Puppy regret

[TheTwirlyPoos]

Never thought I'd write that.

She's a year and 2 months. In the house she's a dream. Like you wouldn't know she was here.
Walking is good. She will stay with me off lead in the woods. If there is another dog then I struggle but usually walking away will do it and she will follow me.
She sleeps all night, eats well, was house trained so easily etc etc etc.

But..

She steals stuff from the house and chews it in the garden all the time. I've lost count of the stuff I've found destroyed. She has kongs, brain toys, she eats at least an hour a day exercise, loads of stuff to chew on but it is relentless
She is also very boisterous with other dogs. I took her to an enclosed dog area today, there were five tier dogs when we got there. Within minutes they'd all left and it wasnt a coincidence.
She gets so over excited outside..in the garden she will go for the kids, Juno up around them, mouth them. I've tried distraction, I've tried keeping her occupied but it just doesn't work. I'm sick of my kids being scared and crying from the garden.
Ugh. Today was horrible.

Yes that's exactly what we need to do. So out for a wee I'll need to put her on a lead yes?

I have a mini poodle. They aren't the easiest of dogs. Mine is now 7 and she is still naughty if bored and likes to be active. Mine did calm down a lot at 1 1/2. They are easy to train especially if they are like mine and food motivated.

I would for now, or use a longline so if she doesn't respond to recall, you can stand on it and reel her in. I'd also keep her inside the kids are outside and you're not also outside to supervise.

My sister could have written this, steals things but wants you to chase him, he then ruins it.

Same with the gated dog runs, they all leave because he is too boisterous with the other dogs.

Yesterday he escaped and managed to stop the traffic on a main dual carriageway both ways while he ran around thinking it was a game.
Luckily the police drove past and stopped the traffic.

He sits, goes to his bed if you tell him but wont give a paw and has no recall. He has a great nature and doesn't bark much.

He has had behaviorists, trainers, puppy classes but nothing changes.

If you go into the house he jumps on you, visitors don't stand a chance as he is all over them.

He is nearly two so hopefully he will calm down soon.

Is she allowed upstairs @TheTwirlyPoos ?

If so I would stop that right away, put a stair gate at the bottom of the stairs so that will reduce the area she can steal from.

Maybe put a stair gate across the kitchen also? It sounds exhausting so I can understand why you’re so fed up. Unfortunately it sounds like the onus is on you to safeguard the house so she can’t reach much stuff she’s not allowed.

No never been allowed upstairs and kitchen only (it's a big room, sofa etc) when she's alone.

He is nearly two so hopefully he will calm down soon.

I see a lot of people saying things like this, but unless the owners are consistent and put the work in, nothing will change. Dogs don't just turn a random age and suddenly stop behaving like idiots (unfortunately!).

People are also much, much less tolerant of adult dogs with no recall and that jump up. While you can kind of get away with a cute puppy jumping at you or running up to another dog, people won't accept it from an adult and you will find your dog gets shouted at and pushed or kicked away if they're a pest.

I know it's not your dog so it's not a dig at you, but lots of people seem to think that once they get older the yobbish behaviour will just stop on its' own but that's really not true.

15 minutes a day doing what exactly?
Training is ongoing, everything your dog does is a training opportunity!
You are conditioning your dog to do cretin behaviors. Sometimes you need to coax them into it and at other times they do it naturally. But it's never just confined to a specific place and time.

So I ask because my dog will do the trying to find something to chew/steal thing if her routine is off kilter.

An example of this would be if we have visitors to the house she might go and grab something to chew in excitement/displacement (because she knows she musn't jump up, but she has a lot of BIG feelings at the change of routine!)

Your household sounds very busy and you say each day is different with no set walk times etc. That might make for a dog who is always on high alert, not sure of the next move iyswim?

@commonground that's really interesting
Essentially DH WFH 2-3 days a week and when he goes into the office it's sometimes earlier, sometimes later so sometimes he will walk her in the morning or sometimes I will when I've taken the children to school. Three days a week they are both in school but two days I have one of them.

So yeah everyday is different in terms of logistics. Its nice having the flexibility but maybe it's exacerbating the problem.

The lack of routine thing is interesting as we deliberately never had one to try and prevent the issue of a dog who pesters because his walk is ten minutes late or because you've had to feed an hour later than normal due to being on a work call.

He gets a walk everyday but we deliberately switch it up.

I'm going to go against what other people have said here, I think her issue is she was never actually properly trained rather than routine, looking for entertainment, lack of exercise etc.

You say she comes if you walk away - that is not a trained dog. That is a dog who automatically follows you rather than coming when called. She jumps up - because she's never been taught not to, so she's not trained. She mouths, she steals etc.This is not a dig at you, OP. But nothing you have said suggests a dog with any training...

A lot of people seem to think that giving dogs lots of brain toys and kongs and exercising them is 'job done' territory. And this comes after you have already done it, but I am hoping someone will read this and not make the same mistakes - providing constant stimulation for puppies (exercise, physical comfort, play time, kongs, toys etc) is not good for your dog. Advice on social media doesn't help - it's full of people saying 'stick a kong in front of your dog for peace and quiet,' or 'scatter feed them etc' which is really terrible advice as young puppies need to learn to 'switch-off.' You cannot and should not be providing entertainment for a dog all the time. I can imagine with young children and the combination of brain games and kongs your dog was almost always stimulated as a puppy? Never learnt to switch off etc?

It's not your fault - it's hard with puppies (particularly high energy and intelligent breeds) and young children. And everything you have said is easily fixable. But it means you need to go back to day 1: recall in an enclosed field with rewards, sitting and waiting, not jumping, waiting for permission to take food etc. Basics. She should be on leads on walks until she learns to interact nicely with other dogs - because one day she will be attacked (if other dog walkers are actually leaving areas after you arrive that is a clear sign your dog is not under your control). TBH I would take away the brain games and kongs as well. Proper training and learning new commands and reinforcing existing commands (i.e. recall) is far better for your dog and your relationship with your dog than brain games and kongs.

I'd strongly recommend a behaviourist to help you rather than group training classes.

This with bells on. You need to go back to basics with training and positive reinforcement.

Get the crate back out again and control what areas he can go into and make sure they are safe

Thanks for all the further advice.

We do commands every day in the garden, I do recall, with, wait etc etc. she knows it and does it. Just goes out the window when others are around (so we continue to practice).

People leaving the field was the first time that had ever happened but it certainly concerned me.

The behaviorist I got in was highly recommended and gave me a few pointers but was very laissez fair and said she isn't particularly a problem...

She had lots of downtime as a puppy and she mostly sleeps alone when she's indoors. Doesn't react to the doorbell or anything. It's the garden and outside that are a problem.

When our three year old lab steals items (usually loo rolls) and takes them into the garden to chew, it is usually because she's had a boring day. From what I know poodles are very bright. Can you get involved in some activity that really uses her natural instincts and challenges her mentally? We do agility and flyball and she comes back exhausted not because of the physical aspect, but the high concentration required in learning and mastering a skill. You could look into gundog training, scent work, hoopers, mantrialing. There is loads to get involved in. More straight forwards for now, but do you ever do a 'treasure hunt' for her around the garden? I place little bits of chicken or similar in spots around the garden at different levels for her to find. I have to shut her inside while I set it up or she'll hoover the lot as I go!

The behaviorist I got in was highly recommended and gave me a few pointers but was very laissez fair and said she isn't particularly a problem...

In fairness, I think she's right. While it's frustrating to deal with, nothing you describe is out of the ordinary for a large breed, adolescent dog that's pushing the boundaries. It's very, very normal for teenage dogs to forget their training, ignore your commands and start "exerting" their independence to an extent - you just have go back to basics, reinforce all the training and have a lot of patience

Our beagle was a right little horror as a teenager - his recall vanished, he started jumping up and mouthing, he'd bark at you if he didn't want to do something etc - he had me in tears on a regular basis, lol. He's six now and absolutely fine, and has been for a good few years now. It just takes a lot time and patience.

@sunsetsandboardwalks oh I agree with you, I just wanted to explain that the behaviorist didn't see much of a problem.

Cocker spaniel here and we had the most hellish time ever (he decided the fields around us were for his enjoyment and broke out in ingenious new ways every few weeks, jumped up on the kids, was bitey. He honestly started to ease up a bit age two. If you look for similar posts you’ll find so so so many but at the moment the dog is my absolute rock even though for so long I thought ‘how the hell can we live like this’. He’s not perfect and we’re not trainers (he’ll do anything for a dog trainer lol!) but he has a heart of platinum!! On the jumping up thing he’s not allowed outside when the kids are playing chasing or football and I do make sure to be about a bit with the kids because even my 16yo finds him difficult when he’s at his worst! Best of luck op (and if it hasn’t been mentioned easy peasy puppy Squeezy is an amazing book if even just to remind you to get to know your dog and to remind that all he wants is love in the end!!)

What @Killingoffmyflowersonebyone said, every word.

That's exactly how all my collies have been trained.

I feel the same about out 18 month old Cavapoo. For us it's the evenings that are a nightmare. He's fine in the day. I'm regretting such a huge life change to be honest. Can't take another year before it ‘starts to get easier’. Its torture!

She wouldn't come on this afternoon after her walk ( lesson learnt, I need to take her straight inside not to the back garden). My son went out to play and she jumped at him and hurt his back.
I know this is on me, I know it's not fair to blame her, I know I need to sort it out, but fuck me it's so trying

Poodles can be really intense and they need consistent training. The kids need to be a part of that training. What kind of correction do you give if she jumps on the kids?