I have a 10 month old labradoodle he has some issues. He likes to nip and grab clothes. He jumps up when we arrive home he chases his tail. He also likes to get hold of things to see if we will play tag Most times we don't but he has gotten hold of a few things we have had to get back. When he barks at us we usually leave the room and he calms down we are taking him to training and he is doing well when we told the trainer about some of the issues he said a lot of them is just puppy stuff but we need to work on the nipping and jumping. Will this ever get better
The best thing to do with unwanted behaviours (we like to think of them as "behaviours we don't want" as opposed to "bad" behaviours, because the dog doesn't know they're "bad") is to train something that is incompatible. So, if he's grabbing clothes when he's excited, teach him to pick up a toy. If he's jumping up, teach him to sit on his mat, or go to "middle" (between your legs). If he's grabbing things for attention, then chasing him will only reinforce that, so train a really strong "give" cue, which results in a game for him. This needs to be done proactively rather than just reactively because he's grabbed something, so set time aside every day for training "give" - I've written about the process in some detail, I'll see if I can dig it out for you. At ten months, he will still need a fair amount of attention, so when he's demonstrating these attention-getting behaviours, as much as you don't want to reinforce them at the time, take them as information; try to pre-empt the behaviour next time by giving him the attention he's after sooner. In time, he'll learn to settle for longer periods, but at ten months, he'll be full of energy and wanting to play all the time. So teaching him settling behaviours interspersed with play time will set you both up for a more relaxed home life. I hope that helps
I found it and made it a sticky, so I can find it again in the future https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/teaching-drop-give-and-leave-it.21345/
Thank you for your help we will definitely try all these Strategies. One thing though about toys I BUY toys for him and he seems to just destroy them no matter how strong the toy seems to be he still manages to destroy it. I got a big Kong that he can knock around and get the treats out but he seems uninterested in it I have got him rope toys but he shreds that too we got him a regular Kong which we fill and use it sometimes when he is a little too hyper and put him in his crate with it to calm him down.any ideas for toys
My two older dogs were toy destroyers, too. I sometimes mended them, generally just removed the stuffing and let them play with the "carcasses" and used lots of destructibles like cardboard boxes. Yes, it means you're constantly tidying up cardboard confetti, but it keeps them occupied I found them most durable soft toy was the Kong Cozie toy, (we have Tupper the Lamb - every Labrador needs a Lambie) : I doubt it would survive a really determined destroyer, but the first lasted several months with these two, and they do like to eviscerate their toys! Other than that, you can't go wrong with stuffed Kongs really. For entertaining him, feed all his meals in the Kong. My lots have at least two a day and sometimes more. They're enjoying one right now, in fact! They get very little food in their bowls. I give them food in the bowls more as a habit for me than because they need it - it really is a waste of what can otherwise be used for enrichment.
Also, I ended up never leaving soft toys out with my older two because they just trashed them and it was a waste. If we were playing together, I could lead the appropriate play. With my latest, she's not a destructive dog at all, so I can leave soft toys out now. Willow and Shadow have grown out of destuffing them
Hi and welcome Dakota! I also have a 10-month-old puppy, and he is a true toy destroyer... He does have a rag toy that he has never destroyed, but mostly he bites the nose off any stuffed toy and then pulls the stuffing out through the nose - a bit like the ancient Egyptians' mummification process really... He also loves to carry several partially-emptied toy carcasses around with him. I don't worry, because I know he will grow out of it, and I just buy inexpensive stuffed toys (for instance from charity shops - I just remove any glass eyes etc and make sure the innards are dog-friendly). I've already noticed that he has far less destructive with his bedding and with other items around the house (shoes, gloves, books etc) than he was just a couple of months ago. Hopefully you and I will both notice less toy destruction in a few months!
Some dogs don't play with toys on their own and need their humans to interact with them. Lilly isn't a toy destroyer but she only really picks them up herself to bring to us to play with. The odd thing gets destuffed
Cooper is a force of nature when it comes to soft toys. If they have appendages, she will hold the toy down with her paws, and rip off the arms/legs/head/ears/whatever. Tilly was much the same when she was younger. They also play Tug with them and tear them apart. Fortunately they don't eat the remains, just shred them. Some of our friends give their Sammys a 6" rawhide role and it lasts for weeks. When we give them to Tilly and Cooper they have a lifespan of under an hour, and they do eat the rawhide, but it never causes them a problem. All of our dogs have learned that they can destroy the toys we give them, but not our stuff. We did not do a lot of training for that, it was mostly self taught.
Mine used to destroy them when he was younger, he now carries them around all the time and they tuck round him to go to bed at night!
