[Jehn]

Hi everyone... I am dealing with some annoying behaviour problems with my standard poodle, he is about 1 1/2 years old. He gets ridiculously excited when anyone so much as looks at him... He jumps up, paws, and runs around in circles. I'm finding this behaviour extremely annoying to the point where I don't even want to pet him anymore because he gets all riled up and won't stop until he is ignored completely.

When we started looking at different breeds, we chose the standard poodle for a number of reasons - I have allergies, we wanted a larger dog who doesn't shed, and since this is our first family dog, we wanted a smart breed who would be easy to train from a puppy. We adopted him from a breeder with no intention of showing him - we just wanted a nice family pet who would be good with our young daughter. For the most part, he is wonderful - a very loving, sweet dog who wants nothing less than to please us 24/7. He's very gentle with our 17 month old daughter, but gets careless when he is excited. I'm worried he will scratch her or knock her down when he acts like this, and I can't seem to correct this behaviour. I have tried positive reinforcement, but if I give him a treat he just goes haywire wanting more. He knows all the basic commands but when there are treats involved he will run around in circles instead of laying down, and it usually ends with us yelling at him because nothing else seems to snap him out of this excessively excited state.

I love him to pieces but I am finding it really frustrating that I can't even play with him without him going crazy and jumping up on me. I have had trouble walking him because when he sees another dog, person or vehicle he pulls and jumps around and becomes unmanageable for one hand while I am pushing a stroller. He is great when I walk him alone and have two hands, but I don't usually get out for a walk without my daughter.

Anyone have any advice? Anyone else have a dog that acts like this? My parents adopted his brother and he is the most laid-back dog you'd ever know.

Thanks in advance,

Jehn

 

[T o d d]

Hey Jehn, moose loves to jump up and down when he meets new people or when a friend (person) comes over. What we have been doing is training him to jump once then sit. We really really enforce the "SIT" command for everything. Before he goes in the door he sits, before he eats he sits, before I get him water he sits, when someone rings the door bell he barks once then I go investigate while he sits and if it's ok I tell him to go get them (say hi), and then sit once he's done.

Try to make his 'happy time' a command so that you can control it more. That's my method at least, I`m sure there are a lot more.

If he knows "jump" then you can say jump then sit. Then give him a treat so he knows he can do it once then sit and get rewarded.

It takes time, I`ve found the best time to train is before feeding them it's like making them work for their food.

Be sure to post pictures too We all love pictures.

 

[Jako]

What is in the food he's eating? Sometimes lots of carbohydrates from grains can make dogs hyper.

 

[Mourningdove]

Standard poodles take at least a full 2 years or more to mature. Donner stopped jumping (finally) when he was around 2. Time WILL improve things... your dog is still a puppy in his brain even if he is a full sized-dog. I know how hard this is... it is tough having a huge big goofball in the house. But he wants love. Try to give him 5 minutes of undivided attention several times a day: big dog hugs, petting, jumping, you make it... then stop. When he starts again, say "no, that's enough" and be firm. He will learn this phrase because he is smart. He just wants lots of love and reassurance, so give it to him, but then let him know that play is over for now. Good luck...

 

[Jehn]

Thanks for your replies... I am not sure what is in his food, he is on Science Diet original... We had a lot of trouble finding a food that he liked, the first few weeks after we brought him home he refused to eat anything but the Iams soft chunks. We got a few samples of hard foods and the Science Diet was the only hard food he'd eat... He went from the Puppy stuff to the adult stuff all right but wont eat anything but the "Small Bites" ... I thought the whole prissy poodle thing was a myth, but my dog has proved that theory wrong a few times over!! Ha ha... I swear this dog would starve himself to death before eating something he doesn't like.

I have been working on getting him to settle down the last couple days... He is still jumping up, though. I have had him trained to sit for a while, he sits "on the mat" when he comes in the house and isn't allowed to come off until we say he can. He does tend to "Creep" a little but moves back when we shoot him a dirty look. He is really good with that, and sits before we feed him, before he goes outside or up or down the stairs, or into the truck. I just cant get him to stop running in circles before he sits... It's frustrating. I really hope you're right about the 2-year mark for growing out of the puppy stage!

 

[T o d d]

Thanks for your replies... I am not sure what is in his food, he is on Science Diet original... We had a lot of trouble finding a food that he liked, the first few weeks after we brought him home he refused to eat anything but the Iams soft chunks. We got a few samples of hard foods and the Science Diet was the only hard food he'd eat... He went from the Puppy stuff to the adult stuff all right but wont eat anything but the "Small Bites" ... I thought the whole prissy poodle thing was a myth, but my dog has proved that theory wrong a few times over!! Ha ha... I swear this dog would starve himself to death before eating something he doesn't like.

I have been working on getting him to settle down the last couple days... He is still jumping up, though. I have had him trained to sit for a while, he sits "on the mat" when he comes in the house and isn't allowed to come off until we say he can. He does tend to "Creep" a little but moves back when we shoot him a dirty look. He is really good with that, and sits before we feed him, before he goes outside or up or down the stairs, or into the truck. I just cant get him to stop running in circles before he sits... It's frustrating. I really hope you're right about the 2-year mark for growing out of the puppy stage!

You have a picky eater and my dog will vacuum the floor of scraps.

Sometimes I think moose has a 'food/water' sensing problem he seems to always want more more more.

 

[Purple Poodle]

It seams to me that your dog is not getting the proper exercise that it needs. If you have an energetic dog (like Poodles) they need at least two, 30 minutes of good tiring exercise.

Tuesday loves to go for a run, being out of shape myself I try to "run" with her twice a day and she gets lots of outdoor time in the yard with the other dogs. I hate to break it to you but unless you start giving an outlet for him now your hyper puppy is going to turn into a hyper adult.

Science Diet is one of the worst food on the market, I would feed Ol' Roy before resorting to Science Diet.

 

[Jehn]

Really??? My vet recommended Science Diet and it costs about $60 for a 40lb bag... Can you tell me why it's one of the worst and recommend something better? What do you feed your dog(s)? Has anyone else hard bad things about SD?

And I actually figured it out myself that he was not getting enough exercise, guess it was just because it was winter, we didnt get out for as many walks and he did seem more energetic on the days that we didn't get out for a walk... We went camping for May Long and he was so good, and I can only assume it's because he got walked so much and had room to run around on his lead... Not to mention all the fetch and frisbee. He was so tuckered out by the end of the days he could barely get up to go to bed!! We have been more diligent about walking him and he has been a lot better. He also gets out to my parents' farm once a week and he runs around free with my parents' poodle and "jumps" on the trampoline with us... He loves that!!

He does tend to be tough to walk on a leash, he pulls a lot when he sees another dog... I have tried using a harness that is supposed to make it easier to walk him but it doesn't seem to help. The pet store recommended a spike collar but it seems really cruel to me to use one... Anyone know anything about these collars? My only other option I think is to take him to obedience classes to get some help teaching him to cool down around other dogs a bit and stop pulling because I have a toddler and I am worried he'll knock her over... Not to mention it's really tough to hang on to him while pushing a stroller.

Suggestions??

 

[Purple Poodle]

Really??? My vet recommended Science Diet and it costs about $60 for a 40lb bag... Can you tell me why it's one of the worst and recommend something better? What do you feed your dog(s)? Has anyone else hard bad things about SD?

Vet recommend it because they profit from it. It bad because of what its made out of, you can see the ingredients here. Its mostly corn which dogs as well as humans can not digest so it just comes out the other end. I feed and suggest people try is Nutro. I like the Max (Chicken) because it is the only food I have found with quality ingredients that every single dog that has come though my home (fosters) and even my cats like to eat. They poop less and my Toy Poodle mix Cher had awful digestion problems but after being on Nutro for almost a year now she has had no problem and not a single one of my 7 dogs have gas. Its great and affordable. If I had the money they would all be on Nutro Ultra and when I can afford a bag I mix it in with the Max. I have yet to try the canned but am fixing to because of my 10yr Cocker mix Clover who has bad teeth.

When he pulls towards something or just pulls in any direction stop walking and don't start again until he has stopped pulling, they learn pretty quickly that pulling means they stop and walking nice means they get to move and explore. If he just goes after other dogs get him to look at you and praise him for ignoring the other dog. He is neutered yet? If not I would suggest getting him fixed as soon as possible.

See what a difference exercising does for a dog? That is a cure all for chewing, digging, barking, jumping and other bordom habits.

Good luck!

 

[Jehn]

Thank you... I checked out the Nutro link and all the pet stores carry Nutro so I will go look for a couple samples or small bag to see if Bauer likes it. The info on the site looks pretty good, and I love the idea of less cleanup! Bauer "goes" 2-3 X a day and I had no idea that was because of his food!! I like that I can get it in small bites, too... He doesn't eat as much of the bigger stuff, and I'm not sure why. Thanks for the suggestion, I will let you know how the switch goes!!

Jehn

 

[Jehn]

Oh, and he is not neutered but shows no signs of aggression toward other dogs or people... We thought we might leave him intact in case we choose to stud him in the future. We haven't really looked into it, does it affect the way they act around other dogs other than aggression?

 

[Jehn]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

What do you make of this? A few people have accused Nutro of being the cause of death for their dogs... ???!!!

 

[Purple Poodle]

I have just now heard about that and it seams that its almost always the Natural Choice. But you can find lots of bad things and good things about every brand of dog food and it hard to pin point weather or not it was the acctual foods fault or a plant mistake or maybe the stores falt, it could have been molded or the bag could have had something spilled on it, the bowl the dog ate out of could have had something to do with it. More and more people now a days are blaming it on the food they feed and pointing fingers. The first story on the link you posted said the lady had been feeding the food for a week, any food changes should take more then that amount of time to switch and what did the dog eat before that happened? Was there rat poison around? Did it lick a frog? Many things come into play and you have to take everything with a grain of salt.

If you feel uncomfortable switching foods then by all mean don't do it. I have never had a problem and any problems my dogs have had were from outside sources. Cher, (she is my problem child) likes to eat cat poop and becomes very sick, lethargic, wont eat anything, bloody stool and vomits.

On to the neutering thing, if it were me (I would have him fixed ) I would ask myself why would I want to breed my dog? If he was bred would he be contributing something positive to the breed and its standard of perfection? What you said here -> We haven't really looked into it, does it affect the way they act around other dogs other than aggression? <- Would suggest you no breed him and look into what owning an altered male dog consists of. Unaltered male dogs can and will have same gender aggression, they can have dominance issues, become possessive of toys or even you and your home. They will seek out females in season and there is not a lot you can do to stop him and many male dogs will become aggressive around bitches in season. I know an unaltered Poodle dog who will stave him self for weeks if there is a bitch in season any where in a 5 mile radius and will whine and howl for days. The owners are having him neutered this month.

Anyhoo I have to go but I'll be back because I have more to say!

Good luck with him!

 

[Turned]

and don't let this scare you... but two are really easier. They wear each other out and excercise themselves!!!

 

[Jehn]

New food

Bauer's food supply was getting low so we picked up a bag of the Nutro Max adult large breed... It's just a small bag so we can see if he even likes it but you are probably right about the different contributing factors being the issue and not the food... If it was really killing so many pets it wouldn't be on the market, right?

We'll start the 25%/75% ratio for dinner tonight and go from there... So far he really likes the Nutro tartar control treats, so here's hoping he likes the new food as well.

 

[Mysticrealm]

Not all unaltered dogs will do any of the things that purple says. I have and know many intact dogs that are extremely easy going and friendly to everyone and with proper management certainly can be helped to not going impregnating female dogs.
That being said you have not mentioned anywhere what this dog's parents have done (are they titled?) or if they are health tested and you have mentioned that you aren't going to show. That all adds up to a dog that should not ever be bred. Good breeders put a lot of time, money, and effort into proving their dogs and health testing. Those are the things anyone should do when considering breeding anything.

 

[ericwd9]

Grace is now 3 1/2 y/o and she can still become over exited when she meets a long lost friend etc. She has learned that she can become over-exited and will give herself time out by leaving through her doggy door for a few seconds then coming back in with better manners. I used to tell her to leave but she now does it without telling. Standard poodles are a reactive excitable breed but they do learn well.
Eric

 

[Mfmst]

This thread started in 2008! I hope the OP took her dog to obedience classes, exercised him more, had him neutered or at least did not breed him. At 9 1/2 he should be more mellow than he was at 1 1/2!

 

[Mysticrealm]

Wow sorry, I don't know how in the world I did that. I was on my phone and it seemed to be right at the top of the topics! I hate it when people drag up old threads!

 

[Dechi]

Wow sorry, I don't know how in the world I did that. I was on my phone and it seemed to be right at the top of the topics! I hate it when people drag up old threads!

It must be the excitement of having a Champion dog now, lol !