Kayla is overly excited....help!

[beth101509]

Oliver has started doing something similar at 5 months old....so annoying. When we go out for our potty break after breakfast and before I go to work, I will tell him to go potty and he just stares at me like I said the most ridiculous thing or he'll completely walk away from me and look at the neighbor's house! I have to either repeat myself a few more times or grab him by the collar and move him toward our deck stairs and say "GO! NOW!" then he will go down the stairs, maybe sniff the perimeter of the fence, eat a few sticks....after patiently waiting for a few minutes, I will say "Oliver! Finish! Hurry!" that is when he goes into asshole mode and runs around like a bat out of hell, up the stairs, down the stairs, circles in the yard, throw up a stick, and chase it....more circles in the yard. I will tell him to "finish" about 6 times before he finally goes potty and poo. Why must he make it so difficult? This is the only time of day he does this. It's like he knows I am getting ready to leave and he wants to delay it. It just makes me want to leave faster...

[MightyThor]

Somebody here once posted about their Lab jumping on top of the counter at the vet's office and knocking everything over and the owner was horrified and amused. If I recall correctly, it was Bobby or Thor, but I can't remember. I'm pretty sure it was a younger yellow.

Yep...that was Thor. One of his finer moments, that's for sure.

[SoapySophie]

Beth: I think you getting excited gets him excited even more!
Asshole mode...yep, that's what we call it, too. LMAO

[Snowshoe]

Oliver has started doing something similar at 5 months old....so annoying. When we go out for our potty break after breakfast and before I go to work, I will tell him to go potty and he just stares at me like I said the most ridiculous thing or he'll completely walk away from me and look at the neighbor's house! I have to either repeat myself a few more times or grab him by the collar and move him toward our deck stairs and say "GO! NOW!" then he will go down the stairs, maybe sniff the perimeter of the fence, eat a few sticks....after patiently waiting for a few minutes, I will say "Oliver! Finish! Hurry!" that is when he goes into asshole mode and runs around like a bat out of hell, up the stairs, down the stairs, circles in the yard, throw up a stick, and chase it....more circles in the yard. I will tell him to "finish" about 6 times before he finally goes potty and poo. Why must he make it so difficult? This is the only time of day he does this. It's like he knows I am getting ready to leave and he wants to delay it. It just makes me want to leave faster...

LOL, I'm killing myself laughing about "asshole mode". Seems to me when you want him to potty that's what you DO want.

But, I say FINISH and HURRY UP as well and for Oban they are two separate commands and he knows which is which. Hurry Up is pee and he will try or fake it, say if I tell him to go before we get into the car. FINISH is poop and I only say it when I'm pretty sure he needs to, for example on a rare leashed walk and we're on the part that borders the bush and I let him sniff and I want him to do it there so I don't have to bag it and carry it home.

Maybe you'd like to give this a try? Assign words while he is performing the action, lots of praise and encouragement and Good Boys. You can do this with COME with very young puppies (Oliver is probably too old for this one now) Other commands you can train are Zoomies, Hug for jumping, Shake for getting water off, Speak. Then you sneakily take control so that the dog only does these when you want him to. An alternate word for not doing is good too, Settle, Feet, Wait, Quiet.

[voodoo]

Chili acted up with excitement at this age and I didnt have the ability to fix some of the stuff so I sent him to boarding school for 10 days. it was worth it, and chili came back so much better. some people just have a better training skill set than others. sometimes the trick isnt what you do, but how you do it. and that how usually comes with experience which I dont have. good luck, its just a phase.

[Labradorks]

Oliver has started doing something similar at 5 months old....so annoying. When we go out for our potty break after breakfast and before I go to work, I will tell him to go potty and he just stares at me like I said the most ridiculous thing or he'll completely walk away from me and look at the neighbor's house! I have to either repeat myself a few more times or grab him by the collar and move him toward our deck stairs and say "GO! NOW!" then he will go down the stairs, maybe sniff the perimeter of the fence, eat a few sticks....after patiently waiting for a few minutes, I will say "Oliver! Finish! Hurry!" that is when he goes into asshole mode and runs around like a bat out of hell, up the stairs, down the stairs, circles in the yard, throw up a stick, and chase it....more circles in the yard. I will tell him to "finish" about 6 times before he finally goes potty and poo. Why must he make it so difficult? This is the only time of day he does this. It's like he knows I am getting ready to leave and he wants to delay it. It just makes me want to leave faster...

I'd put him on a leash. Give him a few minutes, say "go potty" in a non-excited voice until he does it. If he doesn't do it, bring him back in, and NO FUN, try again, rinse and repeat. Then, when he does it, have a party and give him a few minutes to run around and play. Obviously the faster he goes the more time he has to play.

I lived in apartments for years and the ability to go on command and go quickly has always been a priority, especially since I am always running late. Since I raised my first puppy in a house with a fenced in yard, even though I did take him out on a leash as a pup, I have my first "inconsistent pottier", while my other dog who I raised in an apartment goes immediately, always.

[beth101509]

I'd put him on a leash. Give him a few minutes, say "go potty" in a non-excited voice until he does it. If he doesn't do it, bring him back in, and NO FUN, try again, rinse and repeat. Then, when he does it, have a party and give him a few minutes to run around and play. Obviously the faster he goes the more time he has to play.

I lived in apartments for years and the ability to go on command and go quickly has always been a priority, especially since I am always running late. Since I raised my first puppy in a house with a fenced in yard, even though I did take him out on a leash as a pup, I have my first "inconsistent pottier", while my other dog who I raised in an apartment goes immediately, always.

I tried the leash for a while and it was disastrous. He would sniff and sniff, when I told him to go he would try jumping on me or just sit down. After several minutes of me telling him to go and him not doing it he would just turn into a "tornado". He would spin and spin and spin in circles like an idiot. I gave up on that fast because he was going to hurt one of us and it didn't induce a poop just my blood pressure to rise.

He knows the commands to go "potty" and "finish". He just won't do it after breakfast (right away). He is just making potty a chore for both of us. He used to go right away and on command and now....he dilly dallies and the more you say something to him, the slower he goes. The more sticks I pick up, the more he finds. I have tried ignoring him while he is out there sniffing around in case it is an attention thing. I have tried celebrating after he goes and he comes back up the deck quicker but doesn't go faster then next outing we have. This just started over the last few days. Maybe he doesn't have to go as often as he used to and that is the problem?

[Woodrow_Woodchuck]

Howdy rickjs and welcome!!

Kayla sounds like a normal lab pup, that is the good news. The bad news (for some folks anyway) is you are going to have to devote more time to her. As in ALL your time. The more time you spend with her for the first two years, the larger the payback for her remaining time with you.

I'm no special trainer or expert. I have raised two perfect little angels of lab pups and one spawn of satan, over energetic monster.

Kayla might need a lot more exercise than she is currently getting. Some pups seem happy with 15 or 30 minutes twice a day and do fine. My current black gal NEEDED 4 to 5 hours of off leash running at that age. Suck? You bet! Get home from work, grab a quick bite then bundle up, put on the headlight and off into the woods! It is not lost training time either! If it is just you two out there, you control her with commands. "Come here, check this out!" Let's go to the left. Ok, let's go over here now.... This brings us to the other thing she might need, a job. Off leash, her job is to be listening and watching YOU, because you know all the fun things to do! Not only is she physically active, she is mentally active listening to you.

Inside, lots of fun things to do, to keep her active and learning at the same time. Does she know all the names of her toys? Can she go and bring back an asked for item? This leads to hide and seek, what a great game! If you hide it too well, she will look to you for hints... "Did you check the bedroom?" ZOOM! Off to the bedroom to look!!!

Does she know the difference between "Mine" and "Yours"? EVERYTHING in my house has a label. Mine means it is a no touch item, Yours means it is hers to do with as she pleases. You can start to work on "careful" or "gentle" with items. I'm a bachelor so not many things really get misplaced, but I taught her to find them anyway. The remote for the TV is a 'careful Mine' item. Granted she was almost two years old before she grasped careful, but now she can pick up the remote and gently hand it to me. Yeah, I have to wipe it off, but at least she was careful. Car keys, wallet.... Introduce her to everything now and after she grasps hide and seek, you can give her tons of 'jobs' to do! "Kayla, where are the car keys?" ZOOM!!!

I offer these suggestions because Sunshine was an out of control pup, like you are describing. I control it by giving her tasks to do. If we are out, off leash, a call will get her back instantly now. Before that? "Sunshine, you know what?" I would get an immediate l@@k at me and sit..."WHAT WHAT WHAT????" "I saw a... Rhinoceros over this way." ZOOM!!! She has no idea what it is but is now distracted going in the direction I pointed. Pick up a stick and call her: "Sunshine, I found a stick!' ZOOM!!! she is back! 'A stick??? this is great!!!!' By listening to me, I found a really fun thing to do!

As far as Kayla being out of control at the dog park. That is a lesson she will just have to learn the hard way, sorry. Sunshine was corrected more than once by older dogs before she learned to go up and polity 'ask' if they wanted to play. Or if she was just running around like a nut and another dog joined her, it was game on!!! She learned very quickly who her buddies were and who to stay away from.

I hope I helped at least a little!!!

[Labradorks]

I tried the leash for a while and it was disastrous. He would sniff and sniff, when I told him to go he would try jumping on me or just sit down. After several minutes of me telling him to go and him not doing it he would just turn into a "tornado". He would spin and spin and spin in circles like an idiot. I gave up on that fast because he was going to hurt one of us and it didn't induce a poop just my blood pressure to rise.

He knows the commands to go "potty" and "finish". He just won't do it after breakfast (right away). He is just making potty a chore for both of us. He used to go right away and on command and now....he dilly dallies and the more you say something to him, the slower he goes. The more sticks I pick up, the more he finds. I have tried ignoring him while he is out there sniffing around in case it is an attention thing. I have tried celebrating after he goes and he comes back up the deck quicker but doesn't go faster then next outing we have. This just started over the last few days. Maybe he doesn't have to go as often as he used to and that is the problem?

I'd put him in the crate after a few minutes. Take him out, try again. On leash. Rinse and repeat. Unless you think he's empty. In that case, I wouldn't take him out a second time so he doesn't learn bad habits. I generally walk my guys at least 20 minutes in the morning to help them get it all out before I leave for the day.

[rickjs]

Update.

We are back from our trip that I was so concerned about how Kayla would act. I am soooooooo proud of her. My worst fears were all for naught.

She was the perfect, calm, compliant dog on both ends of 11 hour car rides. She met gobs of new people...in homes....in office buildings. Yes, every single person had to get hugs and kisses from her but once that was done, she settled down and was a pleasure to be around. We went to the dog park five or six times and she had a ball. Played very nicely with the other dogs. They loved her and vice-versa. Also took her to the dog beach at Juno Beach. Ocean was very rough....8-10 foot waves. Of course, she's never seen anything like that. Took her close to the water so she could watch the ocean. An extra large wave came in and surprised us both and she got slammed. She didn't want much to do with the ocean after that.

There is hope Kayla will turn out to be a wonderful dog. I could actually see her mature a little (very little) on the trip. As I said, I am so very proud of her.