Saba is a reasonably well-behaved puppy, but if I leave him alone in room, eve, and in for the shortest time, he'll steal or trash something he shouldn't. For example, today we returned from our walk, Saba had his Dentastix, and I went to hang up my coat. I was less than a minute, and he'd table-surfed and helped himself to a box of 200 poo bags and spread them liberally around the room! While I cleared up, he systematically cleared our dining table, and ran around with his trophies, very waggy tail, and that daft Labrador look on his face! If he's sleeping at my feet and I move, he comes too; same if he's on his bed. I can't move without my chocolate shadow! It seems that he wants to have whatever I put down. If we are going out without him, Saba goes in his room willingly, and wait without incident until we return, when he gets a reward. Outside, both on and off lead he has good recall and general obedience, but that's not the case indoors. Saba ignores 'come', 'give', 'leave', and 'down' to name a few commands. I'm finding this really hard to deal with; where has my good boy gone? Must I resort to shutting him away each and every time I need to leave him for a moment? The timing for this is not good, as we are going away on holiday, and Saba is going to boarding kennels. We had already booked our holiday before we knew we were getting a puppy, and I'm concerned that he will forget more of our hard work while he's there. Coo, this five-month stage is hard . Please tell me it will pass!
It will pass He sounds like a typical 5 month old pup , cant be trusted , bouncy and at times , a lunatic ( all in the nicest possible way of course ) His training might well go into remission whilst you are away, but don't despair , just get back at it once you get home, it will come back . I think that pups , at this age, need almost constant training, but carried out in a fun way , so lots of games indoors , fetch and find , with much praise and treats when he gets it right . I doubt there is anyone on this forum who hasn't wondered, at some stage or other, when their pup/dog will improve , but with much input from their owner , they get there in the end
Stopping them stealing things from the table is easy - don't leave things on the table. As Willow grew, she started taking things she could suddenly reach. We lost a couple of greetings cards before we cleared all the surfaces. It was only temporary - we can now have plenty of clutter on the tables (sigh) and neither dog will take anything. As for not listening indoors, there is always one of three reasons that a dog doesn't do what you're asking. Firstly, he doesn't understand what you're asking. Secondly, he's too distracted by something else. Thirdly, the reward isn't high enough. All of these are training issues, not behaviour issues. You have to remember that, as he grows, things that weren't interesting before suddenly become more so. This is very distracting for a young dog. Dogs don't generalise well, meaning that you only need to change a small thing in their environment and suddenly they won't understand a cue anymore. For some dogs, this can be as simple as you standing slightly differently when you deliver the cue. My trainer has us give cues standing on one leg, waving our arms in the air, facing the other way... Saba is so young that you can't have completely proofed the cues yet. So, it's just a case of going back to basics. Start training the cues again from the beginning. You'll probably be able to progress through the steps more quickly than you did the first time. I try to keep in my head that when my dog isn't listening to me, it's a failure in my training, not in their behaviour. Simplify what you're asking for and increase the rewards. Are you rewarding him well each and every time you ask him to do something? What incentive does he have to leave something that he wants? Eventually, you will be able to ask for behaviours without giving him a reward each time, but the response has to become trained before you can do that. At five months, it won't be yet. Just go back to basics
This may help. I wrote this post back in July, when my pups were 11 months: http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/its-ok-to-go-right-back-to-square-one.11563/
I think maybe I've become a bit complacent as he's been such a good pooch, and very quick to pick up what I've asked of him. I usually use a portion of his daily kibble for training, unless we're working on something new, or where there are lots of distractions. Today during his off-lead walk, he was glued to my leg as I had sausage in my pocket! Sometimes, it seems as though he's stealing to get my attention, or to stop me getting on with whatever it was I was doing. I'll take the opportunity of this break to review parts of Pippa's book and get stuff straight in my head, and then organise some one-to-one refresher training for when we come home. Saba is a lovely, healthy, friendly and happy puppy, and has brought us so much pleasure in the short time we've had him, not to mention the positive effect he's had on my mental health. I want to do my best for him, but perhaps I need to be more relaxed about the whole process. Thank-you all for your encouraging words x
Before booking some 121 sessions be clear what you want to work on and gain from the lessons. Saba has the basics, they just need some polishing . Juno has been an absolute dream as a puppy but since our move she has become a bit reactive to other dogs, something we never had a problem with. With the help of a behaviourist we're working on it and ed have good days and not so good but we will get through it, just as you will with Saba. Relax and enjoy your pup and enjoy your training sessions, having fun helps their furry little brains
Ella definitely steals to get our attention. She'll try to bait us with the stolen item and will get closer and closer if we ignore her. Eventually she'll just give up and drop it. Obviously it's not the same if she steals something precious or dangerous as we need to 'swap' to get it back straight away. Here she is with a stolen sock, her favourite!
It's funny, when I watch my two interact, they do the exact same thing. If I leave out any toys overnight, Shadow (who wakes up earlier than The Duchess, who needs her beauty sleep), will grab a toy and stare at her intently. If she doesn't react, he'll move closer and closer and eventually start shoving it in her face, trying to bait her to play. If there's a sock, he'll grab it and drag it over her head. They sometimes do the same with me to initiate a game of tug or "throw the sock". It's definitely about getting attention, and if you react because they have something they shouldn't, then they're going to repeat that behaviour more than using a toy they're allowed, which you probably don't respond to in the same way. They're smart, our dogs
You've had some great advice - good luck with training your pup - and here are a few guides to be going on with Teach your dog to come Teach your dog to sit Teach your dog to lie down Have fun
I just know that everyone who just read your post must have been smiling to themselves and reminiscing about thier own Labrador's antics. I cant offer anything more than the great advice you've already had but I keep telling myself that every bit of mischief pup gets into is a lesson for us (for example, never leave post on the coffee table) and a memory to call on to make you smile on those rainy days (for example, explaining that 'my dog ate my parcel notification but here's a chewed up piece of card to prove I did get one' to a less than impressed postal worker). Love her Today, tatti figured out how to get into the raised flower bed in the garden. I do hope miricle grow doesn't have the same effect on dogs...
Does she look tall? I have no idea! I keep wondering how much bigger she'll get (she's just coming up to 10 months). Maybe I will have to measure her height to see how tall she actually is.
I wonder the same - about height. There are lots of articles about howuch an average lab weighs at different ages but buy how tall. Tatti is exactly 6 months old, 22kgs and just shy of 21 inches at the shoulder. I think this means she is going to be quite big for a girl but I don't know. Dad was a working (gun) dog and mum is from a line of show dogs. I think she takes after mum, I think they tend to be bigger. Sorry... I think I've strayed off topic :-/
I'll take the opportunity of this break to review parts of Pippa's book and get stuff straight in my head... Yeah right! Saba practically ate the book Speaking of sizes, he's now 6 months old, weighs 25kg, chest 60cm, waist 40cm, height to shoulders 48cm, body condition score 5/9. His paws still look too big...
