....when you work at home and dropping everything to play with him
right then isn't an option. :-)

A 10month old miniature poodle was bestowed upon me ... who's
generally a delight and we're half way through our obedience classes.
He's been with us for about 2 months now, the last 3 weeks of which
has included a new baby in the household.

The only problem I'm having with him is that both my wife and I work
from home, and inevitably, in the midday, the dog will come pestering
us to play. Barking loudly and getting low and staring at us, and
being evasive if you try to go to him, so you really can't catch him
to do any correction. Or, other times coming up and scratching on
your arm (ow), or nipping at your heels if you walk down the hall. In
response to this stuff, which can indicate either "I wanna play" or
the all important "I need to go out" I'll send him outside, and most
times, nope, it wasn't "I need to go to the bathroom" -- most times
you find he just wanted to play or get attention. This is further
complicated by him using these same signals to indicate that he really
does need to go out.

This sort of behavior was also an issue before the baby, but the baby
has intensified it since he's not getting as much attention
now.

Here's what I've tried:

-Dominance down-holding him down by the shoulder for a bit to get him
submisive again... but that's only if I can catch him in the act or
shortly thereafter. If there's too much of me chasing him involved,
it becomes a game to him, and I'm rewarding the barking behavior.
And, it doesn't seem to be terribly effective as a deterrent. If he's
jacked up to play, he pretty much remains that way.

-Crating we've tried during the day, but this poodle being the uber
people dog (gets really put off and barks incessantly if he's locked
in his crate while there are folks in the house and stuff is going on.
The feeling slighted if left out is evidently a bit of a poodle thing
if some breed descriptions i've read are to be believe. Otherwise, he
doesn't min the crate per se--he'll opt to sleep there voluntarily
with the door open if he's in eyesight of one of our offices, and he's
fine with it if we're leaving the house (no barks heard from the
garage as we move to depart), but if you're at home and he's locked
in, holy moses, it's a loud annoying scene unfortunately.

-Best I can do is to go to him, get him on a short lead with his
training color, tie it to my belt and have him follow me around.
When I sit down, I down him (which he seems to take pretty well now)
and he does calm a bit.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or ideas on how to handle the nuissance
barking or scratching for attention, or it's something that'll
eventually pass as he gets more used to the baby and gets older and
mellower.

Caveat: If you are a nutjob and responses include the word "HOWEDY",
it's unlikely I'll read it. :-) To everyone else, I'd enjoy the
input!

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

On 11 Aug 2006 16:13:42 -0500, (Todd H.), clicked their
heels and said:


...when you work at home and dropping everything to play with him
right then isn't an option. :-)

I notice that you didn't include "engage in play sessions throughout
the day, on the humans' terms". That's what I would choose. You have
a young, playful dog. When your child is 2, you'll have a better
idea. yes - entertaining oneself is an important skill, but they both
need your interaction at reasonable intervals as well.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Janet B writes:

On 11 Aug 2006 16:13:42 -0500, (Todd H.), clicked their
heels and said:


...when you work at home and dropping everything to play with him
right then isn't an option. :-)

I notice that you didn't include "engage in play sessions throughout
the day, on the humans' terms". That's what I would choose. You have
a young, playful dog. When your child is 2, you'll have a better
idea. yes - entertaining oneself is an important skill, but they both
need your interaction at reasonable intervals as well.

Hi Janet,

Sounds like a reasonable suggestion. Easy enough to try to see if it
stems it, and I suspect it'll certainly help.

--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

Howdy! (just kidding , I couldn't resist)

I'd say number one thing to work on is adjusting his "I gotta go out"
signal, and seperating it from his "I wanna play signal". Nipping at your
heels and scratching you isn't really a good way for him to tell you he
needs to go outside.
Problem is, its been working, so he'll likely keep it up.

When you were toilet training him, how did you do it? Did you always use the
same door? I'm trying to figure out how he decided this was a successful
strategy....

Next, when he goes out to pee, does he come right back in again? Or does he
then play in the garden for a while?

Personally I would start taking him outside on his leash, and then right
back in again when he pees. That way he doesn't decide that playing goes
along with peeing.

I'd also work on a 'pre-emptive strike' strategy. Tire him out in the
mornings, take him for a long walk etc.

Dale

In article AF7Dg.2728$Nz6.708@edtnps82,
Dale Atkin wrote:
I'd say number one thing to work on is adjusting his "I gotta go out"
signal, and seperating it from his "I wanna play signal".

That's an excellent point, and I agree 100%. I work from
home, too, and I've got 7 dogs. The dogs learned pretty
quickly that when they come and get me in my office I'm
going to let them out and there's no play involved. But
they're also part of my daily schedule and not an
afterthought, so they've got training and exercise time
already allocated.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Bad policies lead to bad results.

"Todd H." wrote in message ...

...when you work at home and dropping everything to play with him
right then isn't an option. :-)

A 10month old miniature poodle was bestowed upon me ... who's
generally a delight and we're half way through our obedience classes.
He's been with us for about 2 months now, the last 3 weeks of which
has included a new baby in the household.

The only problem I'm having with him is that both my wife and I work
from home, and inevitably, in the midday, the dog will come pestering
us to play. Barking loudly and getting low and staring at us, and
being evasive if you try to go to him, so you really can't catch him
to do any correction. Or, other times coming up and scratching on
your arm (ow), or nipping at your heels if you walk down the hall. In
response to this stuff, which can indicate either "I wanna play" or
the all important "I need to go out" I'll send him outside, and most
times, nope, it wasn't "I need to go to the bathroom" -- most times
you find he just wanted to play or get attention. This is further
complicated by him using these same signals to indicate that he really
does need to go out.

This sort of behavior was also an issue before the baby, but the baby
has intensified it since he's not getting as much attention
now.

Here's what I've tried:

-Dominance down-holding him down by the shoulder for a bit to get him
submisive again... but that's only if I can catch him in the act or
shortly thereafter. If there's too much of me chasing him involved,
it becomes a game to him, and I'm rewarding the barking behavior.
And, it doesn't seem to be terribly effective as a deterrent. If he's
jacked up to play, he pretty much remains that way.

-Crating we've tried during the day, but this poodle being the uber
people dog (gets really put off and barks incessantly if he's locked
in his crate while there are folks in the house and stuff is going on.
The feeling slighted if left out is evidently a bit of a poodle thing
if some breed descriptions i've read are to be believe. Otherwise, he
doesn't min the crate per se--he'll opt to sleep there voluntarily
with the door open if he's in eyesight of one of our offices, and he's
fine with it if we're leaving the house (no barks heard from the
garage as we move to depart), but if you're at home and he's locked
in, holy moses, it's a loud annoying scene unfortunately.

-Best I can do is to go to him, get him on a short lead with his
training color, tie it to my belt and have him follow me around.
When I sit down, I down him (which he seems to take pretty well now)
and he does calm a bit.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or ideas on how to handle the nuissance
barking or scratching for attention, or it's something that'll
eventually pass as he gets more used to the baby and gets older and
mellower.

Caveat: If you are a nutjob and responses include the word "HOWEDY",
it's unlikely I'll read it. :-) To everyone else, I'd enjoy the
input!

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/
=======================
Maybe you could hire someone to take the dog for a daily walk, if you are
unable to do it, to keep the dog from being bored and to tire him out, so
that when he is around you, he will mostly want to rest. Poodles are very
active dogs.
You could also allow certain times of the day set aside just to spend with
the dog, i.e.. 10 a.m. 30 minutes every morning, maybe tossing the ball for
the dog to chase or walking the dog, or playing and talking to the dog, and
again maybe at 3 pm. 30 minutes of attention in the afternoon and maybe 7
p.m., 30 minutes again after dinner. It is hard when you have a baby, but it
sounds as though the dog is seeking some much needed exercise and attention.
-------------

On 11 Aug 2006 16:13:42 -0500, (Todd H.) wrote:

This sort of behavior was also an issue before the baby, but the baby
has intensified it since he's not getting as much attention
now.

It's hard to do, but you need to find some time to give him attention
and play time or he will, indeed, drive you crazy.

Here's what I've tried:

-Dominance down-holding him down by the shoulder for a bit to get him
submisive again... but that's only if I can catch him in the act or
shortly thereafter. If there's too much of me chasing him involved,
it becomes a game to him, and I'm rewarding the barking behavior.
And, it doesn't seem to be terribly effective as a deterrent. If he's
jacked up to play, he pretty much remains that way.

You don't have to hold him down or even catch him and I wouldn't chase
him down because that is an attention game. If he comes in and bugs
you, tell him to down and then pet him while he is down. If he runs
away from you, let him run out and then shut the door. He will hate
that, but poodles are smart. He'll figure out he is better off down
with you than running around away from you. I taught our mini poodle
to "go sleepy" because he was bugging the hell out of me beebopping
all over the place. He loves to have his belly rubbed, so I would
tell him "go sleepy" when he was bouncing around him and then rub his
belly for as long as he stayed still. Since my hand was right there,
I could make him stay there if I needed to, but not in a dominance
way. He just no longer got a belly rub if he moved away from my hand,
or moved at all. Now his favorite game is to come over and go sleepy
instead of coming over and jumping around. Jumping around or on me
means banishment to this day. He is welcome to hang out right near me
for as long as he wants to as long as he is not bugging me, though.
When I need a break from studying, I take a few minutes to throw his
squeaky woobie around for him to chase, always followed by something
that calms him down before he is expected to stay fairly still. I
need fairly frequent breaks anyway so it works well. It doesn't have
to be a long break as long as they aren't too far between. He gets
longer training and play times in the morning and the evening. He
also gets to chase Molly around, but only if they are in another part
of the house. He is usually really good about hanging out without
bugging me now.

Good luck!

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay

"Dale Atkin" writes:

Howdy! (just kidding , I couldn't resist)

Hey, you left out the E, so I'm listenin!


I'd say number one thing to work on is adjusting his "I gotta go out"
signal, and seperating it from his "I wanna play signal". Nipping at your
heels and scratching you isn't really a good way for him to tell you he
needs to go outside.
Problem is, its been working, so he'll likely keep it up.

When you were toilet training him, how did you do it? Did you always use the
same door? I'm trying to figure out how he decided this was a successful
strategy....

Problem was, the prior owner took care of the potty training. To her
credit, he is very good with no messing in the house. She walked him
on lead out the same door every time.

Here, we have a backyard, and I used to let him out the back
door... but he was attached to me enough and/or timid enough of the
new back yard enough that I'd have to walk with him down to the yard
off the deck and sit with him before he's start sniffing around. But
lately he's become a little more independent and I can just sent him
outside.

Next, when he goes out to pee, does he come right back in again? Or
does he then play in the garden for a while?

Used to be he'd come right back again, but lately with cooler weather
and being increasingly familiar with the backyard, he'll go play a
bit.

Personally I would start taking him outside on his leash, and then right
back in again when he pees. That way he doesn't decide that playing goes
along with peeing.

I'd also work on a 'pre-emptive strike' strategy. Tire him out in
the mornings, take him for a long walk etc.

Good input--appreciate the ideas.


--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

Paula writes:
You don't have to hold him down or even catch him and I wouldn't chase
him down because that is an attention game. If he comes in and bugs
you, tell him to down and then pet him while he is down. If he runs
away from you, let him run out and then shut the door. He will hate
that, but poodles are smart. He'll figure out he is better off down
with you than running around away from you. I taught our mini poodle
to "go sleepy" because he was bugging the hell out of me beebopping
all over the place. He loves to have his belly rubbed, so I would
tell him "go sleepy" when he was bouncing around him and then rub his
belly for as long as he stayed still. Since my hand was right there,
I could make him stay there if I needed to, but not in a dominance
way. He just no longer got a belly rub if he moved away from my hand,
or moved at all. Now his favorite game is to come over and go sleepy
instead of coming over and jumping around. Jumping around or on me
means banishment to this day. He is welcome to hang out right near me
for as long as he wants to as long as he is not bugging me, though.
When I need a break from studying, I take a few minutes to throw his
squeaky woobie around for him to chase, always followed by something
that calms him down before he is expected to stay fairly still. I
need fairly frequent breaks anyway so it works well. It doesn't have
to be a long break as long as they aren't too far between. He gets
longer training and play times in the morning and the evening. He
also gets to chase Molly around, but only if they are in another part
of the house. He is usually really good about hanging out without
bugging me now.

Paula, this too looks like some great ideas, and breed specific to
boot. Thanks much for teh ideas. I'll see what I can do to redirect
this attention getting. The closed door would definitely be
something this one would learn from. Just so long as he didn't
redirect and go bark and bug mom and the baby. I'll experiment with
it.

But what I think the biggest thing I need to be able to do is schedule
some small blocks to play with the dog specifically even though there
really isn't time between work and helping with the new and extremely
needy cute little primate in our lives. When mom's struggling to keep
baby quiet, and daddy lacks the glands to pacify the baby, dad
doesn't exactly feel like "Dear, I'm gonna go out and throw the ball
with the dog for 30 minutes" is gonna go over real well. But
we'll see if I can get away with a smaller block of something to
exhaust the critter until the baby becomes less of a handful.
Obviously though, without investing some preemptive time, the coming
in and bugging and nuissance barking thing has to change.

Thanks again to all who responded with ideas.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

On 12 Aug 2006 00:20:54 -0500, (Todd H.) wrote:

But what I think the biggest thing I need to be able to do is schedule
some small blocks to play with the dog specifically even though there
really isn't time between work and helping with the new and extremely
needy cute little primate in our lives. When mom's struggling to keep
baby quiet, and daddy lacks the glands to pacify the baby, dad
doesn't exactly feel like "Dear, I'm gonna go out and throw the ball
with the dog for 30 minutes" is gonna go over real well. But
we'll see if I can get away with a smaller block of something to
exhaust the critter until the baby becomes less of a handful.
Obviously though, without investing some preemptive time, the coming
in and bugging and nuissance barking thing has to change.

Babies are a lot of work but they are good at being really cute just
when you are about to give up on all the work so you don't adopt them
out. It will get easier and easier as the baby gets older and sleeps
more often and eats less often.

Think in terms of mini breaks of a few minutes instead of when you can
fit in a 30 minute break. One thing that has also helped us is that
there are certain things that fascinate Sammie. Poodles are smart as
well as agile and energetic. So sometimes he seems to get fascinated
in how something moves or works. He was trying to get the sport top
off of the water bottle one day, for example. That would keep him
occupied for a long time. Like I said before, woobies are also good
for him. One throw gets several minutes of play because he has to
fight the woobie and parade around with it after subduing it in mortal
combat after he goes and chases it down. The biggest woobie problem
we have is that Sammie is most enamored of them when they squeak but
Molly Must Kill All Squeakies! At least she doesn't kill the woobie
during or after the squeaker removal, which is akin to a surgical
technique for her.

As you get to know your dog better, keep an eye out for things he is
fascinated with and ways you can play for one to five minutes at a
time and things will get a lot easier!

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay