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  1. #1
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    Is this normal behavior?

    I have two Chocolate Labs; one male & one female. They're only a few months apart (different litters / different parents). They're turning three soon.

    I appreciate that Labs are the number one breed for good reason, but in the past few months I'm starting to see behavioral changes in both of my dogs. The primary change is they are suddenly very clingy to me.

    They're :

    - Constantly jumping up on me as a form of greeting
    - Wherever I sit, they have to sit with me
    - They're constantly leaning into my chest (Whenever I'm on the couch), and nudge me to put my arms around them
    - Getting jealous of one another. If I show affection to either of them, the other one must approach me immediately.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. They certainly know how to make daddy feel needed, but the change in their behavior is so apparent that I had to ask if this is typical behavior at their age, or is this typical Lab behavior?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    yes that is all very normal if they were not trained to do otherwise.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog Shelley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by YMS_1975 View Post
    I have two Chocolate Labs; one male & one female. They're only a few months apart (different litters / different parents). They're turning three soon.

    I appreciate that Labs are the number one breed for good reason, but in the past few months I'm starting to see behavioral changes in both of my dogs. The primary change is they are suddenly very clingy to me.

    They're :

    - Constantly jumping up on me as a form of greeting
    - Wherever I sit, they have to sit with me
    - They're constantly leaning into my chest (Whenever I'm on the couch), and nudge me to put my arms around them
    - Getting jealous of one another. If I show affection to either of them, the other one must approach me immediately.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. They certainly know how to make daddy feel needed, but the change in their behavior is so apparent that I had to ask if this is typical behavior at their age, or is this typical Lab behavior?
    Like Tanya said, yes this can be "normal" behavior for any dog that has not been trained. I would be doing the "Tough Love" approach and the "Nothing in Life is Free" techniques. They should have to work for every privilege they are allowed, such as couch or bed time, by behaving and not demanding increasingly more and more attention. Leashes help too. And short trining session several times a day, and taking them through a group training class.

  4. #4
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    The change in behavior would concern me more than the behavior. The behavior is normal for a Lab, unless trained otherwise but it doesn't start at the age of three unless you have recently loosened up your rules/criteria with them. And, if you're OK with it, then don't untrain it. I let my yellow Lab do all these things but he also knows, "that's enough" and I am very good at setting boundaries and this dog would never escalate the behavior. Just depends on the dog and what you want to tolerate. It does get annoying when I am working more than usual or when the weather is bad and exercise is not occurring as much as we'd like. If I am working a lot or if we have a week-long ice/snow event (we don't drive around here when that occurs) then it's also more apparent because I am training less. He learned how to pull my hand away from my laptop keyboard this year. It's actually a good reminder that I need to stop working, so I welcome it. I'd try upping the mental and physical exercise. And if you want to untrain it, then never allow it to occur and do not reward it. You can try ignoring it, but expect it to get worse before it's better, or if your timing is right, right before the behavior occurs, you can ask the dog to get off the sofa or lay down on their bed, etc. But also make sure they are getting what they need as far as physical and mental exercise. They might just be telling you they are bored.

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  6. #5
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Sounds completely normal and maybe it's time to take each one individually to some obedience training.

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  8. #6
    Best Friend Retriever
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    Also, being the same age & probably very bonded (even though not littermates), they are always learning from each other....."monkey see, monkey do!" If a certain behavior gets one something, the other one will be quick to pick up on it.....

  9. #7
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Yep. I have 3 and they all do it. One is needier (and pushier) than the other two. All three dogs know what "No. Lay down." means. I'd go nuts otherwise.

  10. #8
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    Thanks for the feedback guys. As I mentioned in my original post, the behaviour itself doesn't bother me. It's just that their behaviour changed so drastically that I was a bit concerned is all.

    Yes, they are both quite clingy now. My bitch especially. She will climb up on my lap when I'm sitting on the couch and she'll lean into my chest and just sigh deeply as I hold her close to me. I get the impression she's relieved when she sighs like that. So I ask her jokingly : "Tough day at the office?" and her reply is always a few licks to my face. After I pet her a few times, she's OK, hops off my lap and plays again. Go figure.

    They lost their Kong Extreme, so I gotta buy a couple of new ones but I don't think that's what triggered this change.

  11. #9
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    It could just be a change coming with age. I've had dogs change around the age of 2 - 3...either more anxiety or dog reactiveness. From what I've read and heard, the age of 2 is when you can start expecting things to change a bit if they are going to. I don't know how prevalent this is (my vet had mentioned it the first time)...so I don't know the percentage of dogs that experience changes.

 



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