# Is my spoo behaviour normal for a 10 month old?



## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

I'm new at this. My Spoo Elroy is just 5+ months old now! So what I say is theoretical to me, lol.
How are you responding when this biting happens? Are you at the ready for trading your hand for a favorite toy of his? If I can't get him to calm down (try commands he is good at, sit, down, paw, etc), he gets put into timeout. Does he have a crate for timeouts?


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

This is one of those things that’s reeeeeally hard to weigh in on unless you’ve seen it in action. “Aggressive” to one person can be very different from what I would consider true aggression. But if he is indeed being aggressive, I wouldn’t wait. I’d schedule an assessment with a certified trainer or behaviourist.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Basil does this in the evenings. Zoomies on the leash turns into jumping and mouthing my wrists. When I've had enough I just stand like a statue arms crossed. It's a page from watching Kindergardenrs play and when one child will stomps their feet over to the other, arms crossed, and say "i don't want to play with you anymore." Well, adolescent poodle, I don't want to play with you anymore.

This might sound weird, but have you considered anchoring him to you instead of giving him free roam when he's starting to become restless?

It's how I manage Basil at social gatherings like potlocks. When she starts to be a nuisance, then she gets to be anchored to Papa and my 4' leash.


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

I'm in the camp of not being able to tell if this is truly aggression. Here is what I can say I DID go through.

Toward the end of teething, Misha picked up mouthing again. He was a complete terror and would attack me constantly and while he didn't draw blood, he is a mini and not a standard. He did draw blood with an elderly lady who had more fragile skin. His bouts of attacking were centered on my hands and his old baby teeth were so nasty as they fell out that he gave me a crazy skin infection from all the biting. My hands were all blotchy and looked diseased. He was like a Tasmanian devil. I would laugh when other puppy owners described their difficult puppies. I do not call his behavior aggression. It was similar to how puppies play with eachother. I have seen real aggression and it is another thing altogether.

The behavior mostly disappeared by 9 months of age. He still loves mouthy hand play but only when invited to do so and he has learned that the game stops if he uses any bite pressure at all.

I did a lot of obedience training and teaching calm collected behavior and impulse control. I do not know how much this influenced him but it probably helped him to control himself.


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## Poodle2021 (Mar 14, 2021)

I agree with the others above, it is difficult to determine whether it's aggression without seeing the behavior. 

My standard poodle is young, just over 1 year. Starting at 8 months, he was a challenge (still is, but getting better every month). Here is what he did just 45 minutes ago: We were in bed and he started getting mouthy - jumping around, biting at my hands and forearms. Clearly wanting to play. Note that I do "roughhouse" with him as play - I'm young, don't mind his teeth on me, no children or other fragile beings living here, and I enjoy roughhousing as long as it is under control and stops when I say it stops. So we have been doing this his whole life and he knows his limits. But tonight he was extra exuberant, biting a little too hard, despite plenty of exercise this evening. I recognized that he needed more exercise before bed -- but specifically, something where he could use his teeth - not a walk (cardio), or fetch (cardio / retrieving), or training (brain). I got out of bed and we played a 10 minute intense game of tug. He loved it. He got to use his teeth in an appropriate way and is now tired, panting, crashed out on the floor. 

Compared to the answers above, it sounds like I go in the opposite direction: a short burst of hard-core exercise (usually in the form of tug), which then results in an exhausted poodle. When he was younger, he would go in his crate after tug to relax. There are also times when I do what the other contributors do above (tether, crate, teach relaxation, ignore). 

I guess what also I'm trying to say is that your dog is young, and Poodles (being retrievers) are mouthy dogs. Everyone gets to determine the rules for their dogs and, obviously, please do consult a behaviorist / trainer to make sure that yours is not being aggressive. I'm sure the behaviorist / trainer will have some great ideas for you to manage his adolescent behavior.


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## Misteline (Mar 10, 2019)

The only harm that could come from consulting a certified behaviorist is a hit to your wallet, the harm in allowing behavioral problems to fester is _far_ greater. Especially potential aggression.

I would try to get video of the behavior and take detailed notes on when it happens, what your dog experienced during the day, how it happened, and what you did after for the purpose of illustrating the issue to the behaviorist. That way if the behavior doesn't replicate itself in the behaviorists presence you'll be able to show them what you're talking about. People and animals behave differently in the presence of experts, so sometimes behavior that happens all the time in your day to day life will magically disappear for the hour the trainer is there...and come right back once they're gone.


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

I’ll usually try to first say a stern ‘No’ (no shouting at all) if I see he’s getting kind of amped up and like he wants to start mouthing/biting and usually he understands and goes on to do something else. If he does start biting and lunging at me (he is sooo tall and leggy so when he jumps on me his face is basically in my face, I’m short) I’ll bring him down to all four paws on the ground by grabbing his shoulders down gently, he usually calms down or he’ll try to jump me again and start biting my arms, at which point I leave the room and say our word (‘enough’). I try not to use his crate for time outs so he has a positive association with it but I’ve occasionally put him in a time out in a separate room or bathroom and he comes out a little bit more relaxed but still on edge, if it’s been more than an hour after he’s been awake then it’s onto the crate/his lil room for nap time. I feel like having a toy would just amp him up more but it’s not a bad idea to try and trade for that, he just gets crazed!


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

94Magna_Tom said:


> I'm new at this. My Spoo Elroy is just 5+ months old now! So what I say is theoretical to me, lol.
> How are you responding when this biting happens? Are you at the ready for trading your hand for a favorite toy of his? If I can't get him to calm down (try commands he is good at, sit, down, paw, etc), he gets put into timeout. Does he have a crate for timeouts?


I’ll usually try to first say a stern ‘No’ (no shouting at all) if I see he’s getting kind of amped up and like he wants to start mouthing/biting and usually he understands and goes on to do something else. If he does start biting and lunging at me (he is sooo tall and leggy so when he jumps on me his face is basically in my face, I’m short) I’ll bring him down to all four paws on the ground by grabbing his shoulders down gently, he usually calms down or he’ll try to jump me again and start biting my arms, at which point I leave the room and say our word (‘enough’). I try not to use his crate for time outs so he has a positive association with it but I’ve occasionally put him in a time out in a separate room or bathroom and he comes out a little bit more relaxed but still on edge, if it’s been more than an hour after he’s been awake then it’s onto the crate/his lil room for nap time. I feel like having a toy would just amp him up more but it’s not a bad idea to try and trade for that, he just gets crazed!


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> This is one of those things that’s reeeeeally hard to weigh in on unless you’ve seen it in action. “Aggressive” to one person can be very different from what I would consider true aggression. But if he is indeed being aggressive, I wouldn’t wait. I’d schedule an assessment with a certified trainer or behaviourist.


For sure, when I consulted with a trainer a few months back she spent 2 hours with both of us and basically said she saw a very intelligent and very confident dog and that adolescence was going to be the hardest period for us based on this, gave us some tips but basically said we were doing all the right things. I will schedule another appointment with her soon (he loooved her) and talk about some progress and setbacks we’ve had and reiterate this over excitement crazed behaviours that are being hard to cope with.


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

Basil_the_Spoo said:


> Basil does this in the evenings. Zoomies on the leash turns into jumping and mouthing my wrists. When I've had enough I just stand like a statue arms crossed. It's a page from watching Kindergardenrs play and when one child will stomps their feet over to the other, arms crossed, and say "i don't want to play with you anymore." Well, adolescent poodle, I don't want to play with you anymore.
> 
> This might sound weird, but have you considered anchoring him to you instead of giving him free roam when he's starting to become restless?


ok first of all Basil is such a cute poodle name omg. Second, yes I tried the arms crossed and giving him my back thing when he would go into crazy puppy mode when he was smaller but now he would just keep jumping at me and he’s so tall it’s hard to ignore so I haaave to leave the room to signify this “I don’t want to play with you anymore crazed poodle”. Totally with you on keeping him close when he’s being restless. I’ve taken him to a few parties with friends where there’s lots of new people and he generally does great, but when he starts getting restless or not listening to commands it’s very short leash and nap time
somewhere haha. Might try this next time he gets restless but at home!


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

Raindrops said:


> I'm in the camp of not being able to tell if this is truly aggression. Here is what I can say I DID go through.
> 
> Toward the end of teething, Misha picked up mouthing again. He was a complete terror and would attack me constantly and while he didn't draw blood, he is a mini and not a standard. He did draw blood with an elderly lady who had more fragile skin. His bouts of attacking were centered on my hands and his old baby teeth were so nasty as they fell out that he gave me a crazy skin infection from all the biting. My hands were all blotchy and looked diseased. He was like a Tasmanian devil. I would laugh when other puppy owners described their difficult puppies. I do not call his behavior aggression. It was similar to how puppies play with eachother. I have seen real aggression and it is another thing altogether.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the reply! I feel you with the arm bite marks, when he was around 3 months it was crazy how many teeth marks I had! I agree when he was younger it was very obvious it wasn’t true aggression and just an overtired overexcited puppy being a little (big) ******* with sharp teeth. I guess now a lot of the triggers are similar but the intensity of his craziness is different as he’s bigger and that’s what’s throwing me for a loop. A giant 63 lbs poodle coming at you trying (and succeeding) to bite your arms and jumping at you just feels very different. It also doesn’t help that other household members freak out if they witness this cause it does seem aggressive so I guess that’s why it’s more difficult to deal with.
Can I ask what was different in the cases where you witnessed true dog aggression? Also glad your pup calmed down at 9 months! Hopefully we can get there soon.


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

Poodle2021 said:


> I agree with the others above, it is difficult to determine whether it's aggression without seeing the behavior.
> 
> My standard poodle is young, just over 1 year. Starting at 8 months, he was a challenge (still is, but getting better every month). Here is what he did just 45 minutes ago: We were in bed and he started getting mouthy - jumping around, biting at my hands and forearms. Clearly wanting to play. Note that I do "roughhouse" with him as play - I'm young, don't mind his teeth on me, no children or other fragile beings living here, and I enjoy roughhousing as long as it is under control and stops when I say it stops. So we have been doing this his whole life and he knows his limits. But tonight he was extra exuberant, biting a little too hard, despite plenty of exercise this evening. I recognized that he needed more exercise before bed -- but specifically, something where he could use his teeth - not a walk (cardio), or fetch (cardio / retrieving), or training (brain). I got out of bed and we played a 10 minute intense game of tug. He loved it. He got to use his teeth in an appropriate way and is now tired, panting, crashed out on the floor.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for this comment! I learned very early on to not roughhouse with him cause he loves it too much and gets sooo excited he loses control. So short game sessions with obedience in between (for example tug of war which may be his favourite game ever, with ‘drop its’ sprinkled in between and asking him for a few tricks, if he does well then we keep playing, if doesn’t let go of the toy then we stop playing) are what I usually do. Also I try to rely more on mental stimulation and calming activities than physical but it’s hard to find the balance (too much running = too amped up and might get bitey and reactive later in the day = but sometimes tired and calmer the next day. long walks = too much stimulation and same thing. short walks = not enough physical exercise and same thing) It just seems I can’t get the formula right all the time and it results in these bursts of crazed biting!


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

Misteline said:


> The only harm that could come from consulting a certified behaviorist is a hit to your wallet, the harm in allowing behavioral problems to fester is _far_ greater. Especially potential aggression.
> 
> I would try to get video of the behavior and take detailed notes on when it happens, what your dog experienced during the day, how it happened, and what you did after for the purpose of illustrating the issue to the behaviorist. That way if the behavior doesn't replicate itself in the behaviorists presence you'll be able to show them what you're talking about. People and animals behave differently in the presence of experts, so sometimes behavior that happens all the time in your day to day life will magically disappear for the hour the trainer is there...and come right back once they're gone.


Taking a video is a very good idea, it might be hard to capture since sometimes it comes out of nowhere (or so it seems to me) but I usually know his triggers or when he’s had A Day well enough. Might just set up his cam in the living room! Agreed that there’s no downside to consulting a behaviourist, I wonder if it’s something the trainer I consulted with a few months ago would connect me with or if I just have to find one separately.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I doubt that this is any sort of official definition but I define aggression as "with intent to cause harm".

My boy are miniatures and were very, painfully, mouthy as youngin's. Blood, scratches, all of the above, but never once did I think they were doing it to cause harm. 

Their movement wasn't stiff, it was still bouncy puppy, just a bouncy puppy with very sharp teeth and not much control of themselves. I kept chew toys in my pockets and within reach thru the house. If I needed to trade out, something besides me was at hand. 

I walked in to the vet's office to pick something up and a vet I hadn't seen yet took one look at my arms and asked "poodle puppy?". When I answered "two", she laughed and reminded me that it would get better. It did. 

To this day, now over 4 years old, Neo has never totally lost his mouthiness and still remembers to go grab a toy when he gets excited rather than put his mouth on me.


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

Rose n Poos said:


> I doubt that this is any sort of official definition but I define aggression as "with intent to cause harm".
> 
> My boy are miniatures and were very, painfully, mouthy as youngin's. Blood, scratches, all of the above, but never once did I think they were doing it to cause harm.
> 
> ...


Yeah I can see that, I guess it never seems like he’s trying to cause harm (ie. going directly at you to bite you out of nowhere), but more like he gets SUPER excited about something, he doesn’t know what to do with that excitement and then bam! he jumps at you and starts mouthing/biting your arms hard, or won’t let go of your clothes and seems pretty stiff in that regard, but the biting of arms is bouncy in the sense that he tries to mouth different arm parts while you’re trying to tell him ‘No’ 
It’s just hard to find the right combo of mental stimulation/physical exercise/calming activities for him not to get too amped up sometimes.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

The video is a really good idea. Have you looked up any articles or research on dog body language?

You also very reasonably pointed out that a 63lb dog doing this is a bit different than a much smaller puppy. What if he were 14lbs? How much of the size is a factor in definition?

This is a link to a chart posted a few years ago by one of PF's (now) certified dog trainers.
Dog Communication: What Does A Dog's Body Language Mean? - BarkPost

and a link to every post where either lily cd re (our other CPDT-KA trainer) or Click-N-Treat mentioned Body Language. Some may be helpful.

(11) Search results for query: "body language" | Poodle Forum

Just throwing stuff out here...Have you worked on a "Settle/Place" instruction with him? Impulse control training games?


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

Rose n Poos said:


> The video is a really good idea. Have you looked up any articles or research on dog body language?
> 
> You also very reasonably pointed out that a 63lb dog doing this is a bit different than a much smaller puppy. What if he were 14lbs? How much of the size is a factor in definition?
> 
> ...


Thank you for all the links! I’ve tried to read more and more on body language to try and decipher how he’s feeling at any given time. Something he does a lot is shaking it off when he gets excited and I’ve been trying to get him to do in on cue cause it seems like a great stress and excitement reliever for him. Overexcitement is definitely his thing. For example if someone gets home he hasn’t seen in a while he’ll get excited, shake it off, then come at you for pets (or sometimes this won’t be enough and he’ll go crazy). If he sees a dog too close on a walk, shakes it off and is ok after, if we go out in the yard and he’s anticipating we’ll play something, shakes it off and is ok after. Scratching is another one he’ll do when he’s tired of us trick training or something like that. Most of the time (especially during the day) he’s relaxed and playful and a little bit alert. It’s more often than not when all of the triggers have stacked up during the day that it culminates in these behaviours even with his naps in between (altho it’s obvious that rest is very helpful for him). 
Thinking of his behaviours being done by a crazed say, chihuahua or a maltese definitely feels different and way less threatening or problematic, I guess I would still be concerned that the little dog is losing it like that, but it would definitely much less concerning since it’s not like a little dog will throw you off balance. 
I try to do a lot of engagement and impulse control in the form of waiting for me to release him for going through doors, going down stairs during walks (he waits at the top of the stairs with me and doesn’t rush through doors) and getting his food/treats/chews (I’ll make him wait while he watches me hide kibble in his snuffle mat, or while I spell out his name in kibble in front of him then say ‘go!’ when he can have it, same with any type of food toy or food bowl, or leave a high value chew on the floor and make him do a couple tricks before releasing him to get the chew with lots of eye contact). His ‘settle’ command could be better, I would say it works 50% of the time so we could practice more.


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

Could he be hungry? My puppy gets very hyper with lot of biting when he is hungry. I thought it was that he needed a nap, but he wouldn't settle if I put him in a playpen like he does when he is sleepy. 
Most of the time when he is in this mode, I have to hand feed to get him to start eating. He is younger (3 months) so I don't know when he will outgrow it.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

It’s very infrequent these days, but Peggy still does sometimes gets a case of the zoomies when she needs to drain her battery. It will sometimes jostle out a poop, too. 

Does your pup have opportunity to zoom? How about supervised play with dogs?

Sometimes we get so focused on impulse control that we forget that puppies still need to stretch their puppy legs and be wild sometimes. That can lead to a lot of pent up stress. I also learned from another Poodle Forum member that impulse control exercises can sometimes be antagonistic. In other words, we ask for a little too much and/or a little too often.

When your pup does get overexcited—assuming that’s what it is, and not aggression—I’d be sticking a toy in his mouth. I’d be teaching him, “_If you need something to do with your mouth, that’s fine, but this is the only appropriate option._” If he drops the toy, I’d quietly leave the area or turn into a boring statue with no eye contact.

The times he does successfully shake it off, can you tell what’s different? What immediately precedes it? What’s your mood like? How do you handle the situation? Maybe that’s something you can recreate.

For example, if Peggy alerts to a UPS guy on the porch, I get up and position myself between her and the window, look outside, then look back at her and say something like, “Thank you, Peggy. All good. He’s going back to the truck now.” She’ll then give herself a good shake and trot away, stress successfully busted.

But if I were to get stressed myself—_“Bleepin’ dog! I’m so sick of this!!”_—her stress would likely ratchet up. Or if I just ignored her, she’d have to find her own way to destress and I might not like it.

P.S. Have you told us your poodle’s name? Sorry if I missed it.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I haven't read all of the replies, but having read the OP I doubt this is genuine aggression. A puppy with a good temperament and good nurturing is not likely to show real aggression at a young age. Instead this sounds like a situation where the puppy is being allowed to make too many poor choices and not having follow up for them. You are letting your pup get over excited and not reading those behaviors as a need for a time out. Put the over the top pup in his crate for just a few minutes. If he happens to fall asleep fine, let sleeping dogs lie. If he chills in the crate but stays awake quietly bring him out againand do a short training session. End that before he goes over the top again and then put him in crate or ex pen and give him a chance to settle himself. This sort of strategy will teach him to self soothe. This is an important life skill for all dogs as it will help your pup not end up with a routine response to play being to go over the top as has been a recent topic in another thread. I think early recognition and training is a better strategy than trying to solve over excitement issues through avoidance of stimuli.


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## artichokepainting (Mar 23, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> It’s very infrequent these days, but Peggy still does sometimes gets a case of the zoomies when she needs to drain her battery. It will sometimes jostle out a poop, too.
> 
> Does your pup have opportunity to zoom? How about supervised play with dogs?
> 
> ...


Thank you for the reply! His name is Clio! Everyone thinks he’s a girl and calls him Cleo sometimes haha even the vet.

The zoomies do happen less when he’s had a good run, after we come back from a trip, or if he has played with his dog buddies (which he could see more often than he does now, it does drain his battery a lot but they’ve been hard to schedule, he occasionally went to daycare but has not in a while cause he’s intact, and we of course don’t go to dog parks). I think he needs more of all of those things, it’s just hard to find the right combo for him not to get too excited and loose his marbles afterwards. 

I’ll try the toy thing that a lot of people have suggested, I hadn’t because I felt that it might make him even more excited but no harm in trying, he does have a couple toys he really likes to chew. He will respond to treats if it’s high value enough when he gets super bitey.

I also try to be calm around him and respond neutrally to things, especially knowing he gets excited about lots of things. like if he hears a sound out in our deck he’ll turn to look at me like ‘did you hear that too?’ I’ll just keep doing whatever I’m doing so he knows it’s not something he should be stressed or freaked out by. Same with delivery people or out on walks and reward reward reward for no reaction or staying chill etc. I’ve gotten very good at being calm during his biting attacks too which was hard before 😭

Here’s a pic of him in the woods, so leggy!


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Aw. So leggy! Clio is a beautiful boy. And I think you’re doing a great job with him. But since you’re looking for advice, I’m going to break your reply down and offer some thoughts just based on my own experiences.




artichokepainting said:


> I think he needs more of all of those things, it’s just hard to find the right combo for him not to get too excited for him to loose his marbles.


For Peggy, the key is supervision and duration. Playing with friends? Generally about 45 minutes, but 1 hour tops. And when she was younger, we usually called it much sooner. We carefully observe for signs of unreciprocated play or tiredness, as any more than a second wind and I know she’s running on pure adrenaline.

Zoomies? By all means get it out. But then we’re going to practise....wait! Good girl. Okay, go! Now.....wait! Nice. Okay go!! She’s not running herself into a tizzy. She’s just stretching her legs, maybe jostling her bowels a bit, and then tuning right back into me. She thinks this is great fun. And then we sprint inside for a treat and a nice stretch-out on the cool floor.




artichokepainting said:


> I’ll try the toy thing that a lot of people have suggested, I hadn’t because I felt that it might make him even more excited but no harm in trying, he does have a couple toys he really likes to chew.


In addition to redirecting bitey mouths from annoyed humans, I like the toy method for two reasons. 1. It acts like a stress ball. You know the kind that humans squeeeeeze to release tension? Chewing is so natural for our pups, and holding something in their mouths also comes very naturally to a lot of poodles. Doing doggy things is inherently soothing. 2. It teaches them something to do that’s appropriate from a human perspective. It’s much easier to say “Do this” rather than “Don’t do this! Or that! Or that!” The no possibilities are infinite. Yes behaviours are not. So focus on the yeses.




artichokepainting said:


> I also try to be calm around him and respond neutrally to things, especially knowing he gets excited about lots of things. like if he hears a sound out in our deck he’ll turn to look at me like ‘did you hear that too?’ I’ll just keep doing whatever I’m doing so he knows it’s not something he should be stressed or freaked out by. Same with delivery people or out on walks and reward reward reward for no reaction or staying chill etc.


Calm is good! I like calm. Poodles like calm. Seeing the human not freak out about scary or worrisome things is a great lesson. If Clio does just an appropriate woof or two in these situations? Great. He’s got it figured out. If not, time for a little human intervention.

I felt so silly the first time I thanked Peggy for barking. My husband was especially reticent. But it really does work.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯


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## Bailey_Whiskey (Jan 18, 2021)

10.5 month old Whiskey gets over excited when playing with his tiny big sister, Bailey. We have sought opinions from a few trainers (take videos!!), all say what we see as aggression is just rough play from both dogs. It just happens that it’s 20kg Whiskey vs 3.5kg Bailey.

When it gets too much, both go into separate rooms to chill (same as what the trainers advised us). I have found that 30 min walks make for a tired Bailey vs a Whiskey that starts off excited. So now we do separate walks for both.

I am just grateful Whiskey is not mouthy, never has been. But it also makes me worry when there are young kids that want to play with him because I have not experienced Whiskey being mouthy to know the signs well..
On the bright side, he is more willing to follow through on commands (he came back when I called to go home at the dog park last weekend 🥳) compared to when he was 7 months old. Though it’s no where near his obedience at 5 months.


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## LadyRay (Apr 29, 2020)

He sounds so much like my girl at that age! She wasn't mouthy as a puppy, so I missed the window to nip it in the bud, but her mouthyness came back with a vengeance when she hit 9 months lol. But one thing was that it was always out of play, never aggression. I would observe his body language to see if It's aggression or play. Poodles are notoriously mouthy. One spoo owners said her spoo puppy was mouthier than a terrier! If his movements are bouncy and loose, i would assume he's playing. 

For my girl, she was still very bouncy, play bow movements, but was launching herself at my forearms. And only me, never my boyfriend or parents, and I am her primary owner. I used to get frustrated, and didn't know how to correct it. I didn't like the advice a trainer gave me, so I tried different methods (crossed arms, "ragdoll" pose, no eye contact, you name it lol). But what worked best was teaching her "enough." Because she only was mouthy with me and it didn't hurt (that much lol), and I do not have kids, I let her roughhouse a bit. Randomly, or if I feel like she's getting overstimulated, I say "that's enough" and she stops, sits, and gets praise. When I release her (her release word is "ok!"), we can roughhouse again. That method worked and actually (aside from a bad mouthy episode last week that stemmed from pent up energy from the heat), her lunging and mouthy behavior has significantly decreased. However, it may have also decreased with age, since she's 17 months now. 

To caveat, my girl is excellent at self-settling and does quite well in "overstimulating" environments, so that may play a part, but I think teaching her to use her mouth gently and knowing when to turn it off helped her. But if you have kids, a "no mouth period" policy may need to be your focus. But learning "thats enough!" may help.


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## TuttoBene (Apr 23, 2021)

I know this suggestion is going to be controversial but here I go: have you tried giving him a raw beef bone at night. We have done this 30 years with our greyhounds and now we do it with our standard too. The dogs go into there crates with their bones and chomp away. We release them when they are finished gnawing. It’s a great stress reliever. It signals quiet time and sleep. BTW our vets have always said we have the dogs with the best teeth. None of our dogs have ever needed any dental work done. 

I have my own crackpot theory in that what bonded canines to early humans were the bones thrown to the canines after hunting and butchering etc.


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