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  1. #1
    Real Retriever Moby and Barley's Mom's Avatar
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    bruises on the backs of my thighs

    Hello everyone!

    I am trying to work with Barley, my almost 4 month lab with playing with and fetching the ball. We have a large yard and i would like this to be another form of exercise for him. He likes it most of the time (gets bored rather fast) but really likes it when I run with him. But... he will chase me and constantly run into the back of my legs, the side of my legs, the front of my legs, etc. He does the same thing to our 13 year old lab by knocking into him in play. He got so excited that he actually ran into the wall today. Any suggestions???

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    It's normal. Labs are very physical. However, with the running into you, you can always teach him a command to back off. Like back or ah-ah! or similar and walking away and ignoring him when he does it so that he learns when he does it play time is over. You need to teach him with the older dog as well. And get him exercise by doing play dates with similarly aged puppies and dogs that are good with puppies. As far as running into walls, he's just being crazy and excited. The extra exercise will help.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    That's a typical play style for many dogs. I stopped walking with another Lab owner because his dog would body slam Jet and once we got to walking in snow and ice she no longer was able to evade him.

    I'd work on this right away while he is small enough to impress. With Oban it wasn't all that hard, I just body slammed him with a stern command, TRACK. My Mum was 90 when he was small and, worse, she's the type that would encourage a dog to do things he shouldn't and then she'd regret it. It worked. Along with the commands FEET (on the floor) and LEAVE IT I did convince him not to do this though he might still by mistake in the heat of play. I think my "don't jump" command, FEET, was the best but I use all three.

  4. #4
    House Broken
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    Definitely work on this while Barley is small. My MIL is like Snowshoe's mom - she'd encourage Jackson (when he was a pup) to act crazy, including running around like a banshee, and she got injured in the process. Needless to say, it was not a fun visit, listening to her complain about her injury for 8 more days. Plus, you don't want Barley to knock over a small kid if he thinks this kind of bumping is "play". We did a lot of walking away / ending play when Jackson would run into us and that seemed to work. Every now and then, we'd have to give a verbal correction (basically telling him to chill out) and he got it pretty quickly.

  5. #5
    Real Retriever
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    LOL! Boy did I have this when Sunshine was 12 weeks old! She was (and is) a very VERY high energy lab. I am NOT a trained trainer, nor am I qualified to really know how to train labs, I have only had three in my life so far, but my current 3 year old, Sunshine, sounds a lot like Barley. At 3 now, she will actually be careful with sticks, not running THROUGH me with them, she will wait for a chance and pass me with them.

    Even earlier, at 9 or 10 weeks, she would RUN RUN RUN like a nut and run into the side of the car, get up and RUN RUN RUN again and run into it again! Trees, bushes, me, the HOUSE! I thought I had a defective puppy for a loooong time! My first two labs it was just a short phase. My current black gal, it is the way she is. If the above suggestions do not seem to work, you might have an energetic lab. We have all seen them, the THROW THE BALL THROW THE BALL BARK BARK BARK THROW THE BALL THROW THE BALL, dogs. The owners found one activity that fed their needs and stuck with it. They were looking for a "Come, Sit, Stay" dog, and it is not what they got.

    My solution was to give Sunshine the off leash freedom to run it off. First thing to do is put the fear of losing you into him!!! This makes him l@@k for you, not the other way around. After that is just a lot of time.

    Getting bored easily is the sign of a great lab. They NEED and WANT mental stimulation, they WANT to learn as well as letting off all that lab puppy energy. Feed them. Bring Barley to a safe area you can go off leash, a lake, woods, field with distractions... Anyplace he can run free and be a puppy WITH SUPERVISION! Talk to him, constantly.

    I use a loud "YO" as an attention getter, the pup stops, looks at you. (Give command!) Let's go over to the left, Point (or YOUR sign for left) and move that way. The pup will follow because you know all the fun things to do. Yes, it takes a bit to be recognized as the "fun person" but it will happen. At first, pick a random object, like a stick, and pretend it is the most fun thing in the world!!! YEAH!! I have a stick!!!! This is great!!! When Barley finally comes over make a HUGE deal out of it! Throw the stick once or twice, then put it down and go somewhere else and repeat. "Come here and check this out!!!" is a great one. It can be a fallen tree, a clump of moss, under a rock..... It doesn't matter YOU have found something that might be really fun! He is a lab pup, EVERYTHING might be fun! Send him on missions!!! "What is that???" Point to something close, make it REALLY exciting and gradually work to 'no, over to the left...'

    With Sunshine it was a 4 to 5 hour A DAY thing when she was 6 months old. Before that, 2 to 4 hours A DAY. At 3 years old, I can manage her with2 or 3 hours of off leash play but then it takes some "hide and seek" or "go find this" activity. When we went to puppy classes I would NEED to take her to the lake for 1.5 to 2 hours before or there was no controlling her. I still see her original class trainer and she laughs about it, Sunshine always left "wet spots with red clay or sand" after every class. She was the 'dirty girl', while all the other 'designer dogs' (and even the one golden) were calm collective and kept a close eye on the little monster. lol! In the 'free play' session after class, Sunshine would just RUN like a crackhead and bounce off chairs and walls while all the other puppies just tried to avoid her!!! I found it amusing. But, knowing I had a special needs puppy, we left early so the other 'normal' pups could play.

    Not to scare you off! Or anyone else with one of these Spawn of Satan pups!!! The first year and a half was horrible!!! God made them really cute, so you do not kill them. I dreaded coming home every night!!! By 2 years old, I saw the light and now at 3.... I would not trade her for anything! She is off leash 99% of the time and I trust her 100% to do what she is told, when she is told to do it. She is no lap dog, but my feet will never be cold.

 



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