# he turns into a gremlin ... help !!!



## joanner (Apr 19, 2012)

I do hope you can help me , just wondering if Stanlees behaviour is normal. He is 13 weeks old and most of the day a lovable gorgeous puppy. A couple of timea a day he just transforms into a gremlin , snarling , biting and going quite loopy . all the time his tail is waging so there is no aggression . Its just he can really be out of control and has very sharp teeth . Is this normal and what can i do to calm him .


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Oh Joanne I hope this is normal because our Dudley can be like this, not snarling though but the odd growl, it seems particularly bad in the early evening. He just doesn't seem to have much control over his play biting then and occasionally I've had to put him in the crate at that time although we can usually get him to bite his toys instead. I'm just hoping its because they are so young and can't always control themselves and that the calmer side of them is what we will end up with. Can your boy go out yet? because I was hoping that Dudley would calm down a bit once he could go out.


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## Pollypiglet (Oct 22, 2011)

Puppies learn from their boundary testing. They get excited by new sents and smells. Best advice I can offer is to keep your body energy low and ignore behaviour you do not want and reward behaviour you do want. It is difficult to keep calm when things get heated but dogs really do feed off your body energy take a deep breath calm yourself then decide what you want to do. Sounds good in practice but not always easy to do. Good luck at the end of the day the dog must fit in with your lifestyle not the other way around!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

The Mad half hour or the doodle dash as it is known on here....it's normal....and normal for his age. the biting will stop as he gets out of teething any you teach him that biting is not what you want. but the running around crazy part is just him burning off some extra energy.


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

Definitely the mad half hour  It should calm down when you can start walking your pup, although until they're grown up you may still get slight mad moments  Even now sometimes Izzie likes to do laps round the garden and she's over 18 months haha.
Don't worry about it though, it will calm down soon


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## joanner (Apr 19, 2012)

Thanks everyone ... its good to know this is fairly normal behaviour, love the doodle dash !!! haha. I will try to keep calm next time and stay in control, maybe easier said than done , but will keep at it !!!! Hope Dudley grows out of it also. xx


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## designsbyisis (Dec 27, 2011)

Normal in our house too - we used to sit up on sofa with legs tucked away so he couldn't bite & just watch while he went mental ! Good idea to take for toilet break soon after as all that expended energy seems to bring on a wee !


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Lisa - mum of 3 boys, Dexter Cockapoo & 4 hens !


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## puppylove (Jul 25, 2011)

We call it the "wall of death", as in the fairground ride, as they seem to go round and round and round ever faster.


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## Stela12 (Mar 1, 2012)

I love your description of your puppy "he turns into a gremlin"---mine was/is exactly the same. She is a little better with nipping, but still has moments of madness. I am particularly sensitive to those sounds; I even think that they scare me and she senses it, which is not good, so , of course, I can't project any positive and calm energy


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## emmelg (Mar 4, 2012)

Lol Bailey is also the same, my other dog layla try's to catch him but he's way to fast for her, as for the nipping we dont have too much of this going on as poor laya gets the brunt of his chewing, but what i find is really funny is when he's had his bath, i towel dry him and when i put him down he goes absolutley bonkers trying to rub his head along the floor while running or across the furniture to dry himself off, does anyone else's dog go abit nuts after a bath like this...


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## Sam1 (Mar 6, 2012)

All of my three dogs I've had in the past did that to dry off, really funny! Thanks that's brought back some nice memories of them...the trick is don't let them out as they do this on the grass and mud so become filthy again!


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## Pepster (Jul 22, 2011)

Ha ha, pepper does this too! And goes crazy for the towel, I can't put it away as she's hanging off it. As for the gremlin stage, she has grown out of it, she does a little doodle dash about once a month now but without the biting and growling.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

We have had a few doodle dashes - love those, don't want him to grow out of them, but its mostly just biting attacks, I encourage the doodle dash by rolling toys to use up energy and avoid the bites, but maybe I should try calming instead? not sure it would be possible really
I've seen a great you tube video, just search 'self drying cockapoo dog' with a lovely doodle dash!! no good at techno stuff so can't do link for you i'm afraid.


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## joanner (Apr 19, 2012)

LOL well you have all cheered me up knowing i have not got a one off !!! I do sometimes feel a little scared and know thats so wrong to be projecting !!! i am so new to dog ownership but feel so lucky to have discovered cockapoos !!! Thanks agian for all you advice , I am sure it wont be the last time I call on you all for help !!! xxx


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

glad you feel better Joanne, I have been around dogs loads in my life but this is the first time i've had own and it's a whole new experience, I spend a lot of time worrying that my pup is not going to turn into a well behaved adult, I really want to try and get things right and its hard with the gremlin types isn't it!! this forum is brilliant for help and support.


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## joanner (Apr 19, 2012)

Oh Dawn .... I worry about everythng lol .... Last night he was asleep on my lap and his breathing was so fast it really worried me !! I cant believe how much he has taken over my life and how did we ever cope before without him lol !!! I am sure we will get it right in the end , all about trial and error oh and lots of great help on here xx


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## daffodil (Jan 24, 2012)

Yep, we have one too! She is our Tasmanian Devil! She snaps and snarls when she's going crazy round the living room, she's just running her excess energy off, we just distract her with her toys or give her a towel to chase and chew on and it usually works and she calms down!!


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

Dexter was dreadful biting and grabbing things and running off with them. If he was told off he got worse. Fortunately he grew out of it!


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## Lins61 (Mar 4, 2012)

Yep another crazy mad pup here too.. snarly bitey and then sweetness and light when it all wears off  Anyway he is having his first walk tomorrow HURRAY!!! I think he is well needing it and so are we!


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## loobylou (Nov 20, 2011)

emmelg said:


> Lol Bailey is also the same, my other dog layla try's to catch him but he's way to fast for her, as for the nipping we dont have too much of this going on as poor laya gets the brunt of his chewing, but what i find is really funny is when he's had his bath, i towel dry him and when i put him down he goes absolutley bonkers trying to rub his head along the floor while running or across the furniture to dry himself off, does anyone else's dog go abit nuts after a bath like this...


Yep charlie does the bed roll after a bath, he leaps on the beds and rolls on the pillows and then the furniture and rolls and rolls. i just presumed he was trying to get our scent back instead of the lovely pet head papaya one!
He also does the doodle dash around the house and garden,i just make sure the doors open so he doesnt crash into it....


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## Dawny (Mar 28, 2010)

hi my wispa is 2 and a half now and still does the doodle dash, usually after a walk or a bath! or for just the fun of it sometimes.


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## Ash_CA (Sep 15, 2015)

Our little guy is 13 weeks now and is a happy puppy. He gets stages where he will turn and bite aggressively (daily) and gets that devil look in his eyes. 
Our trainer has given us advice as to ignore him and "act like a tree" or walk away. And if he does not stop to put him on his side in a position where you hold their head and body so they learn who is the boss. And they will eventually give up. Has anyone resorted to this or have any other advice what to do? 
My sister comes during the day to let him out and he is so good and then sometimes will just snap on her.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Eeeeeek please don't hold your pup on his side and please get a new trainer - this is perfectly normal puppy behaviour and extremely old school bad training advice. They will learn you are not to be trusted and to shut down - not what you want from a family dog.


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

no please dont hold him down ,that is very old school training and will do more harm then good. it was at one time a thing to take your dog and hold it so it could not move till the dog got tired and gave up to show it that your the boss,but that has since been done away with .it really broke the dogs spear t.
the only time i hold ginger is when i am hugging her and the is love ..ok. by the way ginger is three and she does the doodle dash every now and then as it is perfectly normal


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Its funny that this thread has been brought back, there was me worried about my little monster Dudley - the one thing that nobody said then, which is always mentioned now, is that puppies need a lot of sleep and a lot of this behaviour is when they are overtired. The putting down for a nap thing is one piece of advice that I think would have helped me, I think most of us with pups then thought we had to tire them out, don't know for sure that it would have made a difference but I think it probably would have. Ash, as others have said that is a really old school technique, if your pup is very fiesty it could just see that as a challenge and you will have a battle on your hands. If you watch puppies play they snap and bite each other, he just needs to learn that people don't like to play like that. the ignore and act like a tree advice is good. He is learning to get a reaction by biting so no reaction is the best way to stop it, it is not a fun time but they do grow out of it.


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

ginger wold play with me like that when she was a puppy we used to fight together and she would chew on my hands. every now and then she would got to aggressive and bite to hard ,that is when i would yell ouch very loud and she would lay down and just look at me and she would stay there till i started to fight again.i still do it with her and she is yet to bite me any more ,she will mouth my hand and chew on it but will not bite me hard .you might try that ,it does work.when they play that way with there other puppy's and they bite to hard the pup will yipe and the puppy will stop biting then ..well it is the same thing ok ..try it it will work


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

When Dudley was a pup the yelping did not stop him biting, in fact it used to excite him and make him worse! I know it does help with a lot and it is always the best thing to try first, but it perhaps sounds like Ash's pup is more like Dudley was, if his attention could not be switched to a toy then time out was the only thing we could do.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

When Rufus was at full throttle attack mode, often in the evening, acting like a tree was not enough. He never seemed to tire of attacking shoes, toes and pant legs and and the bite inhibition yelp would rev him up more. I would distract him with other play but what cracked it was scooping him up and putting him in the bathroom, (door and toliet seat closed, toilet paper removed from holder, towels hung higher than he could jump) for a couple of minutes. We did let him teeth on our hands when he was calm and yelp with steadily decreasing amounts of pressure until he got to the point where he got apologetic for even touching any part of us with a tooth. In my mind chase and kill behaviour and gnawing from sore teeth behaviour are two totally different things. We were also taught to avoid tug games until their adult teeth were in and they had a near perfect "drop" worked out.


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## Biscuit (Feb 21, 2015)

Biscuit goes bonkers first thing in the morning when I get up and let her out to pee. She would do the deed on the floor if I didn't make a clear pathway and open door so she could dash out , jump up me, before rushing round the garden for several minutes. Bis repeats this routine early evening, but this time dashing par cor style round the room, bouncing off sofas and chairs. Finally she looks at me with head on one side as if to say, "What???"


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## Catherine malcolmson (Aug 31, 2015)

Same here for my Barney he has his crazy time mainly evening.Does it more when Hubby's there seems to target him on the play biting,but I say he's brought it on himself he likes to wrestle with Barney.when it gets too out of hand we remove from room if we can catch him,it works wonders five minutes later he comes back in calmer and relaxed.I do find removing them or yourself from the room works


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