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  1. #1
    Puppy Yellow mellow Gabby's Avatar
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    Need advice on over submissive yellow lab pup

    Hi everyone!
    I am new to the forum and really need some advice or ideas on a small issue I'm having concerning my year and a half old yellow lab Gabby. She's part American part English lab, brought her home at 10 weeks old. She is a great dog like all labs. Loves to play with other dogs, but the problem: When an excited dog shes never met before runs up to her, regardless of size, wanting to sniff or play, she gets overly submissive at times. She will often run around with her tail tucked and roll over like shes being attacked. Weird thing too, she has NEVER EVER even growled at another dog or nipped at one, she's completely clueless on how to be more assertive or stand up for herself. Any thoughts or ideas on this are welcome please!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    I am not sure I am quite understanding exactly what you hope to achieve. Why do you want to change this? Labs, in general, are not overly assertive dogs. They have a tendency to have happy-go-lucky lucky personalities with a "can't we all just get along", goofy demeanor. Most think every dog and person is a long lost best friend. My 3 y/o male is even fairly submissive with other dogs in some situations.

    If you are looking to boost her confidence my first suggestion would be to get in to a nosework class. I have done over a year of this with my own boy and have watched it work really well to help reactive, shy dogs come out of their shell.
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  3. #3
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Duplicate post!
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  4. #4
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    Luna is submissive when meeting other dogs for the first time. Doesn't seem like a problem to me.
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  5. #5
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    First, there is really no part American/part English. It's a lab. Different pedigree types doesn't warrant describing the dog as a mix. A lab is a lab.

    Second, I would suggest taking the dog to obedience class where it has a chance to work around other dogs and get exposure to more dog-related things. Otherwise, it's not really possible to changer personality, just boost confidence.

  6. #6
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Agility was suggested to me as a way to boost confidence in our submissive girl. Jet was maybe not quite as shy as your girl, she did have her friends she would run and play with but would hide behind me when it got too rough. And she would not willingly approach strange people.

    After three years of agility, (following three years of obedience) at which she excelled, and by the age of 6 Jet would let a strange woman on the trail pet her but only if that woman was walking her own dog. Was it the agility or was it maturity? LOL, never will know. But I had a dog that never ran up full tilt to anyone, dog or human, so no one ever felt threatened by her. I had a dog who looked to me for direction in what ever she was doing, she practically asked permission to breath. Shortly after one year of age submissive peeing was pretty well over and I had that dog I could take anywhere, behaved perfectly in any situation because she looked to me.

    The submission you describe does sound as if it's bit much for your dog. I'd try to avoid places where an excited dog runs up to her to sniff. She doesn't like it and her reaction is perfectly acceptable given such a rude greeting. To my mind it's that other dog that needs adjusting more than yours does. My current dog would adjust that dog running up for you. He wouldn't like it any better but he'd deal with it differently.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    First, there is really no part American/part English. It's a lab. Different pedigree types doesn't warrant describing the dog as a mix. A lab is a lab.

    Second, I would suggest taking the dog to obedience class where it has a chance to work around other dogs and get exposure to more dog-related things. Otherwise, it's not really possible to changer personality, just boost confidence.
    x10 on both counts

    I don't see ANYTHING wrong with what she is doign as long as she's happy. I like a nice submissive greeting (as long as other dogs are not taking advantage of that and being jerks). But you can work on her general confidence via training and yes agility is a WONDERFUL way to increase confidence. It's just just for dogs who people thing "that dog jumps high adn si fast, would do great at agility". Agility is great even without ever competition to work on training, have fun, build confidence and keep improving your relationship wth your dog (not saying there is anythign WRONG with the current relationship just that in my experience agility can help boost it even if things are already terrific).

  8. #8
    Best Friend Retriever xracer4844's Avatar
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    I agree with everyone here. There is nothing wrong with submission. Labs are not usually an aggressive breed. They are friendly, happy, curious, delightful dogs. If I was to walk into a room with dogs in it, and those dogs ran up to us and started smelling my dog, it would be totally normal for my dog to feel overwhelmed and put his tail between his legs. If you walked into a room and ten people ran up to you shaking your hand and touching you and all talking at the same time - how would you feel? what would you do? where do you start? This is totally normal for a lab to feel this way.

    For the most part, and in my experience, a submissive dog is easier to train and work with. A submissive dog is friendlier with children and most people. A submissive dog tends to be gentle. I don't think that there is anything wrong with being submissive.

    I agree with working on "confidence". Agility is a great way to build confidence. Anything where the dog gets to run, in a positive playful environment is a great way to gain confidence. Classes are a great way to build confidence too as well as exposing your dog to other dogs and working around them. A lot of people say - well my dog is over a year old and trained and is well behaved and I'm not doubting that at all. But I always suggest at least trying a class or two, you may be surprised and learn something or change the way you think about something. I find classes interesting. A good instructor with a lot of experience usually uses a lot of examples and has a lot of stories, that help you as a dog owner, understand what you dog is thinking and why they react the way they do to certain things. It also gives you an opportunity to speak to your trainer about "personal" things you want to work on and ways to do them.

  9. #9
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I tried agility to boost Maddy's confidence, she didn't like it. Find what your dog likes to do...

  10. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to JenC For This Useful Post:

    Charlotte K. (09-22-2014), happy_blackbird (12-06-2014), Tanya (09-19-2014)

  11. #10
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Boost confidence with training classes -- keeping it fun and upbeat -- and try to put her in situations where there's not a half-dozen dogs running up to her at once, if it bothers you that much. If the other dogs aren't picking on her or bullying her then it's not a big deal. My four year old 100 lb male throws himself on the ground, belly-up, whenever he's in that situation. He's a drama queen. Once he's sniffed all over, he's up and it's game on. If a dog gets over-stimulated by him while he's running around like a maniac, he throws himself on the ground again. But at this point I ask the other dogs' owner to get their dog. It's usually a dog with high prey drive that can't handle the running. Nothing wrong with a submissive greeting as long as the other dogs are appropriate. If a dog jumps another dog while they are submitting then that dog has serious issues, not your dog.

  12. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Labradorks For This Useful Post:

    Charlotte K. (09-22-2014), MikeLynn (09-19-2014)

 



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