hi, I'm fairly new to this forum so am fairly sure this same issue will have been posted at some point in the past. Bill is a yellow lab - our first lab. We have had German shepherds before. He has been a delight to have and a very calm dog, especially compared to labs at training. He has been a star at training apart from his 2 minute stay which we are working on!! He is great in so many ways but is starting some odd behaviour- he has always been a bit 'silly' when over tired or excited, nipping and leaping at us. I have ignored it and given time out which he has responded to by quickly settling down and all is forgotten. But this last week (he's now 10 months) he has started becoming hyper, every evening, tearing round in the house, which has never been allowed, then barking and biting at us, hackles are up. We grab him, put him away for a very short time, then bring him back in. We ignore him, he settles down, I calmly praise him then for lying down quietly and the rest of the evening is spent in peace. He is walked a number of times a day, with and without another dog, not left on his own greatly and is being trained. What is this behaviour, is it common lab behaviour, will it pass and am I dealing with it correctly? Hoping this is just a teenage thing!! Thanks in advance for any help in this...
Sounds very much like a teenage thing to me, been there, got the tee shirt . Not sure about the grabbing him, but other than that it sounds as if you are dealing with it well. I used a long lead in the house attached to Ripple when we were going through this, so I didn't need to grab but could just lead him away.
Yes , a short bit of time out is probably the best thing when they get over silly ! But only for a short time , and I agree with @SteffiS , grabbing will most likely be seen as part of the game , so lead on ! Ten months can be a tricky age , no longer viewed as a puppy ( although they are ! ) and not yet adult , and they can become very silly at this age . Sounds to me like you are doing all you can to help him become a sociable happy dog x
Mollie is ten months old and also has her crazy moments. I find it usually happens early evening when she's hungry. I pre-empt it with a filled bone an hour before her evening meal (filled with soaked kibble and yogurt and frozen). .
Thanks for reply. I understand why you are suggesting the lead on but I am fairly sure that he will end up chewing the lead! That is the main reason we haven't succeeded with the 2 minute stay at training. It has to be with the lead attached, he gets distracted by it and tries to chew it.....
This sounds like the ZOOMIEs and is common dog behaviour, not restricted to Labs. In all our dogs it often happened after we got home from a walk, no matter how long and tiring the walk was. Sort of a last hurrah, I take it as. Or after a swim or bath. I encourage it, it's a sign of good health and good spirits. Not in the house and I do not allow jumping on me and nipping. I take the dog outside, stand behind a tree or deck railing and yell, GO, ZOOM, while they are running around like maniacs. I play too, running from tree or safe place to tree or safe place. After a while I can incite the zoomies and have them take place when and where it suits me, and we have fun at the same time. Not always, they still happen after a walk, but I have more control now. They nip or jump, I quit.
It's an even better picture in winter when the snow is deep and I can't run in it as well as Oban and I fall and he jumps on me.
I have an 11 month old who does the same thing! He barks and nips at me when he is over excited or when he is tired and can't settle. he usually does this around feeding time or after a walk when he is tired but hasn't settled yet.
