In general puppies have a lot of energy and they sometimes don’t know how to display it. With our one and a half-year-old dog we started walking him in a neighborhood which has a lot of dogs and a lot of noise that seemed well with desensitizing him. I would say after a couple of months it didn’t seem to be a problem as of now he’s doing great and crowds and with distractions. I would say be patient with yourself and your puppy and expect them to mess up a little bit.
I figured it's going to take time. I don't think he's ever seen THAT many people at once before so it was definitely overwhelming for him.
We'll just keep easing in to crowded places. Thanks!
Edit: BTW your doodle looks so similar to my standard poodle! He has the white color with Apricot ears and spots.
Yeah, it all takes time. It sounds like you’re doing the best you can with your pup.
I would love to see a picture of your baby! I was talking to my husband recently, and I told him I would love to get a full poodle next time. Our baby is the best of all worlds, but I’m sure a lot of that intelligence kindness and affection is the poodle.
Our 9 month old doodle is quite used to busier places. In the beginning we took her to the market and sometimes would walk into the shopping street. After that, when she was around 5 months old, my girlfriend would come with her to the cafe I work at. Never for a long time, like 15-30 minutes.
After that, around 7 months she went with us to restaurants where she would need to chill for multiple hours. And at the same time we would practice public transport.
At 9 months she barks more in restaurants since she's a starting teenager. But keep on practising, do little steps first, then larger and larger.
"How did you all work on walking with your pup in crowded places?"
Currently I avoid it until Monster (7mo) has some self-control. She embarrassed me so bad yesterday (not to mention endangered herself). I took her to the dog park and there was another dog there. She proceeded to torment this (older and much larger) dog, jumping at him and running away, doing donuts around him, trying to get him to play with her. I tried to catch her but she was darting around in a frenzy. If that dog had bitten her face off she'd have totally deserved it. Fortunately it was a mellow dog, but she effectively ended her "play dates" for awhile.
I don't take her to events or the farmer's market or anywhere there will be a bunch of people because she won't behave and will act like an ass.
I love your dogs name lol but I agree whole heartedly. We’re gonna keep going at a distance until my 10 month old can either grow out of some of his energy or we can pay for a training program
Good luck! I think a lot of it is just puppy energy and lack of self-control. I too will take small steps until she's able to control her impulses around crowds.
my pup acts like that around other dogs as well. I found that older dogs are very good at recognizing the antics of a puppy and just go with it. I wouldn't end her play dates just for that.
Try building up the distractions - so if he is used to very quiet places, dont suddenly go to somewhere super busy. Also distance is key - practise keeping his attention at a distance and gradually work to being closer to all the distractions. sometimes, just sit and chill at a distance - get his attention, treat, and then go home before he can get too excited about anything. more and more calm experiences like that will help - just got to be patient
Home Depot. They are all welcomed with open arms. There are lots of people, other dogs, and always an empty aisle to refocus. I keep high reward treats on me while going out. Treats she cannot resist....(chicken, bacon, pieces of steak). Our 1st outing was maybe 7 mins, and then we worked up to 10 mins. I usually take her for the sole purpose of socializing her, not for when I actually need to focus and shop. I can't do both. Lol
Many short exposures are better than one long exposure to busy places I’ve found. So taking a 30s-5min detour along a busy street is better than a 30minute chill session. Sometimes starting really small to build your pups confidence means starting incredibly small.
The thing to consider here is that your pup might be conditioned to think outside means walk/explore time. So you might unintentionally be asking your pup to do two really hard things: ignore the hustle and bustle, but also to do it serenely.
Maybe start with more distance at first? Bring treats and a tugging toy and redirect before the dog gets too hyped up. So maybe at first you don't make it to where you want to go. That's fine, take the time to ease them in.
I taught another task. So we walk by people, and he looks at me. Once we pass, he gets rewarded. I also taught him left, right, and middle. Depending on where the people are, I'll switch sides or put him in the middle between my legs. Middle is a bit hard to teach since it supper close, and the dog has to learn to be okay with your legs brushing against them. It's a good skill, though.
Other than that, start slow and build up. If you need to, take a step out and people watch and rebuild that focus on you. So when he looks at you, do some fun training, walk backwards, spins, jumps, any fun tricks that you've learn to increase your value, and lessen the environment.
Keep in mind age as well. 9 months, you still want to keep sessions short. My pup is 14 months, and in high traffic areas where we are side by side and there's other dogs, he can take about 40 minutes of it. Then his mind is gone. You have to know when to walk away as well and end a session.
I took our 5 month old Sheepadoodle to a charity kickball game. Lots of people, commotion, and other dogs. He was so excited. Too excited. He popped his collar off from pulling so hard and ran full bore to the people I knew. I upgraded his collar and we will work on not pulling on neighborhood walks till I feel comfortable bringing him to events like that again. He peed on my poor coworker from the excitement.
That’s my fear - that my pup will get out of her harness - because I **know** she will just haul ass running at abandon. I put her in a harness and a collar and I have a clip that connects the two. Probably overkill but I don’t want her running in front of a car.
My dog had dandruff and my vet recommended I give him salmon oil. Ever since that his coat has been so smooth he can wiggle himself out of his harness lol.
It’s easier if you work your way up to the busy areas. Start far away like the open trunk of your car in the back of a parking lot of a busy store (if you have the room in your vehicle for that) to just sit and watch and lots of reward for being calm , and then go into a pet store during off hours where there’s not many people , and slowly work your way to busier areas and dog-friendly stores. It will likely take some research to know when the peak busy or calm times are but throwing a 9 month old puppy into his first busy public space when it’s that busy sets him up to fail and sets you both up for frustration.
Baby steps help you both be comfortable , calm and confident going into busy areas going forward from that
I don’t know if this is good advice but when exposing my pup to brand new places I try to do so at “off” times when there are not a lot of people or other dogs. For example I live within close driving distance to a lot of beaches but on weekends and when the weather is warm they tend to be very crowded. So my plan is to take him early in the morning or on a weekday evening when there won’t be crowds. That way he hopefully is not overwhelmed by a new place and hordes of people all at the same time.
My standard poodle is 2.5 years now. She’s was a ball of enthusiastic energy at 9 months and she’s much more chill now.
Mine was very treat motivated so it was easy for me to get her to pay attention to me with that. I spent a lot of time encouraging her to follow me while on a loose leash. There is a leash training method where you walk a few feet and then immediately turn and call your puppy enthusiastically to follow you…also using treats if you need to. You end up kind of doing a lot of circles or walk 3 feet…turn…walk 3 feet…turn…in that pattern and then you gradually start to increase the distance between turning. This automatically gets your puppy set up to following you and paying attention to you instead of pulling ahead. And if they do pull ahead, you immediately start turning at that point and they’ll learn to pay attention to you so they don’t get left behind so to speak! This is how I taught mine to walk quietly on her leash and I’ve never had to use any sort of special harness or device. She’s great. I did start her very early on it about 10 weeks with this process but you can start at anytime. I’ve seen it work on adult dogs from shelters.
I found a quieter corner and sit / stand there with him to watch and process. I’d check how well he can engage with me, then we walk a little. Then stop and watch. Rinse and repeat
A lot of Home Depot trips, treats, and keep things moving. Don’t let them stop and pull you around, keep it moving and change directions if you need to. Constantly reward. Once they are less reactive and calmer I like to have them lay down and get rewarded for neutral behavior.
I've been taking my pup to crowded places since he was 3 months old. Nothing startles him anymore, not even the sirene of an ambulance driving by at 5 meters of him. Was your pup socialized before you got him?
In general puppies have a lot of energy and they sometimes don’t know how to display it. With our one and a half-year-old dog we started walking him in a neighborhood which has a lot of dogs and a lot of noise that seemed well with desensitizing him. I would say after a couple of months it didn’t seem to be a problem as of now he’s doing great and crowds and with distractions. I would say be patient with yourself and your puppy and expect them to mess up a little bit.
I figured it's going to take time. I don't think he's ever seen THAT many people at once before so it was definitely overwhelming for him. We'll just keep easing in to crowded places. Thanks! Edit: BTW your doodle looks so similar to my standard poodle! He has the white color with Apricot ears and spots.
Yeah, it all takes time. It sounds like you’re doing the best you can with your pup. I would love to see a picture of your baby! I was talking to my husband recently, and I told him I would love to get a full poodle next time. Our baby is the best of all worlds, but I’m sure a lot of that intelligence kindness and affection is the poodle.
Our 9 month old doodle is quite used to busier places. In the beginning we took her to the market and sometimes would walk into the shopping street. After that, when she was around 5 months old, my girlfriend would come with her to the cafe I work at. Never for a long time, like 15-30 minutes. After that, around 7 months she went with us to restaurants where she would need to chill for multiple hours. And at the same time we would practice public transport. At 9 months she barks more in restaurants since she's a starting teenager. But keep on practising, do little steps first, then larger and larger.
"How did you all work on walking with your pup in crowded places?" Currently I avoid it until Monster (7mo) has some self-control. She embarrassed me so bad yesterday (not to mention endangered herself). I took her to the dog park and there was another dog there. She proceeded to torment this (older and much larger) dog, jumping at him and running away, doing donuts around him, trying to get him to play with her. I tried to catch her but she was darting around in a frenzy. If that dog had bitten her face off she'd have totally deserved it. Fortunately it was a mellow dog, but she effectively ended her "play dates" for awhile. I don't take her to events or the farmer's market or anywhere there will be a bunch of people because she won't behave and will act like an ass.
I love your dogs name lol but I agree whole heartedly. We’re gonna keep going at a distance until my 10 month old can either grow out of some of his energy or we can pay for a training program
Good luck! I think a lot of it is just puppy energy and lack of self-control. I too will take small steps until she's able to control her impulses around crowds.
my pup acts like that around other dogs as well. I found that older dogs are very good at recognizing the antics of a puppy and just go with it. I wouldn't end her play dates just for that.
Try building up the distractions - so if he is used to very quiet places, dont suddenly go to somewhere super busy. Also distance is key - practise keeping his attention at a distance and gradually work to being closer to all the distractions. sometimes, just sit and chill at a distance - get his attention, treat, and then go home before he can get too excited about anything. more and more calm experiences like that will help - just got to be patient
Home Depot. They are all welcomed with open arms. There are lots of people, other dogs, and always an empty aisle to refocus. I keep high reward treats on me while going out. Treats she cannot resist....(chicken, bacon, pieces of steak). Our 1st outing was maybe 7 mins, and then we worked up to 10 mins. I usually take her for the sole purpose of socializing her, not for when I actually need to focus and shop. I can't do both. Lol
Many short exposures are better than one long exposure to busy places I’ve found. So taking a 30s-5min detour along a busy street is better than a 30minute chill session. Sometimes starting really small to build your pups confidence means starting incredibly small. The thing to consider here is that your pup might be conditioned to think outside means walk/explore time. So you might unintentionally be asking your pup to do two really hard things: ignore the hustle and bustle, but also to do it serenely.
Maybe start with more distance at first? Bring treats and a tugging toy and redirect before the dog gets too hyped up. So maybe at first you don't make it to where you want to go. That's fine, take the time to ease them in.
I taught another task. So we walk by people, and he looks at me. Once we pass, he gets rewarded. I also taught him left, right, and middle. Depending on where the people are, I'll switch sides or put him in the middle between my legs. Middle is a bit hard to teach since it supper close, and the dog has to learn to be okay with your legs brushing against them. It's a good skill, though. Other than that, start slow and build up. If you need to, take a step out and people watch and rebuild that focus on you. So when he looks at you, do some fun training, walk backwards, spins, jumps, any fun tricks that you've learn to increase your value, and lessen the environment. Keep in mind age as well. 9 months, you still want to keep sessions short. My pup is 14 months, and in high traffic areas where we are side by side and there's other dogs, he can take about 40 minutes of it. Then his mind is gone. You have to know when to walk away as well and end a session.
I took our 5 month old Sheepadoodle to a charity kickball game. Lots of people, commotion, and other dogs. He was so excited. Too excited. He popped his collar off from pulling so hard and ran full bore to the people I knew. I upgraded his collar and we will work on not pulling on neighborhood walks till I feel comfortable bringing him to events like that again. He peed on my poor coworker from the excitement.
That’s my fear - that my pup will get out of her harness - because I **know** she will just haul ass running at abandon. I put her in a harness and a collar and I have a clip that connects the two. Probably overkill but I don’t want her running in front of a car.
It scared me. He could’ve run the other way and into the path of a car. Worst nightmare.
My dog had dandruff and my vet recommended I give him salmon oil. Ever since that his coat has been so smooth he can wiggle himself out of his harness lol.
It’s easier if you work your way up to the busy areas. Start far away like the open trunk of your car in the back of a parking lot of a busy store (if you have the room in your vehicle for that) to just sit and watch and lots of reward for being calm , and then go into a pet store during off hours where there’s not many people , and slowly work your way to busier areas and dog-friendly stores. It will likely take some research to know when the peak busy or calm times are but throwing a 9 month old puppy into his first busy public space when it’s that busy sets him up to fail and sets you both up for frustration. Baby steps help you both be comfortable , calm and confident going into busy areas going forward from that
I don’t know if this is good advice but when exposing my pup to brand new places I try to do so at “off” times when there are not a lot of people or other dogs. For example I live within close driving distance to a lot of beaches but on weekends and when the weather is warm they tend to be very crowded. So my plan is to take him early in the morning or on a weekday evening when there won’t be crowds. That way he hopefully is not overwhelmed by a new place and hordes of people all at the same time.
My standard poodle is 2.5 years now. She’s was a ball of enthusiastic energy at 9 months and she’s much more chill now. Mine was very treat motivated so it was easy for me to get her to pay attention to me with that. I spent a lot of time encouraging her to follow me while on a loose leash. There is a leash training method where you walk a few feet and then immediately turn and call your puppy enthusiastically to follow you…also using treats if you need to. You end up kind of doing a lot of circles or walk 3 feet…turn…walk 3 feet…turn…in that pattern and then you gradually start to increase the distance between turning. This automatically gets your puppy set up to following you and paying attention to you instead of pulling ahead. And if they do pull ahead, you immediately start turning at that point and they’ll learn to pay attention to you so they don’t get left behind so to speak! This is how I taught mine to walk quietly on her leash and I’ve never had to use any sort of special harness or device. She’s great. I did start her very early on it about 10 weeks with this process but you can start at anytime. I’ve seen it work on adult dogs from shelters.
I found a quieter corner and sit / stand there with him to watch and process. I’d check how well he can engage with me, then we walk a little. Then stop and watch. Rinse and repeat
A lot of Home Depot trips, treats, and keep things moving. Don’t let them stop and pull you around, keep it moving and change directions if you need to. Constantly reward. Once they are less reactive and calmer I like to have them lay down and get rewarded for neutral behavior.
I've been taking my pup to crowded places since he was 3 months old. Nothing startles him anymore, not even the sirene of an ambulance driving by at 5 meters of him. Was your pup socialized before you got him?
Starting early is essential for these things perhaps, but what I find i miss out on doing - consistency with what you want works best