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Thread: Help!

  1. #1
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    Help!

    Hi there! I have a chocolate lab. She just turned 7 months old. I also have a 10 year old yellow lab. I don't remember my yellow lab being this "bad" as a puppy. Maybe she was, but I don't remember. She took a puppy training course and she is very smart but seems to have forgotten alot of commands.. especially "drop it". She is very hyper, and gets mad at the word "no". She barks at us and tries to bite us out of what I think is anger when we say no, but I don't know... if she does bite us she controls is so it doesn't hurt but It scares me as to how she may be with strangers. We have a busy house, lots of people all the time.. (I have teens that bring friends over) I am unsure of how to properly socialize her, like outside of the house, because I am afraid I can't control her on a leash and she may accidentally bite someone.. but she doesnt seem to be mean, she always wags her tail and no hair stands up. She is a total bully with my other dog also...

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    How much exercise and what kind does she get daily? at that age a young lab often needs at LEAST an hour off leash of playing daily (every day!)

    you say she has "forgotten" her commands, training is an ongoing thing, you must keep training and practicing. She may also be hitting the teenage months when she rebels a little so you need to up the training daily and only issue a command when you are able to make her do it (don't say something if she is off leash away from you and can walk off, go back to basic training).

    Honestly you sound so terribly overwhelmed (you even say you are scared) - I HIGHLY recommend another class or if you can swing it, a trainer to come to your home and help you. Unless you have gotten a dog that is not mentally balanced, she is not biting out of revenge, it sounds like she never learned to have a soft mouth/not bite people. YOU need confidence here. Without confidence and someone to guide you (in person) it will be harder to get thru this and work with her to help her become a well mannered adult lab.

  3. #3
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    I have a really big yard, but its not fenced in, so off leash in the yard doesn't work.. she takes off. I am looking into having a trainer come to the house. I am not scared of her, I am scared that she will hurt someone accidentally or get in a fight with another dog because she really is a total bully. my older dog just takes it and doesn't defend herself, i'm afraid another dog may hurt her because she "plays" so rough. I use my commands everyday, I have "puppy proofed" the house, but some things can't be put away so she gets them. She jumps up and gets food off the counter if i turn my back for a second!! She is very funny, and comical to watch and I absolutely love her! Just wondering if this seems to be normal behavior!

  4. #4
    Best Friend Retriever emma_Dad's Avatar
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    Emma is a little bit older then her. We need 30-45 mins play in the morning usually fetching or playing with the other pups that meet up with us. And 1-1.5 hours of off leash playing in the afternoon, swimming, dog park, hiking. We also go to class once a week were in nose work right now, after class she's dead tired. Last week she had 6 big searches and she was so tired she knocked out once we got in the car and slept all the way till 9am the next morning. If we skip one day, she become very mouthy, pushy and a PITA. A tired puppy equals a happy owner.

    So exercise might be the cure to the issues your seeing and the help from a trainer to guide you through the socialization and other issues your worried about.

    A

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Yes, it is normal behavior for an under exercised, under socialized dog that is not being taught proper boundries. Absolutely get a good, positive reinforcement method type trainer involved ASAP and be prepared for some hard work and constant supervision of this puppy. Tether her or block off areas you can't trust her to be in unsupervised. You definitely need to do something about the lack of exercise, that will make a huge difference. Best of luck to you!
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  6. #6
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    your dog needs exercise desperately. labs are a sporting breed, they are energetic. they absolutely positively need to RUN daily for a good amount of time. Otherwise - well you are going to have a harder and harder time trying to train and manage her indoors.

    IS there any fenced area you can bring her in to run and play? Can you play fetch with her on a long line? You are going to have to brainstorm and find some way to let her run her sillies out daily.She needs a safe place to just run freely, play with other dogs, play fetch, off leash hikes. Unfortunately the lack of training is really going to make finding safe ways to exercise that much harder (if not socialized with dogs, you can't do the dog park, if she can't be off leash without taking off, no off leash hikes).

    Now - exercise will NOT solve your training issues. But they will take the edge off so you can WORK with her (she can focus).

    Make sure your trainer is up to date on lots of recent training philosophies. If they tell you to slap on an ecollar and zap for misbehaviour find another trainer ASAP. Look for a certified pet dog trainer.
    Association of Professional Dog Trainers



    IN the meantime, work on brain exercise. tons of short training sessions, make her work for her food (feed from a kong, kong wobbler, tug a jug, whatever), games like hide and seek, whatever it takes to work her brain.

    Also - while exercise is SUPER important, being only 7 months she can't go running or biking with you just yet (if this was something you were thinking) because her joints are not done growing.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    She sounds totally normal. Maybe even average, which I'm sure you know are not necessarily the same thing. Our first girl was born already completely trained. Well it seemed like that. Not so this one, who sounds a lot like, like, ......for heaven's sake, what's her name?

    So I say ditto to all the responses above but will add that training classes provide the mental stimulation some higher energy dogs need to take the starch out of them. Sometimes new posters are afraid of their dog but you are not so I suggest group classes instead of a private trainer. Group classes give you the biggest distraction - other dogs. Classes have the fringe benefit of bonding your dog to you in most cases. Dogs evolved to work to please us and classes teach you to teach your dog how to please you. I agree she might hurt someone else, she hasn't yet learned proper manners and she's getting big.

    Can you not find a safe off leash place somewhere? A ball diamond you can shut closed? Clean up of course, even rake the sand. A dog park in off hours with few others around?

    Do you know anyone with a big older dog who is fairly tolerant but will not put up with her shenanigans? She really needs to learn doggy manners too and bullying your older dog is not fair to the older one.

  8. #8
    House Broken petitesalmon's Avatar
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    I agree - more exercise. Just as emma_dad said mine is a bit older (8 months) and we do both 45 mins of play in the morning plus an hour walk in the arvo. On top of that we do training every day. Despite this my dog still pushes the boundaries and 'give' or 'drop it' is something we have to continually work on. Are there more group classes in your area? They may be cheaper than an individual trainer and then you could meet people to have play dates with! But classes aren't the be all and end all - I use my weekly class to make sure I'm doing the right thing and learn how to teach new things - the training continues at home
    (Also don't forget everyone says that this is their naughty stage - it'll get better)

    Good luck!

  9. #9
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Definitely, back to training. Also, use NILF - nothing in life in free - for everything. Before setting down a bowl of food, sit, stay, that kind of thing. Exercise, exercise, exercise, physically and mentally. From what I've read here on the board, you also have a pup going through the obnoxious teens. That does not mean you have to put up with it, just need to train more. Positive training is the best way to go, labs respond very well to it. Don't give up, don't despair, your pup and you will come through it in one piece.

    Archie (GSD) joined us with very little socialization at 5 years old. I was so hesitant to take him out around crowds, not knowing how he would respond. After some training, and putting my big girl panties on, I take him just about everywhere he is allowed. Like PetsMart - started out slow, outside for a while seeing how he responded.

    Good luck. You two will conquer this and come out much better.

  10. #10
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    Thank you all for your help! What are your opinions on check cords. Since my yard is not fenced.. ( I am looking in to it, but it is huge yard to fence) would she do well with that or would she get to running so hard that she hurts herself when it stops her?? Or actually I mean more like a run that gives her the ability to run free for however long the cord allows... attached to a steak in the yard... (with supervision of course) we can run and play without fear of her running off...
    Last edited by MOMMYSUSAN3; 07-23-2014 at 11:29 AM.

 



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