Kayla is overly excited....help!

[rickjs]

Kayla is 10 months old. She is a great dog. Never has an accident in the house. Loves her crate. Walks on leash (with prong collar) reasonably well. Just adores me and vice-versa.

But, there is a problem. She loves everything. I mean everything. Every person she sees. Every dog she sees. Every twig. Every blade of grass. You get the idea.

When she sees a person or another dog, she loses her mind. Can drag me down the road. Jumps all over the person. Jumps all over the dog to the extent the other dogs won't play with her.

She has been through obedience school. Did moderately well but didn't absorb anything to change this behavior. I've done the stepping on the leash routine to stop her from jumping. Just a temporary solution...doesn't stick.

I live alone in a rural mountain town. I take her to as many social settings as possible....sporting events, art and craft shows....anything to get her out with people where I hope she will eventually learn and calm down.

Yesterday she lost her mind when she greeted another dog. I had her normal collar on instead of the prong and she managed to pull out of it. Off she went running wildly with the other dog through the woods....completely out of her mind.....not listening to my calls.....only interested in just crazed behavior running with the other dog. Later in the day the neighbors came over and you would think she had never seen another human before. Tail wagging a million miles per minute.....just crazed jumping all over them.

I'm at my wits end how to get her to learn to control herself. In a week I'm going for a visit back to my former home in South Florida. Would love for her to meet many people down there. Take her to a dog park (she's never been in one...rural area....we don't have any). My worst nightmare is how she would act off a leash at a dog park.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Snowshoe]

LOL, sorry to have to tell you this, but, she's not Overly excited. She's pretty normal, average, par for the course. For her age and for Labs, most young dogs really, about 9 or so months is when their energy trumps anything they ever learned. With Labs, who truly are a very sociable dog who love people, it can result in exactly what you describe. I'd know this from all the posters who have gone before you.

Can you go back to obedience classes? You both need them more now than ever. You need to learn how to make her focus on you in a controlled setting before you can hope to apply it to the great big wide world. There are tricks other than the leash to control jumping, things you can do to get focus. Do you know what her greatest reward is? I discovered treats aren't worth a darn when my dog is off leash. A throw of his ball is his number one reward. Another reward is I let him jump on me. I call that a hug.

One thing you can do on your own is make sure she gets enough running off leash to satisfy the energy needs. Not literally running with you but off leash. Play with a friendly dog is perfect. I still paid heed to the 5 minute rule myself, though loosely, and we were out off leash usually an hour in the morning and another hour in the evening. Plus our CGN classes.

A book I really like is Leslie McDevitt's "Control Unleashed." Google it up, great reviews on it and it has what she calls "games" that will suit exactly your needs. But classes with someone who can see you two working together are best.

[rickjs]

I'm retired. She gets several long walks per day. I fenced in the side yard and she gets several episodes per day running to her heart's content, off leash, chasing balls, sticks, whatever. (I have to stay out there with her....if I leave and go out of sight she can't stand it....whines at the gate, etc.) So, trying to disperse her energy doesn't seem to do any good. She could be "dog-tired" and she will act as I said when greeting another person or animal.

[Tanya]

working her brain also really helps to tire out a dog. Training, brain games, feed via toys/games. so maybe if you don't already, include 2-3 short (like 2-5 minutes) training sessions in the day and feed from a kong or other toy (or feed as you do training).

it's a hard age for lab as they do typically want everyone to love theM (or rather, believe everyone loves them as much as they love everyone). time and patience. another round of obedience classes can help - classes are an ongoing thing with dogs

[rickjs]

A brain. Ugh. Reminds me of what my trainer said when she would act up.

"She's a Lab. Labs don't get a brain until they are three. Kayla is a smart one, though. She might get a brain when she is two."

[Murphy030813]

Patience and Consistency. Keep working at it, don't give you. 10 months is definitely a crazy age. I think I came on this board at my wits end at that age. Sometime around 18 months Murphy calmed down tremendously. More training classes are also good.

[Moby and Barley's Mom]

Oh boy. Barley is almost 9 months old - and I have a trainer coming today to help me with mainly the pulling - but to ask questions like this as well. He will not come 100% of the time at the dog park - and pulls so hard that he could be a sled dog. He also LOVES everyone and every dog, etc. When I walk him, though, I bring treats and when someone is walking by I make him sit and focus on me and the treat until the person passes by. It works - most of the time - but it is SOOOO hard for him. You can see him struggling like crazy to sit and focus on the treat. He is also very stubborn - and I am now making him sit when waiting for me to open the glass door to the outside - and he makes this super grumbling noise when I make him do it because he SOOO does NOT want to. It is really funny, actually. Good luck - and I will let you know how it goes with this trainer today in case I have some nuggets of wisdom for you!

[kimbersmom]

Yep, Kayla sounds like a healthy young lab. When Kimber was that age, we also lived in a rural area so I had to make extra efforts to socialize her. I'm not sure how rural-rural you are; I was able to go to a coffee shop about 30 minutes away, and we'd sit outside and have her practice sitting nice, no jumping, before people could pet her. About 40-45 minutes away was a Petsmart, so I could also drive her there and practice walking around the store.

We were also in classes *constantly*. Whatever was offered by the community center, we enrolled in. Labs are so smart, they need jobs.

I'll also suggest that several long walks daily and playing fetch in the yard is probably not enough exercise for Kayla. Every day, rain, snow, sun- anything short of ice- we took Kimber on an off-leash hike for at least an hour. We were lucky enough to have an informal dog park about 30 minutes away, so DH would also take her there daily for about an hour.

You may not be able to do all of this, but if you add some components, it will help Kayla be a little less crazy.

Also, try to reframe this in your mind as a phase, not as a flaw. Kayla will calm down; you just need to give her lots of exercise, training, and structure at this age. Kimber finally got her brain at about 15-16 months, so there's hope!

[Labradorks]

Is your dog a field Lab? It sounds like she needs a job. Field Labs, especially, are bred to work. Even if you don't plan on doing performance work with her, you can do obedience or at least learn the exercises or do things like free-shaping. During this time, she will also learn to focus on you. You'll need a trainer or, if you are handy with learning online you could do that as well. All of the other advice is right-on.

[OHfemail]

Oh the trials of a young and enthusiastic lab - I feel your pain. The best advice we got from obedience classes (yes, multiple ones!) was to distract your pup as soon as you see a potential situation developing. We went through handfulls of treats just to keep her turned, sitting and focused on us. It also has the advantage of telling the other person that you have a 'problem' dog - they might not know what the problem is, but they tend to steer a wide path away from you - lol. We really worked on being consistent and patient with this routine and it's finally paying off at 3 years old...finally!!