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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Glad to have found this because we are desperate!

    We just found this forum while desperately trying to find how to deal with our 6 month old Black Lab, Sebastian. We had another lab for 18 years and I'm sure he was the most laid back dog anyone could ask for. After reading some of the other posts I'm thinking he was quite an exception.
    So now we have Sebastian and what a surprise he has been. From the beginning he has never stayed still long enough to do anything with him. Even as a 6 week old puppy, he was too wiggly to even hold!

    The problems we have come from a lot of aggression on his part. We have our daughters dog, Zeke, a dachshund mix, that we can't allow to be alone with Sebastian because we're afraid he might severely injure or kill him. He has already hurt him once. If Zeke is standing out in the lawn, Sebastian will run at him at full speed and body slam him. We had to take Zeke's collar off because Sebastian takes a hold of it and flings him around. When Zeke gets fed up and bites back, Sebastian goes crazy and attacks him. Two days ago, I witnessed Sebastian get him down and it scared me to death. We have grandsons and the thought of him doing that to one of them is scary. That same day, he also growled and turned on me when I touched his back while he was eating. He's never done that.

    He jumps on everyone, even though we have worked with him from day one to teach him not to do it. When we walk, he is in front of us pushing at us with his body. He never just walks. His whole body is in frantic movement, hopping up and down, wiggling back and forth, nipping at us. When we put him out on the deck, he jumps up and down in front of the door. His whole body, off the ground. At first it was kind of comical to look out and see this dog suspended in midair at my chest level. Now it is frustrating because it shows just reminds us of his extreme hyperness.

    We have had many dogs in our life, and were able to train them all. We're not newbies here. We've had puppies that we hyper and aggressive before, but not like this. Not one that refuses to be trained. We can't let him sit with us in the evenings because he won't sit still. He runs around the room sniffing, jumps on us, pushes against our legs to move us around, will not sit still for a minute. If we put him out in the mud room and put up the gate, he frantically chews on the gate and barks constantly. The only way we get a few minutes of quiet it to put him in his kennel.

    Has anyone had a dog like this? And what did you do to straighten things out. We realize that a puppy is going to be rambunctious, but this is way past that. At this point, I'm ready to get rid of him, because he's making our life miserable.

  2. #2
    Puppy FourLabsAndATri-Pawd's Avatar
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    Perhaps have a home visit by a good trainer to evaluate him?

    The aggression worries me otherwise I'd say crating and tethering him to you for a few weeks so that corrections can be immediate but if he's got aggression issues I'd want to have him evaluated before suggesting that.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Hello and Welcome!

    Not the best on pup advice as we home older dogs but will try from information I've learned here.

    Have you taken him to obedience class? Basic obedience is a great start. He has definitely learned how to push your buttons, pushing you around, etc. That can all be stopped with training, patience, love, patience, tons more training and patience. Have I mentioned patience?

    Others with pups will respond and give you more specific help.
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  4. #4
    Puppy
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    Thanks FourLabsandatripawd, I wasn't sure if it was just me thinking and over worrying the aggressiveness or if it really is a problem. My gut tells me it is. Just knowing that someone else things it is a concern make me feel better. We do have a local trainer and I will see about getting a couple of hours of his help. Thank you.

  5. #5
    Puppy
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    Thanks POPTOP, I get up every morning promising myself I will have more patience. But by the end of the day am so frustrated that it all goes out the window. But I keep working on it!

  6. #6
    Puppy FourLabsAndATri-Pawd's Avatar
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    I practice patience all the time with our 9 month old chocolate, Kona.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Sounds to me that you have a pretty normal Lab puppy. His Grandma called our Oban a Holy Terror. Like you, we had the perfect puppy first, the one who was born trained.

    Puppy play can get pretty rough. If the other dog is too small, too old or just not inclined to lay down the rules then you must protect that other dog. By the age Sebastian is I'd expect Zeke is fed up and gave him a tune up. It seems that didn't happen so you have to protect Zeke. We did not allow our Holy Terror anywhere near my sister's 16 year old, it just wasn't fair to the old dog. I did arrange play dates with a neighbour's adult female and she taught our pup some valuable lessons in proper doggy manners that he never forgot. An older female like that is a god send for an unruly puppy. Now that he's an adult my own dog is very good with puppies.

    Meeting older dogs, opther dogs is part of puppy socialization that ideally you would have made great efforts on when he was younger. Puppy classes, exposure to other dogs, people, places, sounds, sights. It's not too late. Puppy classes didn't even start till a dog was 6 months old when we had our first pup so by no means is it too late for Sebastiaan. Classes will teach YOU how to handle all the other problems you mention as well, they are certainly not unique to your pup. Google up on NILIF as well. Nothing in Life is Free. I think we still have stuff on it here on this board.

    For the growl when you touched him when he was eating - why did you do that? There is no need to touch him while he eats and there is solid science (Skinner) to show bothering a dog while he eats, while touted by some, is more apt to create a resource/food guarding issue than prevent one. There are things you can do and this organization is set up solely to promote safe dog/child interactions. Dog/adult interactions should be safe too.

    Doggone Safe - Home

    https://www.cappdt.ca/UserFiles/File/...%20parents.pdf This one is specifially on the food bowl but from the founders of the link above.

    In the meantime it's YOUR job to keep kids safe around Sebastian while he is eating. They must not bother him. Maybe there is a serious problem brewing, no one will say the links are fail safe, there are dogs wired wrong. I bet he's not, but don't take chances with kids, watch they don't bother him. See how the link does address kids.

    Good luck. I think I'm in love with Sebastian, he sounds so much like Oban. A Holy Terror, high energy, a lot of work, a lot of love.

  8. #8
    Real Retriever
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    Howdy and welcome pianomom!!!

    Sebastian sounds a lot like my Sunshine was until she was around two years old. Energy wise that is. She was taught manners at the local off leash park. I have always been able to pet her while she eats. As she was starting to sleep, I would do daily "examinations" of her. Feel a front leg, then the foot, muzzle, open mouth, other foot, back feet, tummy... She wore me to frazzles! I'll admit there was more than one day I'd get home from work and just sit in the car, not wanting to go inside to deal with her. She was a Spawn of Satan puppy for sure!!!


    How much exercise does Sebastian get a day? Is most of it taking him for pulls? On his own in the yard? Does he get any off leash run like a nut time? Does he have good recall off leash?

    I found the answer to Sunshine's energy release was to go for a few hours in the woods or to the lake, EVERY DAY! This is all learning time too; left, right, come, hunt this item up... In the woods, she would spend hours running around destroying small trees or any tree with a branch within her reach. Then RUNRunRun up and down the muddy creek with them, dropping them in a deeper spot, stand on them and sink her head in trying to get them. At the lake she would RunRunRun up and down the shore, in the shallows. I'd send her off to find a stick, throw it a few times then send her back to running or swimming on her own. I stayed out for as long as SHE needed to. If I went home any earlier I would have to deal with that energy release inside, not much fun. After she released her energy we could go and work on training. She would not be tired mind you! She was still rearing to go but I had some control over it.

  9. #9
    Senior Dog windycanyon's Avatar
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    Hi Pianomom,
    One thing that stands out here is that you said he was like this since he was 6 wks old. Did you buy him from a breeder or was he from a shelter? His source would be your first resource, though since they let him go at 6wks, I'd not hold my breath on much help there.

    You are dealing w/a potentially difficult situation here as he missed out on all that littermate/ mama interaction/correction he needed as a baby. That's why most of us don't place our puppies before 8 wks. Given that, do you have any friends w/ a very sound tempered adult dog of the same size who may be able to teach him some manners? It may be too late, but it's worth a try-- sooner rather than later because ime, 6 mos is not the worst age... 8 - 14 mos is far worse!!!

    I used to foster labs for our local (Yakima) HS and your pup sounds familiar. Fortunately my one older girl at the time had about the most perfect balance of temperament and was able to "give the brat the what for" w/o hurting them. I did have 2 w/ iffy temperaments who eventually had to be euthanized by their adopters, unfortunately. Definitely call the trainer (had no idea Colfax had one as it's been years I've passed thru and remember it as a very small town). You may have to go to Pullman or Moscow too, but you definitely need some help by the sounds of it. Best of luck- Anne
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  10. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to windycanyon For This Useful Post:

    Annette47 (05-17-2015), FourLabsAndATri-Pawd (05-18-2015)

  11. #10
    Senior Dog Doreen Davis's Avatar
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    Hi Pianomom, and welcome. We have 2 rambunctious pups and I feel for you. I have a few suggestions but agree that a trainer taking a look would help.

    At at this age they are all over the place and if your last experience as ours was, was with an elderly dog, the contrast can sometimes make the pup look like the devil incarnate. I would focus on 4 things:

    1. Unleashed exercise in a safe place and get some of the energy out of him
    2. Short training sessions after he's tired out a bit and practicing NILF, nothing in life is free
    3. He missed puppy play if you got him at 6 weeks, so I'd not let him play without close supervision until you get a handle on his dog to dog behavior.
    4. Ours benefitted from a routine, the same each day, with some crate time throughout the day to give us a rest.

    Im not sure you've got aggression or a wild pup that will respond to structure. I'd get into an obedience class which will help with some of the exposure to other dogs too.

 



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