Sending a big hug @Hugo's mum . I know you are trying everything. Luna is great off the lead and walks lovely in a loose lead at home, but get her to training and she would drag me to the top of the mountain. The trainer, who has about 6 labs, thinks she is going to be really stubborn. (But I can tell he loves her really.) She still hurls herself at guests, is up At The counter at any opportunity just to see what she can see and generally enjoys life with enthusiasm. Hugo is a character for sure keep going and loving him for who he is I guess time is the only answer. We have crazy big puppies! Xx
Thank you all! I have had a better couple of days I actually let Hugo go off lead on Friday in a field other than at training I know he is 7 months and I should have done it before but I've always been petrified of doing so and because I alway have the two girls with me they were scared and worried too. So I asked my mum to look after the kids and me and my dad went and let him run and Hugo LOVED it and came back to me everytime! I haven't introduced balls or anything as yet was just concentrating on recall - hoping to do it again today as my husband is home (very rare!). I would like to build my confidence so that I can let home have the free run he needs every day on my own once the girls are back at school in September x
Fantastic! Really, really chuffed for you! I just love recall games. Doing a lot of this with Bramble, similar age I think? her favourite game in the fields is "hide and seek" but just loves ping pong played with sossidge! This is how I trained her to the whistle, which is now better than Casper or Benson!
That'a brilliant @Hugo's mum, it must be a big confidence boost for you. Coco doesn't get a free run every day, but on the days he does, we still play recall games, it really helps building your bond and a strong recall. Introducing a ball would be good, I use it in recall too - as well as it being just fun. Coco loves to fetch a ball - we do 3 or 4 fetches, then something else.
Fantastic! I really do forget how lucky we are to have acres outside our door for off lead fun any time. Enjoy the runs!
Duncan is around the same age I think @Hugo's mum -- a little over 7 months and there are days that he is great and well behaved and listens (mostly) and I take a deep breath, but there are also the terribly behaved full of energy no matter how many walks/exercise he gets both physical and mental exercise, nonstop trying to counter surf and mouth me etc. days -- last Tuesday before leaving for vacation I had a million things to get finished before leaving for the rest of the week and of course it was a bad day (seems to always happen the days you really really need it not to) and I was completely at wits end by the end of the work day and then had to pack up all of his stuff and my stuff in the car before leaving since I had already packed up the car and his crate along with it I couldn't pop him in the crate while I got the last few things done without him nonstop jumping up at me trying to play and he not only somehow ripped open the bottom of the bag of food and it went all over the floors that I had slaved over vacuuming and steaming all afternoon but he also ripped open the bag of trash I was bringing out the dumpster outside our condo building after I had locked up and thought we were finally in the clear and ready to leave and drive to vacation where his dad would be and could give me a break of just me & Duncan time haha - the trash and all its contents went everywhere all over the sidewalk and of course it was right around the time everyone was getting home from work for them to witness! Some days are impossible and you are just exhausted at the end of the day and thinking "why did I do this?!" and other days are better, but the best advice I was given is that Duncan's trainer told me every lab and dog in general is different and not to compare him - he is definitely the most energetic and distracted out of all the puppies in his training class, but he also has such a goofy cute little personality! There are a few labs the same age as him in our neighborhood and I definitely think Duncan has the most energy out of all of these labs and their owners tell me their labs stopped mouthing completely awhile ago, don't try to counter surf, etc. blah blah blah but in the end all these puppies even within the same breed grow and mature and settle down at their own pace and time - I have definitely known labs in my life that were not well trained or well behaved as adult dogs and then I have known labs that have been the calmest most well trained dogs ever -- at least we are trying to get our pups trained so that eventually they are well trained and well behaved adult dogs! you are taking all the proper steps and Duncan is further along in training than your pup it sounds like (he has had around 9-10 classes and I think you said you are on 4 out of 8) and I did notice that he really calmed down and seemed to understand the whole routine of training and that he needed to calm down and go through the commands in order to get tasty treats etc. around maybe 5-6 classes in - at the first few classes I was just embarrassed at how distracted he was and how poorly he listened! so hang in there like everyone else said! I think ANY puppy parent of ANY breed has good days and bad days and when the other lab owners in my neighborhood tell me how great their labs are and well behaved I know they too have bad days and maybe different problems than I have with Duncan - I know some close friends still have a really hard time with their 1-1.5 year old dogs and chewing everything they possibly can and Duncan is not a chewer, so I really do think we all have our good days and bad days and different sets of issues, so really try not to compare your pup and I have been told many times labs take awhile to mature and not to expect them to calm down much until 12-18 months and even after that they have a lot of energy until around 3-4 years old or forever! It just sounds like some of our pups are even more energetic than others and taking longer to become well behaved little family pups keep up with the training and try very short training sessions a few times throughout the day if you can to try to mentally wear your little pup out!
Tha thank you great advice - we've had a great day today and yep the bin ripping etc defo sounded like a bad day!
