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  1. #21
    Real Retriever Archie's Avatar
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    May 2014
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    I definitely sympathize with you, Archie was bad with the biting. All my pajama pants ended up with rips and I couldn't hold him, snuggle him, be on the floor with him or anything until he was way past teething.

    I also agree with the recommendation that you find another trainer. Even though Archie was a really bad biter, he's really submissive. The 2 don't necessarily go together, and a good trainer knows that puppies are almost never dominant.

    What really helped me was to have purposeful interactions with Archie. Rather than getting on the floor to play, or just hanging out with him, which would get him all wound up, I always had treats in my pockets and would have training goals.

    Come up to me while I'm sitting on the couch? Ok, we're going to practice sit. Getting a little too nuts? Great time to start teaching shake a paw. If I could refocus him on the rewards and the training, it made a world of difference. Focusing too much on training no bite can be draining. Switch the focus and try to train something else - down, sit, shake a paw, play dead, touch my hand, hide and seek, ANYTHING to change the dynamic and get some focus.

    A good trainer will work on helping you with the basics using a positive method, with the understanding that everything else will start to fall into place.
    Laura, Archie & Quinn
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  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Archie For This Useful Post:

    doubledip1 (04-19-2015), Labradorks (04-17-2015), Tanya (04-17-2015), ZoeysMommy (04-17-2015)

  3. #22
    Senior Dog ZoeysMommy's Avatar
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    May 2014
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    Ok let me tell about my experience with Zoey, she was the devils spawn, a piranha puppy from hell! I couldnt touch her, pet her, get on the floor with her, walk by her without getting attacked like i was an afternoon snack. I remember sitting on the floor in tears wondering if i had a psycho puppy with brain damage. She put one of those needle teeth through my husbands lip. My arms looked like i was a self mutilating cutter so did the backs of my legs. She ripped lots of clothes too

    I tried all the normal methods that i knew, i was raised with GSDs so i figured a lab couldnt be much different, well i was dead wrong. The more i corrected her with touch such as curling her lip againest her teeth or giving her snout a little tweek just completely set her over the edge, it only provoked the devil puppy. I stopped with all physical correction and went out and bought a stock pile of toys and rawhide retriever rolls. I began redirecting her and firmly but gently kept repeating no bite, give kisses if she manged she get her teeth on me. I started using the crate for forced naps. I quickly learned when she turned into devil puppy it was usually because she was over stimulated and needed a forced nap like a toddler.

    This took about a month and the behavior starting going away. By the time she lost her puppy teeth, she no longer applied any pressure when she tried to mouth me. By the way i do allow mouthing as long as there is no pressure but do not allow this during the piranha stage, its counter productive

    Everyone in your home must use the same method at all times. It has to be consistent and firm.

    There is absolutely no correlation between a devil lab puppy and dominance. Zoey is the absolute definition of submissive and has no dominant traits what so ever. Alot of lab puppies are horrible puppies, its very common and dominance driven techiques should not be used with a labrador retriever. They are generally soft, very easy to train dogs, they dont need it. Keep your eyes open with the new trainer and question the need for all techniques used.

  4. #23
    Puppy
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
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    Mosinee, WI
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    Thanks Zoey. We are going to try this. We're going to Petsmart today to get a ton of things he can chew on, in addition to what he already has. Will let you know how it goes.

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to Bubby82102 For This Useful Post:

    ZoeysMommy (04-18-2015)

  6. #24
    House Broken jules's Avatar
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    Dec 2014
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    lindenhurst
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    packer has biting issues as well ,when he starts getting wound up,I mean at the very 1st sign I grab him almost like you cradle a baby,tuck his head under my arm and hold him there until he calms down, which is just a minute or two,as soon as you go on the ground he looks at it like a challenge and it's playtime so getting down on the ground with him is a no no unless your prepared to rough house with him,,I cradle him and talk in a calm voice "do nice" and i keep the command consistant ,packer is a ball of energy at 4 months and it is now getting to the point when I don't have to grab him anymore all I have to say is "do nice" and he now associates calming down with my command,takes time but be persistant and don't change the command,I just had surgery on friday when I went for the pre testing about a week ago,the nurse asked me about all the scatches on my arm ,told her i had a lab puppy so like I said if you cradle your pup until it's calm and repeat your command ,he will learn
    Last edited by jules; 04-20-2015 at 08:13 PM. Reason: forgot something
    Packer

  7. #25
    House Broken Mom4four's Avatar
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    Apr 2015
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    I am new here and it has been 12 years since I had a puppy but the one thing that worked for us when out Abbey was a puppy was we would say no bite in a firm voice, cross our arms, look away and ignore her. When she calmed down and wasnt biting we would resume play. If she started biting again, we repeated. It really worked well for us. Good luck!!!

 



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