# Puppy=little devil



## Irispup (Jul 29, 2017)

Hi all! Iris is a 14 week old spoo. She's doing well with house training, tricks, sleeps in her crate like a champ, but does NOT like being redirected/put in time out when she's especially crazy. She's great at the vet, doesn't mind being picked up to go in the car, on the vet table, in the bath (though she terrified of the dryer, that's another story), but when she's on full on berserk mode chasing the cat, and she has to be picked up to be put in her x pen to chill, she goes nuts biting and barking and growling at us like a little maniac. This is really the only concerning behavior though I'm sure it's just the result of picking up a puppy in chase/play mode. I don't want her to fear being picked up, and she isn't usually, but I also need to be able to immediately take her away from the cat. She also goes nuts when she's in full on play mode biting and barking and circling us. We're just giant puppies to her but her teeth HURT and picking her up to place her in her x pen generates a similar response to what I listed above. Any tips? I want to do this right and I'm a worried new parent!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

First you have to truly be relaxed in the face of that wild behavior. You being tense, worried, annoyed (yes puppies are annoying), etc. will feed the frenzy. One thing I would do is to pick her up and put her right down again when she is relaxed so she learns that she won't always be carried off to a time out when she is picked up. Also make sure you get her used to you putting your hand through her collar. Many dogs are resentful of being grabbed by the collar. Put your hand through her collar and give a treat. Let go and then repeat. I would also try to measure the patterns (time of day, amount of time already playing and the like that bring out the zooming land shark and try to put her in her pen or crate BEFORE the crazies set in. Give her a lovely stuffed treat ball to make it interesting for her to be there. One of the greatest things we can do for our dogs is to help them learn how to settle themselves and collect their heads. I think it is sort of like helping young children learn to put themselves to sleep for the night. I am in my later 50s, I'd sure be in trouble if I needed my mom (in her 80s) to drive to my house every night to tuck me in. These are life skills.


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## Beautiful Blue (Apr 24, 2017)

To me, the above are excellent tips! All of them. But especially picking puppy up, with some sort of "relax" "calm down" "chill" word (that you could work on at a separate time while petting, or ear rubbing or something) and putting her right down again when she relaxes. Just interrupt the undesirable behavior.

You are inadvertently teaching her that picking her up almost certainly means "I'm going to the punishment place .v. No! Let me go!"


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

*Yes we all know the stage.*


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I agree.......if you only pick her up for 'time out' she's gonna associate that with 'bad stuff' happening to spoil her fun!
Distraction with a tug toy and using a calm voice (no high pitched puppy admonishments) always helped me during the 'land shark' phase! Lily's advice is right-on!


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

At this phase, put the cat in a separate room with a shut door, so the cat can relax. When the puppy is in her pen with a puppy Kong, let the cat out. Alternate between the two for a while. Cats are too exciting for young puppies to leave alone at first. Young puppies are a handful and poodles are mouthy. I carried a bully stick with me everywhere and crammed it in Noelle's mouth when I needed to. Tug toys, too. 

Like everyone said, pick up the calm puppy, set down the calm puppy, give a treat. Repeat this as many times a day as possible. The lesson is, being lifted means super good things for poodles, not the end of fun.

This phase will not last forever, but wow, Eric's picture was spot on. Hair and teeth. When Noelle got in a frenzy, I stood up, left the room, and shut the door. I waited for her to cry. Waited for her to take a breath, and then returned when she was quiet, even if she was only quiet for a breath. It was up to Noelle to regulate her behavior, not me. 

Good luck, we're all here for you.


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## ConnieFLgirl (Aug 3, 2017)

I have an almost 12 week old minpoo and she does the exact same thing. I've figured out that this possessed barking growling act usually means she needs a nap or is simply over stimulated, even if we haven't done anything to get her hyped up. When I see this behavior beginning, I try distraction first in case it's from boredom, but more times than not, I put her in her crate for a nap or time out. Lately, I've been putting a treat in there and allowing her to walk in as opposed to be putting her in there. Before I started doing that, I'd put her in and give her a little reward treat. It would be nice if I had an older dog that she could play rough with and the older dog would put her in her place LOL. I assume she'll grow out of this behavior, puppies really are like toddlers and babies!


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