1yr old is rude and an "alligator"

[Dovetail]

Hey, I need a bit of advice. I'm watching my neighbor's lab Rowdy for a month - He's a year old. He's quite pushy and rude. He'll knock his food bowl out of my hand and gobble it all up off the floor and if I hold it away from him and make him sit for it he'll kinda do a play bow and bark and do a bit of tooth snapping (not like aggressive seeming but still quite pushy!) He even chomps at his water as he drinks it!

He also seems like he's always hungry. I was told him to feed him a large bean can of food twice a day, I haven't measured it out into cups but I also don't know how much he weighs.

I took my own dog to training classes but my dog is A LOT smaller (he's only ~30lbs and 6 months old)

So I've starting making Rowdy sit for a kibble at a time which he's getting decent at but he's an alligator puppy! My hand is a bit sore since I'll hold my fist there until he stops chomping before he gets his kibble.

Am I on the right track for a Lab? I'd like him to stop being so rude and pushy, I know he wont calm down but maybe I can teach him a few manners? I know labs are good at learning...

[Labradorks]

Nothing wrong with trying to help him control himself. He is a big puppy. Lab boys typically take years to mature. Is he getting much exercise? Training (mental stimulation)? That helps, too.

[POPTOP]

Training, training, training. Then exercise, exercise and more exercise, both physical and mental. Labs are mouthy; redirect with a more appropriate object than your hand, i.e. a toy. Work on NILF - nothing in life in free. No meal until he sits nice, etc.

Definitely get a measuring cup and keep track of food intake. You local vet will probably let you weigh him for no cost. Labs are eating machines and intake needs to be monitored. Given the chance, a lot of them will eat till they get in digestive problems.

Have you done training classes. They help tons.

[Annette47]

Sounds like you’re doing well, and doing things that should have been started when he was much younger. Don’t know how far you’ll get in a month, but hopefully you can at least get him to have manners in YOUR house. Whether it sticks when he goes home will depend on the owner.

[smartrock]

A large bean can of food...

Well, my guess is if they've had him for nearly a year and he's acting like this, anything you do will be for your own benefit and may not last after he returns to his owners, which will break your heart to watch. He sounds like he may not have had much in the way of training and at the moment has an abundance of energy that he doesn't know what to do with. Is he staying at your house or is he by himself at his own house (inside or out?) and you go over to feed him and let him out? It sounds like you're a more structured pet owner than your friends. Probably many of us here are, too.

I guess I'd try to exercise him first of all, throw balls or frisbees or sticks or whatever in the yard, even for 15-20 minutes a few times a day, to use up some of that young dog energy. I can't tell from the photo how big the yard is, but it looks like he could get some running done there. What you're doing with his food sounds good. If you get him to sit but he's still jumping up and acting grabby, before just giving it to him you could put the food bowl up where he cannot reach it for 5 minutes or so and then start over, Sit, Wait, Wait, OK. If he cannot get to the food until he learns to sit and wait until the bowl is on the floor, I think he'll probably figure it out pretty quickly. You may have to block him with your body after putting the bowl on the ground, get between him and the food bowl until he sits and waits.

If it's important to you to know his weight and how much he's being fed, it wouldn't be that difficult to put his food into the bean can then pour it out into a measuring cup to see what he's getting. I cannot tell whether it's a reasonable amount by the bean can method. Depending upon what he's being fed, it may or may not be the right amount for his current needs. If you want to know his weight, places like Petsmart also usually have a scale, if they have one of those Banfield vet offices, and you can take him in and weigh him for free there also.

Let us know how things go!

[MontananDakota]

It makes me sad that people want to pay $ for a puppy yet not invest their time to help mold a well mannered, healthy heappy dog that gets what they need as well ( exercise, training)

Good luck. He is handsome

[Dovetail]

He isn't my dog to really train, unfortunately I'm just doggie-sitting for a month. As for exercise, I'm not sure what to do with him. I've got some large balls so I'll try fetch tonight, I'm worried about walking him since if he pulls me and takes off he isn't my dog to lose either :/

Sounds like you’re doing well, and doing things that should have been started when he was much younger.

Thank you for the encouragement! I was bitten when I very much younger by a friend's dog (on the throat no less) so I don't appreciate being pushed around by dogs. (even the floppy eared cute kind!) So I'm trying my best to at least get him to stop being pushy and stuff.

I was thinking when the owner comes back, he's much older than me, maybe in his late 50s-60s that I might show him what I've been working on and see if he likes the idea. He used to own a farm in texas and had farm dogs, but I'm not sure if they were trained or what.

Well, my guess is if they've had him for nearly a year and he's acting like this, anything you do will be for your own benefit and may not last after he returns to his owners, which will break your heart to watch. He sounds like he may not have had much in the way of training and at the moment has an abundance of energy that he doesn't know what to do with. Is he staying at your house or is he by himself at his own house (inside or out?) and you go over to feed him and let him out? It sounds like you're a more structured pet owner than your friends. Probably many of us here are, too.
If it's important to you to know his weight and how much he's being fed, it wouldn't be that difficult to put his food into the bean can then pour it out into a measuring cup to see what he's getting. I cannot tell whether it's a reasonable amount by the bean can method.
Let us know how things go!

He's staying at home in their backyard and I'm going over to feed/water/love on him. He doesn't seem trained much at all since he doesn't even respond well to sit, and he won't lay down either. (He might KNOW and just not CARE which is also possible)
I have no idea, that's just what I was told by his owner. I have the actual bag, so I'll just see what the back says and then measure it out by that. I use actual measuring cups for my own dogs.

It makes me sad that people want to pay $ for a puppy yet not invest their time to help mold a well mannered, healthy heappy dog that gets what they need as well ( exercise, training)
Good luck. He is handsome

He is a super cutie! when he holds still long enough to be looked at @.@ The owner has a couple of teenage sons, so my guess is he probably got the dog for them, but they don't seem too interested. I'm not sure if they take him out in the car or what but I don't see them ever walk him around the neighborhood. I'm thinking I might leash him and walk him around the back yard and see how he does then maybe walk him down to the boat launch (it's really quiet and the water is nice there)

He's a sweet pup, I just don't think he knows how to be polite.

[Maxx&Emma]

My heart hurts for that poor baby, thank you for caring about him.

If he is left alone in a backyard unless you go to spend some time with him it is no wonder he is a crazy mess. I am shocked he has not destroyed the yard, siding, dug under the fence and been in to all kinds of trouble. Labs love their people and just don't do well when left to their own devices with little human interaction. It does not sound like his prospects are much better when his humans are actually at home, I just can not imagine doing this to a dog.

Thank you, again, so much for caring about this baby, I hope you are somehow able to make his people understand that he deserves so much more.

[smartrock]

It makes me sad as well. The part about his having "farm dogs " makes me think he's outside and ignored most of the time. He not only doesn't learn how to act around people, his behavior makes it less likely he'll be brought inside. Not a great situation for a lab.

[TuMicks]

Damn. Hate to hear about people like this having dogs. I suppose neglect is better than abuse. But still...