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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    My lab thinks he's a beagle

    I have an 8 mo. old yellow lab that thinks he's a beagle, when we go outside all he does is sniff the ground and chew on sticks. You can hear him sniffing all the way down the street. He won't chase a tennis ball or anything else. He will half heartedly run towards the thrown but starts sniffing around and picks up a stick. I'll take him to the park to run and get some exercise but he just walks around sniffing like a hound dog. Even in the house he won't chase a ball or anything else. My last lab would go crazy when I picked a ball up and he'd run and return it all day long. How do I get him to start running after thing.
    OBOW

  2. #2
    Senior Dog
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    May 2014
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    Hello and welcome!

    Have you taken him to Obedience Classes or are you considering it?

    I think it would be a good idea to start Obedience with him...it will teach him to focus on YOU and not all of his surroundings.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog
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    Within any breed, individual dogs can be very different from one another. Amongst my Labs, I had a serious fetcher, one that was totally disinterested, and two in-between.

    My present girl (DNA test says 1/2-Lab) has no interest in fetching. Her son (DNA test says 1/4-Beagle, the only breed dominant enough to assign a percentage to) loves to fetch.

    Some Labs just don't appreciate fetching.

  4. #4
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Sometimes dogs sniff as an avoidance behavior. If you're pressuring him to fetch the ball, for example, he may disengage and avoid the situation because he doesn't understand or doesn't want to. It's sort of like when you're doing your taxes, it gets hard, so you check out social media. Just sort of checking out and avoiding the thing that is hard or unpleasant. Some dogs like to fetch, and some don't. You might try something like hiking or nature trails, fields, places where you can also walk while he's off leash and can run.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Did this behaviour just start? At 8 months old he's entering puberty, assuming he's not neutered yet, and other doggy smells might be very interesting to him. Might, my own dog did not do that. Either way, I too think obedience classes are likely a good idea. One thing that is worthwhile is asking for some obedience before you let him off the leash, again assuming some of this sniffing is off leash. For instance a sit at heel and waiting for a release word. REcent research shows sniffing is very important to dogs but they don't need to sniff every second. When we must do leashed walks though, I make sure to allow sniffing on part of it. Oh, on leash, you walking faster might help.
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  6. #6
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Of my 3 labs, the first did not retrieve at all, it was hard to get him to run around enough. I kicked soccer balls around that he would chase but not bring back to me. Our second one won't fetch in the yard but she's all over retrieving from water- throw a bumper out into the surf and she motors out and brings it back like that's her job. We now have a 8 month old pup who will run after a ball and bring it back more than the others ever have in the yard. We haven't been to the beach in warm enough weather to see how he'll like water retrieves. He does get distracted at the whiff of an interesting smell, like yours. I usually have him chase the ball after he's had a chance to sniff around in the yard some, get that out of his system. I know his mother and grandmother love, love, love chasing their ball and each of the breeder's dogs seemed to have their own personal ball they'd chase. It was so cute that they'd only go after their own ball. He might be my best natural retriever so far but he's not ball obsessed like some labs I've seen. Since I have 2 labs, I don't have to depend upon throwing a ball for them to run around so I don't do it a lot. They love playing keep away with sticks or toys and will chase each other around until they're pretty tired. Do you have anyplace where you can see if he's interested in water retrieves once the weather/water is warmer? Actually, mine would go in now, it's me that doesn't want to have to deal with a cold, wet, muddy dog when it's too cold for me to hose them off outside.

 



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