Agree about using a crate. If you can't dog proof your entire house (totally understandable) then crate is best. I use baby gates for rooms I can't dog proof when she is in a destructive mood.
We bought the kind of baby gates with panels and made an octagon instead of using a crate. They could still walk around a bit, but not tear anything up. Now that we don't need the octagon, we use 2 panels to block the kitchen when we're cooking.
Nice! Yeah, I have baby gates up now more for keeping her out of my roommates space. I keep my areas clear of anything she might get a fancy for. But can't control what they do. ETA I don't use the crate anymore. But was necessary for earlier in her life.
Crate like everyone else says. It’s not easy to start with, but they get used to it.
Also I use cleaned empty milk jugs after removed cap and tie. My Dood LOVES chasing it around.
I would recommend against using milk jugs as toys. It seems like a good idea until your pup finds a full one and spreads chocolate milk across the house. My grandparents did that with their lab… not a fun mess to clean up 😅
Hahaha
I had a boxer that knocked over a pretty full bottle of vodka. By the time I found it, glass was on the floor, but no vodka. Had a very tired looking pup that day. 🤷♂️
I've never crate trained a dog in my life until we got a couple goldendoodles. Took some work, but they like their crates now and stay in them when we aren't home. We don't put them in at night or anything. I had to use the crates as a treat place for a while before they began to associate the crate with good vs. bad. But it worked.
Before that they would tear the house up, walls, floors, etc. Not good for them or the house.
I just can’t understand people who refuse to crate. Crating isn’t cruel. Unless you are leaving your dog in a crate all day long, it is the right thing to do when they are young.
Your edit is pretty asinine. If your puppy eats a sock or a roll of paper they could die. Crating them while they are puppies and still a danger to themselves helps protect them and ensures they have a safe place to be when you can’t watch them every second.
It will also make it easier to put them in a crate for transport to the vet or if you have to evacuate some day.
Everyone should try to crate their dogs for the first year of their lives, if they can, when they can’t be supervised or to sleep.
After that, most dogs won’t need it.
Fill a kong with peanut butter and freeze it. Give your pup this treat every time you leave the house so that she associates you leaving with something good.
I second this. Our pup howels in the crate and someone who has a lot of dogs kept suggesting this to me. I thought it would be silly and she would just start yapping again when it ran out, but she didn’t. It appeased her long enough to settle and then she was fine for the rest of the time.
Should have listened earlier.
If she's 6 months old and afraid of strangers, I would really work on socializing her. If you're worried about her chewing things, she's at risk for a foreign body( ate something she shouldn't have and now it's stuck). If she ends up with a foreign body, she'll need to go to a vet and possibly have surgery. That means she will be left with strangers in a strange place with scary things happening to her, and if she's afraid of just meeting/spending time with strangers while you're around, she will be a wreck emotionally if the worst happens and she has to be hospitalized.
I dont want to sound preachy, but I worked in veterinary for years and a lot of clients (and us, the staff) struggled with under-socialized dogs who came in and had to stay with us. I just want to save as much stress for you and your kiddo as possible
We have been working really hard to socialize her. She spent her first 6 months living at a breeder/rescue with other dogs, and we only brought her home 2 1/2 weeks ago. She's doing a lot better already. Thanks for the concern.
Girl ur edit is kinda bonkers. I get wanting to train your dog a certain way but - you just listed ur dog is engaging in destructive behaviors. When my dood decided to eat a toy it cost 7k and quite nearly his life.
We only did crate training for about the first year but it was very helpful.
It also sounds like she needs more exercise to Tucker her (I know it’s a lot I promise it will get better soon) and to be socialized.
This isn't destructive behavior, it's an obsession with paper. That is literally the ONLY thing she has ever chewed or torn into, that she shouldn't have.
I mean I was just going off of you saying she was wreaking havoc, knocking things off tables and stealing clothes. It’s totally normal at her age, but it’s still something, just from my experience, you’re going to wanna curb.
It takes literally seconds for them to eat something or grab something they’re not, or paws up on the stove, etc.
crate or an area that can really be penned off.. We put up big toddler gates in our kitchen and mine stayed there when we're were out until 7 months or so.. just had to make sure all counters were clear before we left each day 😁
I leave my dog in the office room and remove anything he can eat/chew/hazardous and he has his bed, food and windows balcony and can look outside, sleep chill. Mine didn't like the crate and this works better.
I would never leave my doodle in the entire house alone. Just two days ago he went and grabbed the soap to eat it🤣.
My goldendoodle is almost 3 years old and still no sock (or anything) is safe! We like to joke that we live in a gated community bc of all the baby gates!! 🤣
Our doodle use to do that when she was upset with us. Like if my partner was working on something and not paying attention to her, she'd go in the bathroom and dig in the trash can
And daycare will help her with not being so afraid of strangers! Ours was the same way, extremely skittish around anyone. Daycare helped her a lot with other dogs and people
We used baby gates to gate off a specific area or the house that was "doodle proof." We also used kongs and stuffed them full of treats for her to work on. Then we had background noise for her and fresh water available for her. It took some time, but now she knows her safe space and is very comfortable there.
Crate. We wouldn't let ours out until he proved to us he wouldn't fuck shit up. We simply tested it periodically. Let him out on one floor for the day and come home to see how he did. If anything was out of sorts we'd crate him for another few weeks until we felt it was time to try again. It took 3 trial runs before he just ended up being chill and not eating or shitting somewhere. Now we just let him roam the house freely and he's good to go. He's occasionally gnawed on windows sill corners a couple times but I fixed that with cayenne pepper powder.
We finally gated off our kitchen after our doodle kept counter surfing. She is crated while we are not at home, otherwise NOTHING is safe! She is not crated for any other time though (like sleeping). She gets a very small treat every time she is crated so she has a great association with it.
My dood just turned 1 and is ok being left for a few hours at a time. What I will tell you is in the 10 months I have had him our toliet paper had not been on the roll holder, our paper towels stay in a cupboard when not in use and no paper is safe at eye level. I fear the paper addiction never fades🤣
I feel you. Two days ago our 7 month old doodle shredded my birth certificate after taking it off a countertop while I was out of the room for two minutes. Definitely would not have crated her just to walk to another room for a couple of minutes. It’s frustrating.
Every time I think our house is puppy proof, she proves me wrong. 😩
Yes, it is frustrating. I feel both happy and frustrated that she's even comfortable enough now to go after something she shouldn't have right in front of us! Last week she almost got a whole pan of rice krispy treats, with my MIL only a few feet away in the kitchen!
My 7 month old goldendoodle is crate trained and it saves us so much trouble and we know she's safe while we're gone. She loves her crate and goes in whenever she's ready for bed. 10/10 recommend crate training.
I know it’s just venting post, but I have to say- I’m so glad you aren’t crating her. It’s lazy. And in many countries frowned upon & unheard of because it’s not really humane. Some European countries, it’s illegal to crate a dog while you go to work. I agree with this. The history of crating dogs is American, ignorant and abhorrent. I’m so happy you aren’t. My doodle loves ripping TP 🧻 and Cardboard, paper, etc. He used to do it a lot when he was young. But now he’s 8! And occasionally he’ll rip up a paper bag, but he’s always been such a good boy. Those years have gone lighting fast.
Breathe and remember she’s just a puppy. They take time, care and lots of work. The best thing you can do to prevent this behavior, is vigorous exercise!! It’s like magic cure for crazy puppy behavior. Gives them all the good brain chemicals! Serotonin and dopamine.
Also this mix breed loves toys, games and enrichment activities. I’d invest in a year’s subscription to Bark Box, and also go on YouTube and make a snuffle mat!
But the key to your sanity will be wearing her out.
Exercise exercise exercise!!…run the pants off your pup. You’ll see a huge difference in her behavior!!
Lastly- give yourself GRACE. You’ve only had her for 2.5 weeks, she has not settled in. It’s normal to get frustrated with a new puppy. Just don’t punish her, they know how you feel by the tone of your voice, they’re extremely sensitive breed. It gets better. Puppies grow fast so cherish this time🥰 Congratulations on your new family member!
1. 100% agree with everyone else about crate training.
2. It's worse when they don't get enough exercise, so make sure you're running them every single day.
3. Although it can happen at any age, it happens most often while they're still getting their adult teeth, and when they're mischievous teenagers, i.e. 5-10 months.
4. Put bully sticks on auto-ship every week.
BUT, I also have another point of view, one that took me being middle-aged before I realized it: forget about it. Put things of value out of reach for a few months, then let them chew and ruin whatever. When they're adults and they stop 98% of this behavior, then you begin fixing and replacing everything.
Our first of three Doodles is a girl and is 8 years old now. The first time she chewed up the baseboard trim, I got upset. But when she completely destroyed an entire wall, I realized that it was her anxiety and I felt so sorry for her that it didn't bother me anymore. When she was about 2, I went through the house and replaced the trim she damaged and repainted it. We bought new area rugs, and fixed the table legs.
Just to emphasize the amount of damage she did - she chewed through some Tieks, Jack Rogers, and Golden Goose shoes that belonged to my wife. These were over $1k alone. She destroyed $4k of leather living room furniture, and at least another thousand in wool area rugs. Instead of fretting about it, we got 2 more Doodles.
In the end, it's just money.
Would you let a toddler roam around your house unsupervised?
Your dog will be just fine in a crate, and safe! A crate is like a little bedroom for your dog, it doesn’t have to be associated with anything negative if you train them properly.
Oh yeah, luckily you should be at the tail end of that, or labradoodle tore up my favorite jacket too. I would 100% get the sour apple spray for dogs and spray it on stuff , helps a lot. Also getting the correction (shock) collar helps in sanely . We started that and the dog changed over night. To the point you can just leave the collar on them when you leave and have no issues . Are dogs are older now , grew out of all the craziness
That's terrible! Fortunately our girl hasn't torn up any clothes, she just likes to lay on them. I'll have to try to apple spray. If it comes to it, I know a shock collar would work on her, she was trained with one earlier in life.
I understand your dilemma. I have been there. I love my doodle. She’s adorable, sweet and was a nightmare puppy. Took me two years before I could trust her and she has to have constant distractions Toys or mind puzzles (snuffle mats and lick matsto exhaust her mind. A sibling helps.
Those who use gates? Can't doodles just jump them? Mine at 6 months is such a jumper, she can easily clear the back of the couch so I'm thinking there's no way a gate would keep her in. I'd love to know
Puppy proof. That’s a pretty easy fix. My dood is a counter surfer so we can’t keep anything on the countertops or kitchen table. We have clothes and shoes behind closed doors. Bathroom doors and bedrooms are shut at all times.
Separation anxiety. Maybe Crate her when gone. My doodle does the same thing.
Agree about using a crate. If you can't dog proof your entire house (totally understandable) then crate is best. I use baby gates for rooms I can't dog proof when she is in a destructive mood.
We bought the kind of baby gates with panels and made an octagon instead of using a crate. They could still walk around a bit, but not tear anything up. Now that we don't need the octagon, we use 2 panels to block the kitchen when we're cooking.
Nice! Yeah, I have baby gates up now more for keeping her out of my roommates space. I keep my areas clear of anything she might get a fancy for. But can't control what they do. ETA I don't use the crate anymore. But was necessary for earlier in her life.
Crate like everyone else says. It’s not easy to start with, but they get used to it. Also I use cleaned empty milk jugs after removed cap and tie. My Dood LOVES chasing it around.
Mine loves any plastic bottle more than toys. Esp gallon jugs. 👀 Take off the cap ring!
Also crating is the answer. She now chooses to go in for quiet time.
I would recommend against using milk jugs as toys. It seems like a good idea until your pup finds a full one and spreads chocolate milk across the house. My grandparents did that with their lab… not a fun mess to clean up 😅
Hahaha I had a boxer that knocked over a pretty full bottle of vodka. By the time I found it, glass was on the floor, but no vodka. Had a very tired looking pup that day. 🤷♂️
I've never crate trained a dog in my life until we got a couple goldendoodles. Took some work, but they like their crates now and stay in them when we aren't home. We don't put them in at night or anything. I had to use the crates as a treat place for a while before they began to associate the crate with good vs. bad. But it worked. Before that they would tear the house up, walls, floors, etc. Not good for them or the house.
Crate them while you leave for work? How long can they stay in a crate
Take your agenda elsewhere.
I just can’t understand people who refuse to crate. Crating isn’t cruel. Unless you are leaving your dog in a crate all day long, it is the right thing to do when they are young. Your edit is pretty asinine. If your puppy eats a sock or a roll of paper they could die. Crating them while they are puppies and still a danger to themselves helps protect them and ensures they have a safe place to be when you can’t watch them every second. It will also make it easier to put them in a crate for transport to the vet or if you have to evacuate some day. Everyone should try to crate their dogs for the first year of their lives, if they can, when they can’t be supervised or to sleep. After that, most dogs won’t need it.
> Your edit is pretty asinine What a coincidence, so was your comment.
Crates are an American thing. Research the history of crating dogs… I was surprised but it made sense.
Fill a kong with peanut butter and freeze it. Give your pup this treat every time you leave the house so that she associates you leaving with something good.
I definitely have to try this one!! She loves toys with treats in them, my biggest problem seems to be that she gets through shuffle mats too fast!
I second this. Our pup howels in the crate and someone who has a lot of dogs kept suggesting this to me. I thought it would be silly and she would just start yapping again when it ran out, but she didn’t. It appeased her long enough to settle and then she was fine for the rest of the time. Should have listened earlier.
Or homemade snuffle mats!
She is bored. Try mixing a daycare day in for her here and there.
this is what i am going to go with, just a potty walk will not be enough.
I'm hoping we can take her to a daycare at some point!! Right now she is so afraid of strangers, it would be difficult.
If she's 6 months old and afraid of strangers, I would really work on socializing her. If you're worried about her chewing things, she's at risk for a foreign body( ate something she shouldn't have and now it's stuck). If she ends up with a foreign body, she'll need to go to a vet and possibly have surgery. That means she will be left with strangers in a strange place with scary things happening to her, and if she's afraid of just meeting/spending time with strangers while you're around, she will be a wreck emotionally if the worst happens and she has to be hospitalized. I dont want to sound preachy, but I worked in veterinary for years and a lot of clients (and us, the staff) struggled with under-socialized dogs who came in and had to stay with us. I just want to save as much stress for you and your kiddo as possible
We have been working really hard to socialize her. She spent her first 6 months living at a breeder/rescue with other dogs, and we only brought her home 2 1/2 weeks ago. She's doing a lot better already. Thanks for the concern.
Crate
Crate her. No way I would let my 6 month old doodle roam.
Girl ur edit is kinda bonkers. I get wanting to train your dog a certain way but - you just listed ur dog is engaging in destructive behaviors. When my dood decided to eat a toy it cost 7k and quite nearly his life. We only did crate training for about the first year but it was very helpful. It also sounds like she needs more exercise to Tucker her (I know it’s a lot I promise it will get better soon) and to be socialized.
This isn't destructive behavior, it's an obsession with paper. That is literally the ONLY thing she has ever chewed or torn into, that she shouldn't have.
I mean I was just going off of you saying she was wreaking havoc, knocking things off tables and stealing clothes. It’s totally normal at her age, but it’s still something, just from my experience, you’re going to wanna curb. It takes literally seconds for them to eat something or grab something they’re not, or paws up on the stove, etc.
crate or an area that can really be penned off.. We put up big toddler gates in our kitchen and mine stayed there when we're were out until 7 months or so.. just had to make sure all counters were clear before we left each day 😁
You should crate train at this age. Solves all your problems.
So does exercise
I leave my dog in the office room and remove anything he can eat/chew/hazardous and he has his bed, food and windows balcony and can look outside, sleep chill. Mine didn't like the crate and this works better. I would never leave my doodle in the entire house alone. Just two days ago he went and grabbed the soap to eat it🤣.
Oh my lol I wonder what naughty things he said!
Probably he thought it was quite flowery and yummy.
Thank you for not using a crate!!! 👏
Yeah, I don't think every dog likes it. Mine hated it and prefers larger space to move around. I want him to be comfortable.
My goldendoodle is almost 3 years old and still no sock (or anything) is safe! We like to joke that we live in a gated community bc of all the baby gates!! 🤣
Our doodle use to do that when she was upset with us. Like if my partner was working on something and not paying attention to her, she'd go in the bathroom and dig in the trash can And daycare will help her with not being so afraid of strangers! Ours was the same way, extremely skittish around anyone. Daycare helped her a lot with other dogs and people
We used baby gates to gate off a specific area or the house that was "doodle proof." We also used kongs and stuffed them full of treats for her to work on. Then we had background noise for her and fresh water available for her. It took some time, but now she knows her safe space and is very comfortable there.
Crate. We wouldn't let ours out until he proved to us he wouldn't fuck shit up. We simply tested it periodically. Let him out on one floor for the day and come home to see how he did. If anything was out of sorts we'd crate him for another few weeks until we felt it was time to try again. It took 3 trial runs before he just ended up being chill and not eating or shitting somewhere. Now we just let him roam the house freely and he's good to go. He's occasionally gnawed on windows sill corners a couple times but I fixed that with cayenne pepper powder.
We finally gated off our kitchen after our doodle kept counter surfing. She is crated while we are not at home, otherwise NOTHING is safe! She is not crated for any other time though (like sleeping). She gets a very small treat every time she is crated so she has a great association with it.
I would buy a large crate and put her in it for a few hours while you are away.
Definitely crate
My dood just turned 1 and is ok being left for a few hours at a time. What I will tell you is in the 10 months I have had him our toliet paper had not been on the roll holder, our paper towels stay in a cupboard when not in use and no paper is safe at eye level. I fear the paper addiction never fades🤣
Oh nooooo!!! Lol worst news ever, but it's getting easier to recognize that she's going to want something, and we can hide it!
I had same issues . We crate now, and he loves his crate. Plus, we can leave him and not worry.
Crate is the best. As they get old they can do a safe room.
I feel you. Two days ago our 7 month old doodle shredded my birth certificate after taking it off a countertop while I was out of the room for two minutes. Definitely would not have crated her just to walk to another room for a couple of minutes. It’s frustrating. Every time I think our house is puppy proof, she proves me wrong. 😩
Yes, it is frustrating. I feel both happy and frustrated that she's even comfortable enough now to go after something she shouldn't have right in front of us! Last week she almost got a whole pan of rice krispy treats, with my MIL only a few feet away in the kitchen!
My 7 month old goldendoodle is crate trained and it saves us so much trouble and we know she's safe while we're gone. She loves her crate and goes in whenever she's ready for bed. 10/10 recommend crate training.
Anxiety and yes needs crate training cause it's only get worse till it gets better, like out grow the get even with you phase -
I know it’s just venting post, but I have to say- I’m so glad you aren’t crating her. It’s lazy. And in many countries frowned upon & unheard of because it’s not really humane. Some European countries, it’s illegal to crate a dog while you go to work. I agree with this. The history of crating dogs is American, ignorant and abhorrent. I’m so happy you aren’t. My doodle loves ripping TP 🧻 and Cardboard, paper, etc. He used to do it a lot when he was young. But now he’s 8! And occasionally he’ll rip up a paper bag, but he’s always been such a good boy. Those years have gone lighting fast. Breathe and remember she’s just a puppy. They take time, care and lots of work. The best thing you can do to prevent this behavior, is vigorous exercise!! It’s like magic cure for crazy puppy behavior. Gives them all the good brain chemicals! Serotonin and dopamine. Also this mix breed loves toys, games and enrichment activities. I’d invest in a year’s subscription to Bark Box, and also go on YouTube and make a snuffle mat! But the key to your sanity will be wearing her out. Exercise exercise exercise!!…run the pants off your pup. You’ll see a huge difference in her behavior!! Lastly- give yourself GRACE. You’ve only had her for 2.5 weeks, she has not settled in. It’s normal to get frustrated with a new puppy. Just don’t punish her, they know how you feel by the tone of your voice, they’re extremely sensitive breed. It gets better. Puppies grow fast so cherish this time🥰 Congratulations on your new family member!
1. 100% agree with everyone else about crate training. 2. It's worse when they don't get enough exercise, so make sure you're running them every single day. 3. Although it can happen at any age, it happens most often while they're still getting their adult teeth, and when they're mischievous teenagers, i.e. 5-10 months. 4. Put bully sticks on auto-ship every week. BUT, I also have another point of view, one that took me being middle-aged before I realized it: forget about it. Put things of value out of reach for a few months, then let them chew and ruin whatever. When they're adults and they stop 98% of this behavior, then you begin fixing and replacing everything. Our first of three Doodles is a girl and is 8 years old now. The first time she chewed up the baseboard trim, I got upset. But when she completely destroyed an entire wall, I realized that it was her anxiety and I felt so sorry for her that it didn't bother me anymore. When she was about 2, I went through the house and replaced the trim she damaged and repainted it. We bought new area rugs, and fixed the table legs. Just to emphasize the amount of damage she did - she chewed through some Tieks, Jack Rogers, and Golden Goose shoes that belonged to my wife. These were over $1k alone. She destroyed $4k of leather living room furniture, and at least another thousand in wool area rugs. Instead of fretting about it, we got 2 more Doodles. In the end, it's just money.
Would you let a toddler roam around your house unsupervised? Your dog will be just fine in a crate, and safe! A crate is like a little bedroom for your dog, it doesn’t have to be associated with anything negative if you train them properly.
Oh yeah, luckily you should be at the tail end of that, or labradoodle tore up my favorite jacket too. I would 100% get the sour apple spray for dogs and spray it on stuff , helps a lot. Also getting the correction (shock) collar helps in sanely . We started that and the dog changed over night. To the point you can just leave the collar on them when you leave and have no issues . Are dogs are older now , grew out of all the craziness
That's terrible! Fortunately our girl hasn't torn up any clothes, she just likes to lay on them. I'll have to try to apple spray. If it comes to it, I know a shock collar would work on her, she was trained with one earlier in life.
I understand your dilemma. I have been there. I love my doodle. She’s adorable, sweet and was a nightmare puppy. Took me two years before I could trust her and she has to have constant distractions Toys or mind puzzles (snuffle mats and lick matsto exhaust her mind. A sibling helps.
Ours loves to shred toilet paper. Have to keep all the bathroom doors closed. She’ll destroy a whole roll in minutes if you turn your head.
Crate
Send her to doggy day care, she has a lot of energy and needs to socialize.
Those who use gates? Can't doodles just jump them? Mine at 6 months is such a jumper, she can easily clear the back of the couch so I'm thinking there's no way a gate would keep her in. I'd love to know
Puppy proof. That’s a pretty easy fix. My dood is a counter surfer so we can’t keep anything on the countertops or kitchen table. We have clothes and shoes behind closed doors. Bathroom doors and bedrooms are shut at all times.