Need help training a 11 month old Labradoodle

[BookWorm243]

We recently brought home a Labradoodle but he never had any training

Not to mention they fed him ONLY TREATS!!!!!!

He is super skinny, we have been trying every kind of food and he hates them all

He is a big boy but he's skin and bones and only 53 pounds!!! I'm 5'3 and he comes up to my hip, if he is on his back legs he is as tall as me. Anyway besides house training him they didn't do anything else. He jumps up and paws at your face ( this is what I really need help on! ), drags you on walks ( has gotten better ) and is ruff with other dogs. He is not aggressive he just doesn't know how big he is

Does anyone have any ideas on getting him not to jump up and paw at peole? We are also thinking of trying the anti pull head harness ( can't remember what it's called ) Do those work? Is there anything else we should try? As of right now I will not let me mom walk him. I know that if he wanted to go after a smell or somthing he would be dragging her behind him. He is not yet fixed but thankfully that will be getting done on the 11th next month. We can only hope that it will calm him down a little, right now he will try to go after any female fixed or not. Any advice would be great!!!

Thank You

 

[cafarmgirl]

Is there any possibility of signing up for a round of obedience classes? They will not only help get your dog started on the right path they will teach you how to work with him and will be a source of info for future issues. It's very hard to start off an untrained dog who has developed bad habits if your not sure yourself where to start. Unfortunately your not working with the blank slate of a puppy but instead having to undo all the bad behavior he's learned and start all over.

As far as food, I'm sure he's not interested in plain ole' dog food after being fed yummy junk food all his life. But, he WILL eat when he's hungry. Get him a good quality food and stick with it, NO treats. Put it down and leave it for 10 minutes, if he doesn't eat, put it away. Since he's thin you might do this three times a day at first. Eventually he WILL eat.

I assume he's had a vet check and is healthy?

 

[BookWorm243]

We foster/rescue many dogs, and many have had the same issues but what worked with them does not work with him

Which is why I'm not sure where to go. I have been able to get the walking under control but only If I walk him.

Another thing he no longer does is he no longer climbs on the counter to get human food

As far as we know there is no one that does obedience classes around here. The only place I know of is over an hour away, which we wouldn't be able to do. The first week he was only eating a cup a day. We are now giving him wet food in the morning, dry in the afternoon and a mix of both at night. Doing this he is eating about 3 cups but the vet still wants him eating more, so we keep trying!! We did take him to the vet. We found out he has the beginnings of heartworms and worms. We got him wormed and are just going to start him on the monthly heatworm pill. The vet does not think doing the other treatment would be good for him. Oh and he has not had a single treat since he has been with us!

 

[watchdogps]

When I was a petsitter, I had several doodle clients, and they were all maniacs. So, he really doesn't sound abnormal to me. Now, they were also not as well exercised or trained as they should have been, so he is normal in that respect too! As for the head halter- YES! It will be the easiest way to get quick control. I prefer the gentle leader over the halti, but I know people who are the opposite. DO take time to acclimate him to it, otherwise he may really hate and fight it. I know the GL has a guide for that with it, and I think you can also read the guide online.

 

[Kaitie09]

I agree with the gentle leader, it worked miracles on our lab. We started it on her when she was 8 months and she took to it perfectly, only pawing at it if we stopped the walk for a while. We taught her to sit before we put it on her too, so she was calm before.

I don't know the circumstances of the jumping (visaters or just you) but we use Kongs for our dogs and it works great. We fill them up with peanut butter and then keep them in the freezer. If someone comes over, we make the dogs sit, and as soon as that person walks in the door, they get the kongs. It takes 10-20 minutes for them to clean it out, and by then they are calmed down and don't jump.

 

[geepy]

Poodles are smart and labs are hyper. Ya just have to outsmart the the hyper lab. Keep him/her busy. Poodles like to fetch and catch. Try playing games of fetch.

 

[allmychickens]

Ok well this might sound mean... but it works... when he jumps knee him... not too hard just to let him know... and when he misbehaves make a high pitched noise it makes them stop and they dont like it...
foodwise.... try giving him something good with it... like smear peanut buutter on the bottom of the bowl so he has to eat the food on top to get it then eventually he will eat it without the pb cuz he will just assume... or pour some chicken broth over the top to give the food some flavor.... try making him home prepared meals... http://allrecipes.com/howto/homemade-pet-food/ .... at that age nuetering him might not keep him away from the fmales because it is now a natural behavior that he doesnt know he shouldnt do... that is an issue that can be hard to train away...

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

Quote:
I too use the knee in the chest conditioning. They learn it fast.

I knee the dog or simply turn away. Once all 4 paws are on the ground, I pet the dog. You can get help from other people (strangers) by having them doing the same thing.

Jim

 

[Oregon Blues]

Labradoodles are often maniacs with severe health problems. That's because no reputable breeder would ever sell a dog to a "designer dog" breeder (ie: puppy mill). So the parents of Labradoodles are puppy mill dogs, or often not purebreds of any sort.

This works on most jumping dogs, so it is worth trying. As the dog jumps up, calmly step into the space that the dog has just vacated. It lays claim to territory and confuses the dog and stops him from whatever activity he was doing at the time, which is jumping up. It's very rare that it won't work. You be sure to stay very calm and low key. I don't say anything, I just step into their space.

Teach him to sit and put him on "no free lunch". If he wants to be petted, he must sit. No exceptions. If jumping up on you doesn't get attention, there is no reason to continue. When he wants attention, he will sit.

That means you have to focus on him and if he comes to you and sits, you must] notice and give him his attention, so that his good behavior gets rewarded.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

Along the line of Oregon Blue, it looks like I should revise my training for jumping dogs. See the follow page from Stanley Coren's great book How Dogs Think ...

Jim