I have a six month old lab. She doesn't obey and she started jumping, biting and snapping again. I would think that she would have learned by now what is acceptable and what is not. No doesn't mean do whatever you want. I almost ready to give her away due to her attitude issues. I don't let her run in the yard because she won't stop the jumping, snapping and biting. Any advice? Please don't tell me to take her to a training class or hire a behaviorist. Those are not options for me.
She's still very young indeed. I suggest you go back to basics. Get some excellent treats and teach her 'sit' 'stay' and 'on your mat'. Make the training fun and positive and you'll soon rebuild your bond with her. This thread is full of good ideas - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-behaviour/#problem And welcome to you from Mags, Tatze and Mollie Tatze is my pet dog, a black Lab and she's three years old. Tatze means 'paw' in German. Mollie is my fourth Guide Dog puppy, a black Lab and she's sixteen weeks old. ...
Mags has given some really good advice above. Unfortunately dogs don't understand what 'no' means as its a word we use a lot and it can relate to so many things. It sounds like she is trying to get you to pay. She also doesn't have 'attitude' problems, she a pup and is still learning. She will start going through adolescence soon which is also a very trying time. Consistent positive training is the best way to go. Training is an ongoing thing that needs to be done throughout a dogs life. My girl is 3 and still has the occasional 'jump up at people'.
Keep at it with the training her yourself and make it fun so YOU can enjoy it, it's important you have fun. She is a very young pup still, my 2 and a half year old dog is only just calming down - though you wouldn't have thought it this morning as he had an attack of the zoomies round and round the house and over the bed for 5 minutes He is under constant training, though I do relax a bit more nowadays.
When my grown daughters were teenagers, I also felt like giving them away-my puppy? Never! As well as still being a puppy maybe your dog is a bit stubborn or willful. Mine is. Stimulating games and lots of positive interaction play time, like tug a war will help her vent so she can relax and pay better attention to you.
that age is a very difficult stage in the life of our dogs. They are starting to grow up and the hormones are kicking in big times so they can be quite a job at that stage. But things will settle just give her some time and try to be consistent! We had exaclty the same episode with our boy odin how is now 4 years old and the most gentle and nice dog you can imagine when he was at age. Lasted till he was about a year old but got better fast after that!
Hi, you have had some great advice so far. You have a very normal pup who has just hit the challenging teenage stage. Meg was just the same then, had me in tears on walks. Training is a life long thing...they don't just "get it" it has to be renfoced and proofed most of their lives. If classes are not an option for you which is a shame as that support and constancy can be a real help, as is training around distractions....follow the thread above from Mags for some good ideas and go back to basics. Meg settled when she was heading for 2 and the hard work was very much worth it. Best wishes Emma and Meg
What exercise does get if not running in the yard? Our puppy turned into a nightmare when she wasnt allowed to run or expend energy just after being desexed but all calmed down when she was allowed to run and jump again. Excitement also causes the jumping and biting is ther somewhere you can put her and give her a kong or something to calm down? Will she sit for food? If so when trying to jump on you say no (and sound like you mean it but calmly dont get frustrated - well dont let it show!) and then immediately ask for a sit and reward with food when she does it. They want to please but if you are sounding frustrated and just saying no to everything there is no reward - if you follow up with something that does work the idea is that instead of jumping and getting nothing they sit and get rewarded.
OMG, me too! I have a 4 month old Chocolate lab and he has piranha teeth! Yesterday I think he got mad for taking away a book he got ahold of starting going crazy! After ripping my pants, I thought to myself if I don't escape he will really hurt me. I escaped to the garage and cried from fear and shock. I have used positive reinforcement and am not sure where I have gone wrong. I am very concerned.
Mine is the same age now, 6 months. The key to peace in the house was making sure he got walks twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the afternoon, with garden time in between. Otherwise he gets bored and decides to entertain himself, generally in ways not to our pleasing
You haven't gone wrong and there's no need to be concerned. This is perfectly normal puppy behaviour. Read through the pinned posts on the puppy board to see how many people have thought the same as you. It works out, it really does. I have a 13-week old puppy, who is slowly learning, but also has her moments where she just can't be reasoned with. She's either over-tired or over-excited. The remedy is the same - pop her in her crate for a few minutes to calm down and then re-engage. Other times, where she just bites a bit too hard (but isn't in a frenzy), I just remove attention for a few seconds before re-engaging.
Thank you, this makes me feel like a better "puppy parent." In this scenario when he is in a scary dangerous seeming mode, I find it quite challenging to gain control even to get a leash on him to get him in the crate without getting bit up. Is this also part of him not being reasonable, and over tired or over excited? Is this also normal? I truly just am not used to this behavior and have no idea. Most of the time he is such a kind dog and I just want to cuddle him and be his bestie, but this makes me so confused. Thank you!
Maybe ours would calm down if we got a fence? We may move soon so I'm not sure that's an option. We take him on walks and he seems more excited after but maybe because the walk wears me out, lol. ♀️
Do you need to leash him to get him in the crate? I just pick my puppy up in my arms and plonk her in. Yes, I get bitten a bit, and yes, it hurts, but it's not really all that bad, in the grand scheme of thing. Sometimes I feel like a butterfly net would help to actually catch her Yep, it's really all normal and all because of over-excitement. This article may help you: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/excited-puppy/
Oh boy.... Two walks a day might be good exercise for a person, but a labrador? That is just loosening up the muscles. When they are much, much older a couple of walks might do the trick, but in the early years? Nope. To give you an idea, our backyard is about 250 feet wide. I use one of those flinger thingys to throw the ball the length of the yard. Murphy zoom back and forth around a dozen times before he even starts to slow down. Then we play flip the bottle in the air with the flinger. Jumping, high speed chasing, fast U turns. After about ten minutes of that he is ready for a rest and will lie down for a bit. With puppies you have to be careful to not over exercise them with the kind of play I described above. You have to be more like another puppy when you play with them. When Murphy was a puppy, my arms looked like I had run through a bed of rose bushes. But like others have suggested, when he bites too hard you have to disengage. They figure out that hurting you is not a good idea and eventually it stops. Nowadays, we play tug of war with his favorite airline blanket. If he accidently gets my hand, he knows it right away and does not hurt me at all. We play a lot on the floor, up close and personal and he is careful to not hurt us. Jumping on people? He used to do that a bit, but I think like someone else said, he is trying to get you to play. When Murphy would do that, we would not indulge him. Now he will come charging full tilt across the yard and screech to a halt right in front of me. I swear he is going to knock me right over, but nope, there he is laughing his tail off. Have patience, and do please do not assign human traits and thought patterns to your puppy. Always, always, keep in mind that their primary goal is to make you happy. They never do anything out of spite, ever. If they chew things up it is not to get even with you, it is because they are bored or teething. Dogs are not malicious. Oh, ,forgot to mention! We do the play with him about 5 times a day. Murphy is one easy going guy all day. He follows us around, noses into things, sleeps and is just a pure joy to have around.
Ive been seeing a professional trainer and one of the first things she told me was that puppies go through phases where they can relapse for a time. I believe it was about every 3 months. I know for sure my trainer said that the 6 month and year mark were critical times where a lot of things are happening to their bodies that can cause them 'act up or relapse'.
