# Spoo info on 6 month old nipping and sleep



## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

More sleep for your Spoo is never a bad thing. Naps we're my first solution when trying to troubleshoot naughty behavior. It's like enforcing nap time with a toddler because they will get cranky. Plus, as little puppies, like children, they don't know how to regulate their energy. So, you as parent need to be more intentional. It wouldn't hurt. It would be like constantly having your phone between 20-30% recharged, rather try to keep it topped off between 70-95% as much as possible and as often as possible.

Since SPOOs always want to be velcroed to you. You might have to do nothing, find chill time to not move or just leave the house for a little bit.

My semi-retired parents watch Basil when I'm at work, and I told my Dad that I just need him to do nothing in the middle of the day so Basil settles down and take a nap. He was happy to oblige. Lights off. Blinds closed. No loud sounds. 

It's equivalent to the human version of being hangry (hungry + angry). You just let someone eat and that problem is solved.


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## Gingy (Jul 2, 2021)

Hi and thanks for the quick reply. I do not usual post but read for information.  Glad I finally decided to be brave enough to ask questions. Since she is getting 10 hrs of sleep and the threww hour late morning nap, I didn't know if she's getting too much sleep for a 6 months old. I'm still learning her enengry level and personality and probably overthinking it.  She does love her crate and I do give her down time and time just being close to me. Thanks again for reply. 😊


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

My six month old puppy currently relaxes for around 3 hours in the morning, another 3 hours in the afternoon, plus all night when we go to bed. He isn't always sound asleep; he does a lot of cat napping during the day. The cat naps are mixed with quiet periods where he chews on a bone or toy.

Regarding nipping, poodles are definitely mouthy. It's a matter of finding an appropriate outlet for that mouthiness. Dogs generally struggle when you tell them not to do something. It doesn't matter if the something is nipping, chewing the arm of a chair, licking the hot spot brewing on their flank, or chasing the cat. When you tell them to stop doing it, they are left with a great big hole of nothing to do. They will go back to being naughty almost immediately unless you can fill that hole with something better.

Don't bite me. Let's play tug instead.
Don't bite me. Let's work on off leash heeling instead.
Don't bite me. Let's go outside with your flirt pole instead.
Don't bite me. Let's practice catching a treat in mid air instead.
Don't bite me. Let's have some quiet time with a peanut butter stuffed kong toy instead.

Poodles are very people oriented, so they will be naughty when they want attention. They will steal dirty laundry and taunt you with it. They will start destroying the door mat while you are busy cooking dinner. They will settle for bad attention - punishment - if they can't get good attention. Lots of training games will help ensure a poodle is busy doing good things instead of having leisure to invent troublesome games.


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

When she nips at you, make a mental note of what you were doing just before that happened. Were you playing, and then you stopped, and she's trying to keep the game going? Is she being pushy? Some dogs are just pushy and have poor impulse control. They nip because they don't know what else to do. Some dogs nip to say hello, because they don't have a different option trained. 

Also, some young dogs go through Evil Biting Phase Part 2 as they are teething molars. This is very similar to young puppy biting, only it hurts more because they have adult teeth in front. You said she's six months old. It's possible she's still teething. Most dogs have their full adult set of teeth by 8 months. Given her age, I suggest you walk around with a bully stick in your pocket. Present that to the dog, then pet the dog. Noelle was so incredibly mouthy as an older puppy, everyone in my family had a chew stick. We couldn't touch her unless she had something else in her mouth. So, do keep that possibility in mind.

Practice impulse control skills. The big three are It's Yer Choice, leave it, and stay.

To play It's Yer Choice, put a few treats in each hand. Present them to your dog. If your dog tries to eat them, close your fist around the treats. Dog can lick your hand, sniff your hand, paw gently at your hand. None of these options work. What works is backing off and waiting. Hold your hand closed, say nothing, wait for the dog to puzzle it out. The moment your dog backs off, say "Yes!" and give the dog a treat. Repeat this game until when you present your hand, your dog just naturally backs off.

Once you have that game going well, we're going to move on to Leave It. Treats in a pile on the floor. Dog goes to get them, you cover them with your hand. Just like in It's Yer Choice, you wait until the dog backs away. Throw a treat for the dog to chase and eat to make the game fun. As the dog is returning, say, "Leave it." Be ready to cover those treats up. Dog backs off, toss a treat and repeat. After a few repetitions, the dog will catch on that leave it means don't rush up to the treats. You can then use leave it with other things like plants, and other animals, and also trying to nip at you. Leave it means don't touch that thing.

Third thing is teach stay. A really solid stay. If your dog knows it's yer choice, leave it, stay and has a bully stick to mouth, you'll see the nipping decrease. Folding your arms and turning your back is a good way to punish a dog for sure. But unless the dog knows what they are supposed to be doing instead, you leave your dog in limbo. Try to keep your dog out of limbo. Praise and reward yes behaviors and you'll see more of them. I promise.


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## Gingy (Jul 2, 2021)

cowpony said:


> My six month old puppy currently relaxes for around 3 hours in the morning, another 3 hours in the afternoon, plus all night when we go to bed. He isn't always sound asleep; he does a lot of cat napping during the day. The cat naps are mixed with quiet periods where he chews on a bone or toy.
> 
> Regarding nipping, poodles are definitely mouthy. It's a matter of finding an appropriate outlet for that mouthiness. Dogs generally struggle when you tell them not to do something. It doesn't matter if the something is nipping, chewing the arm of a chair, licking the hot spot brewing on their flank, or chasing the cat. When you tell them to stop doing it, they are left with a great big hole of nothing to do. They will go back to being naughty almost immediately unless you can fill that hole with something better.
> 
> ...





cowpony said:


> My six month old puppy currently relaxes for around 3 hours in the morning, another 3 hours in the afternoon, plus all night when we go to bed. He isn't always sound asleep; he does a lot of cat napping during the day. The cat naps are mixed with quiet periods where he chews on a bone or toy.
> 
> Regarding nipping, poodles are definitely mouthy. It's a matter of finding an appropriate outlet for that mouthiness. Dogs generally struggle when you tell them not to do something. It doesn't matter if the something is nipping, chewing the arm of a chair, licking the hot spot brewing on their flank, or chasing the cat. When you tell them to stop doing it, they are left with a great big hole of nothing to do. They will go back to being naughty almost immediately unless you can fill that hole with something better.
> 
> ...


Hi and thanks for the info. Glad to see I am doing all the don't bite me suggestions except tossing a treat in the air. I will add that today. I think she'll love that! It looks like she could use more sleep too. I've seen just about all the behavior that you mentioned in the nipping section. Will this behavior stay until a spoo becomes a senior or will it become less around age two. I'm just trying to prepare myself.  Thanks so much for your reply!


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## Gingy (Jul 2, 2021)

Click-N-Treat said:


> When she nips at you, make a mental note of what you were doing just before that happened. Were you playing, and then you stopped, and she's trying to keep the game going? Is she being pushy? Some dogs are just pushy and have poor impulse control. They nip because they don't know what else to do. Some dogs nip to say hello, because they don't have a different option trained.
> 
> Also, some young dogs go through Evil Biting Phase Part 2 as they are teething molars. This is very similar to young puppy biting, only it hurts more because they have adult teeth in front. You said she's six months old. It's possible she's still teething. Most dogs have their full adult set of teeth by 8 months. Given her age, I suggest you walk around with a bully stick in your pocket. Present that to the dog, then pet the dog. Noelle was so incredibly mouthy as an older puppy, everyone in my family had a chew stick. We couldn't touch her unless she had something else in her mouth. So, do keep that possibility in mind.
> 
> ...


Hi and thanks for the reply. I will add It's Yer Choice today! 😀 I have been playing a game to let her choose which hand, but not this one. This will be good for her. I actually wear an apron with toys, treats etc doing our training in case she gets to worked up. I do have bully sticks, but have not given it to her doing nipping time, but when she's bored or to settle down. Normally she's good with the command "Enough" but yesterday it was like that command did not exist in her training. So I knew I needed to up my game.  Once she settled when ended the session and she had down time and was content. Thanks again.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

I found it helpful to walk away and shut myself into the bathroom for a minute or so when my girl became increasingly mouthy. I would do that 2-3 times, after that, it was crate time for poodle, I decided she needed a nap. It let both of us have time to slow down and I often don't have the self control to stand still and ignore a puppy leaping and nipping. 

I also had to do a lot of self control games - I would play with her, stop, ask for a sit or a down, and if she was too wound up to comply, we stopped playing. Over time, she got faster at complying I was able to turn it into a short stay with increasing duration, and I got way better at judging when she needed a self control break, and she got way better at going from nutso crazy shark poodle to calm and focused poodle. I ended up having to ask for a sit while she waited for me to throw her ball for most of her adolescence, since playing ball was the thing that made her most wild and crazy.

Teaching a mutually exclusive behaviour was really helpful for a lot of behaviour I didn't like. Can't leap and bite me while sitting. Can't jump on guests while off (a word I taught her to mean '4 feet on the floor, by luring her to jump and get down again). Can't bark while holding a toy. Etc. Plus it's great fun and really useful to have a dog that will lie down on command from halfway across a field, because of plenty of practice with her ball. 

As for when it stops - my girl is 2.5. I could probably excite her into nipping if I wanted to, but have a good grasp of where that line is and she knows it's not how she is supposed to play with humans. I have a friend I ha e had to ask not to tease her with a ball, as she will start jumping and I worry she will nip. He wouldn't care, but I don't want her starting on other people. She is far more gentle mouthed than she was as an adolescent dog, and now responds if I make a hurt noise when she catches me with her teeth (she didn't as a puppy). I would say the worst of the nipping was gone by 9 months, and I could relax about high arousal situations like playing ball by 1.5 or so.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Poodle puppies are nippy. I always have a toy or bully stick handy - either in my pocket or stashed in places where I know nippiness is common. I'm ready to stick something in that shark mouth. What I discovered with both my older minipoo and my current puppy is if you do it often enough it becomes a habit for the dog. Some dogs when they become very excited, get nippy - a dog who is used to having something in their mouth when nippy will look around for a toy and not nip at people or clothes.



Gingy said:


> She is also now going through a fear period on our walks. She is treat motivated and I walk with her knibble and high value treats. However, she will freeze and get stuck on certain sounds etc. and even her favorite treats will not help her push through these times


It helps to desensitize sounds by listening to noises that you can find on YouTube. This video has good instructions, follow them carefully - rushing and moving on to noises that your dog reacts to will set you back so going slow is better.





For scary objects, you desensitize the same way you do to sound. Instead of keeping the sound very low, you now keep your dog far enough away that they are below threshold. A dog over threshold will not accept treats and can not be comforted, they are so consumed with fear that you can't break through. Your job is to stay far enough away that your dog can be treated. Very slowly, and over days move closer, always keeping below threshold.

Here's two websites to read about desensitization.


https://phs-spca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/DesensitizationCounterconditioning.pdf










Overcoming Fears with Desensitization and Counterconditioning | VCA Animal Hospital


Counterconditioning occurs when the pet's reaction (emotional response) to a stimulus is changed from one that is anxious or fearful to one that is positive and enjoyable. To accomplish this, favored rewards should be paired with each exposure to the stimulus.




vcahospitals.com


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## Gingy (Jul 2, 2021)

For Want of Poodle said:


> I found it helpful to walk away and shut myself into the bathroom for a minute or so when my girl became increasingly mouthy. I would do that 2-3 times, after that, it was crate time for poodle, I decided she needed a nap. It let both of us have time to slow down and I often don't have the self control to stand still and ignore a puppy leaping and nipping.
> 
> I also had to do a lot of self control games - I would play with her, stop, ask for a sit or a down, and if she was too wound up to comply, we stopped playing. Over time, she got faster at complying I was able to turn it into a short stay with increasing duration, and I got way better at judging when she needed a self control break, and she got way better at going from nutso crazy shark poodle to calm and focused poodle. I ended up having to ask for a sit while she waited for me to throw her ball for most of her adolescence, since playing ball was the thing that made her most wild and crazy.
> 
> ...


Hi and thanks for the reply. Glad to see I'm already using some of your recommendations. This information is useful. I will try staying in the bathroom longer since it does help, but I normally stay for about 30 sections.  Thanks for giving these time frames. It helps me to just take each day and a relief to know that maybe the worse of the nipping will be gone by 9 months. I was so glad to stop getting holes in my clothes from the shark teeth and just as I was celebrating she entered adolescences. Thankfully I had my Brittany years ago to prepare for this time, but a totally different personality. Thanks again.


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## Gingy (Jul 2, 2021)

Skylar said:


> Poodle puppies are nippy. I always have a toy or bully stick handy - either in my pocket or stashed in places where I know nippiness is common. I'm ready to stick something in that shark mouth. What I discovered with both my older minipoo and my current puppy is if you do it often enough it becomes a habit for the dog. Some dogs when they become very excited, get nippy - a dog who is used to having something in their mouth when nippy will look around for a toy and not nip at people or clothes.
> 
> 
> It helps to desensitize sounds by listening to noises that you can find on YouTube. This video has good instructions, follow them carefully - rushing and moving on to noises that your dog reacts to will set you back so going slow is better.
> ...


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## Gingy (Jul 2, 2021)

Thank you so much. I will definetely check out the Y tubes. She had been doing so well up until this age. She just had puppy normal fears. When I first got her at 8 weeks we were having road construction and sidewalks replaced. She was exposed to so much noise and off to a good start. I look forward to seeing her get through this period.


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