dog jumps up and shows love, lots of people will accidentally reward the behaviour (esp. as for some dogs just looking at them or a slight stroke is a reward! It’s hard not to!)

I have a 6 month old cockapoo. She is also full of the joys, loves everybody, is super friendly. Her general happiness at life and people is infectious.

your dog sounds lovely, cuppasoupmonster. And with time, and the training you’re doing, I’m sure she’ll calm down. Just like toddlers do, eventually.

There are some really helpful suggestions here. My only contribution is that I never want to train that joy out of my dog. To be calm around people and other dogs -yes. To be disciplined to the point where she loses her enthusiasm- no.

And just seen the reply above. My girl does 2 sessions a week at doggy daycare, and 1 group walk with other dogs. She adores these because they are social and is much calmer (and tired!) afterwards. Maybe explore any local options?

My cockerpoo is 8 and sorry to say he's still giddy and jumps up at people. I have to keep him on a lead if people are around. He's very strong willed and stubborn and doesn't respond to training as well as my other dogs have done.

The only way to stop my two from jumping up at visitors is to completely ignore them as you enter the house. Otherwise they behave as if they haven’t seen a human for 20 years.

Ok you're right in the middle of the teenage arsehole months. She may well also be brewing her first season.

So, deep breaths, dog deep and just keep going and being consistent. No attention till all paws on the floor. No attention at the table whilst begging. Wait for the sit.

It all feel SO repetitive but Spaniel and spaniel crosses it's very much 2 steps forward 1 or even 3 back and it's so frustrating!

I honestly could have swapped mine for a goldfish at that age but at 27 months he's starting to mature nicely.

Keep the faith, keep training, definitely seek out positive gundog training if you can too. Stretch that busy brain.

Enrichment isn't a ball in the park. It's scent training, gundog skills and really making them think and work for their food. Scatter feed, make it a split of scatter feed, Kongs and "find it" and you'll have a much happier doggo.

17 not 27 months 😂

I’m sorry you’ve had some rude and unhelpful comments. I have a young dog (16 months old) and he still tries to jump up on people. He doesn’t do it all the time and can walk past people with no issue whatsoever. But sometimes when someone approaches him directly, speaks to him, reaches out a hand to pet him, etc., his first instinct is to jump up to say hello. We have been working on this consistently and we haven’t cracked it yet, though there has been definite improvement. In all other respects he’s a dream and very responsive to training.

So I have much sympathy for you. I would say just keep plugging away at the training and you should reap the benefits eventually. I hope the same will be true for me!

What do you do when you come home op?

We have a 15 week old springer pup (appreciate its early days here lol) but knowing how nuts they can be, training her to be calm around new people has been our main focus (along with recall).

We make sure we ignore her when we come in, every time without fail. The kids have been drilled on the importance of this and so are any visitors. And when I say ignore, her, we take it to the extreme...totally blank her for several minutes until she's sitting or lying somewhere quiet. Then say hello and stroke her calmly.

It feels incredibly mean and neglectful in a way - but honestly it works so well. She's getting calmer and calmer every week that passes and mostly now will just wander towards people with a casual tail wag rather than the jumping up we had when she was 8-12 weeks ish.

Sorry to say our 12 year old cockapoo is still like this, not so much jumping up but very excitable still, lots of bum wiggling and won't leave people alone !