we still have an issue with Bonnie getting over excited, jumping up, on lead or off lead and biting. She is nearly 9 months. I want to be able to let her off lead safely with fear of her losing control. We have started working with a one to one trainer, and she recommended getting a muzzle so that we can at least feel bite-free whilst we are training. The trainer says there is no aggression in her, it’s pure over excitement. But it’s very tiring, sometimes she will walk on a loose lead for me really nicely, then she will be jumping up biting my arm. Like I say we are working on this, but for safety sake what are your thoughts on this? Thanks
I'll be honest, I've raised 3 Labradors, but unlike the majority on this forum, I really only trained the basics (a lot of members are excellent trainers with very well-trained dogs who can probably offer much better advice) - but I can't see how muzzling Bonnie will alleviate the situation. She's still going to be over-excited, so if it were my dog, I'd work on that - lowering her excitement levels...attempting to teach her calming behaviours.
As a trainer I wouldn't be using a muzzle for this sort of behaviour. It's not teaching the dog an alternative behaviour which is what your trainer should be encouraging. Your girl sounds a pretty normal adolescent who is still learning and still needs to learn to manage her excitement.
I’m definitely not anti muzzle (in fact, I’ve just spent a small fortune on getting a beautiful custom fit one for Shadow to train him to wear as a visual cue to others to keep away whilst I’m training through his reactivity issues) but I don’t think it’s appropriate in this situation, as the others have said. Work on calming protocols with her, rather than focussing on the behaviours you don’t like. All behaviour is information and this is telling you she’s too excited or frustrated to cope.
Another thought; you said you want to get to a point you can safely let her off lead - does this mean she never gets any off lead time?
Hi, I've had this with Tansy (now 13 mths) and it was upsetting, painful and like you I worried that she might grab someone else on a walk. After several months of worrying and fruitlessly dealing with it myself (and walking home in tears nursing bruises) I went to see a behaviourist who helped enormously and simply by giving Tansy a different behaviour to do when excited. When Tans is running and I can see she's about jump and grab we play 'touch' - which means I say touch and hold my hand out. The idea is Tansy puts her nose to my palm and I throw a treat in the grass for her to find. She knew the command touch already so we were able to see a changed behaviour very quickly, we're both happier now It's a good game to play even if you're not trying to distract but the difference it's made for us is fantastic. I am now keeping her on a long line though so she's within my influence until her behaviour is established, also means she can't build up such a head of steam running back at me I hope you'll find a similar solution perhaps with the help of a behaviourist who can analyse why you dog is doing this. I think a muzzle would have added to Tansy's frustrations.... got to stop typing now, she's bringing me every boot in the house!
Hi, She’s been let off the lead from as soon as her jabs allowed, but, we’ve just had this long stretch through her season, 5 weeks in all, where she’s been kept on a lead. Previously to this she’s had 2 off lead walks per day, and on lead to get to and from the forest. I think you’re absolutely right, she’s so excited that we are going out that sometimes she just can’t control herself. Theses last couple of weeks on the lead along suburban streets I’ve been trying to make the most of her lead time and stopping/ turning around when she pulls, but she’s getting frustrated with me and I think that sets her off, also when we meet others walking along she wants to have fun obviously but hasn’t been allowed poor girl. So, vet has said this weekend we can let her back off again now she’s all clear from season. I’m concerned that she might start jumping up and biting us/ our kids/others, it’s all in excitement, no malice, but I’m worn out with it all and when our trainer mentioned a muzzle just to protect whilst training I thought eeek I don’t like the sound of that, but wanted to check with you experts first for your opinions. I think you’re all great, I really value your advice. People along the street often say to me “oh a lab, she’ll grow out of it”, but that’s like wishing her life away? I want to have a non biting jumping dog that my whole family can walk without pain, it hurts. Anyway, I will plough on, she’s going off lead again tomorrow, maybe she just needs to get back off the lead for a proper run around! It must have been very frustrating for her
You’ve hit the nail on the head, that sounds exactly like my situation, the worry that she’ll grab someone on the arm whilst over excited fills me with dread, if i spot children or a jogger I get her on the lead ASAP. I walk home sometimes close the door and burst into tears! This doesn’t happen every time I must add, she’s a lovely dog, very affectionate, and after just one session with our trainer, doing our exercises through the week she is already much calmer around the house. Your touch game sounds good, hopefully our trainer will be able to do something similar for us. She’s been stuck on the lead for weeks through her season too, so I guess it’s frustration as well on the lead. Thanks for your help
Sorry I’m really busy at the mo so not keeping up with who is doing what Have you tried scatter feeding when she goes nutso? It’s a good way of calming dogs down. Sniffing around for treats on the floor takes a lot of brain power and can help calm dogs. Don’t worry about it rewarding the bad behaviour; the behaviour is an expression of her mental state which is over aroused. Scatter feeding can bring that arousal back down and help her regain her equilibrium.
I HIGHLY recommend getting a "gentle leader". They aren't muzzles (the dogs can still open their mouths all the way), but they go around their snout. I swear those things are miracle workers. My 8 months old is a VERY excitable dog. He pulls a lot on a leash because he wants to see everything. But when we put on the gentle leader, he's a dream to walk with. Apparently it's suppose to calm them down. When he was in puppy class, he (and the one other lab in the class) were very excited. They wouldn't stop barking because they wanted to play with everyone. The instructor often had to sit with him to calm him down. Then, we got the gentle leader and put it on him for class and he didn't make one more noise. He also listened and did everything we told him to do. I swear by this magical "device" lol. He's not a big fan of it, though lol
I know that sometimes people need to use something like this as a temporary measure, for example if the handler is injured and the dog would pull them over otherwise. But I do think it needs to be seen as a temporary management tool while you train. It works because the dog finds it uncomfortable to resist it - so that’s why your dog is not a big fan of it. There are all sorts of ways to teach your dog to walk on a lead without using aversive methods so I would say do have a go.
Thank you for the tip, that sounds good. This afternoon my niece came round (teen), they absolutely love each other, but the start is always a nightmare, anyway, we followed our trainers advice, with a house line and we scattered treats for no barking or jumping, and within 15 mins things were good (that’s a big improvement), we kept her on the line for a while longer, but she did settle, the power of the treat distraction! Thanks Snowbunny
The dog school we first went to insisted that all dogs wear this. It’s a head halter, which my boy hated. He still jerked, and I do believe he injured his neck cos of it. But I trusted the school at the time even though they didn’t teach us how to have our dogs walk willingly on a loose lead. A much more comfortable device (for the dog, I think) is a front-fastening harness that attaches on the chest - it provides a level of control if your dog pulls very strongly. I think calling it a “gentle leader” is a clever marketing ploy - I really don’t think it’s gentle at all.
I prefer Halti to Gentle Leader. I've used both, and Halti doesn't cause as much rubbing on the bridge of the nose. Overall, I prefer the front-clip of a harness. I find it's easier to handle him from his chest than his nose Whether it works well or not depends partly on the dog.....If you have one like mine, who figures out how each device works, and works against them....train, train, train lol. Lucky for me, Shamas is completely food-driven and I'll get further with a bag of treats than I'll ever get with a gadget.
No, not like wishing her life away. This might seem like forever, but if you follow the advice you get on here, as you do, you will get through this phase. To a certain extent she will grow out of it, but training will go a long way to help your bond with her. I had similar issues with Cassie a year ago, when she was 13/14 months, so I know it's pretty horrid, and I didn't have a family to deal with as well. I think the hand touch as suggested by @Blackbird sounds good aswell as the scattering. What worked for me in the end was standing on the lead so she couldn't jump up at all, she could only nip my feet, I just had to stand there wearing heavy winter boots in mid summer ! She stopped within a week. Now that she has just turned 2 I feel I have a lovely companionable young adult with many years ahead of us, puppyhood is such a short time really.
This is what I love about this forum, such a simple straightforward obvious solutions, but when you’re in the midst of puppy teenage meltdown you can’t see these things. Until someone puts these solutions to you it’s not always obvious. Thank you thank you everyone. I will be lead standing, treat scattering and using distracting behaviours constantly. Wish me luck it’s half term! Thank you
Good luck! Although with good strategies, plenty of treats and a calm approach you won't have to rely on luck! I've been keeping a walk diary as well which helps give an overview when I've had a difficult walk, also it's helped me guess what tips Tansy over her threshold, that might be another idea for you to try?
Yes, great idea, I did that but kept a log, very publicly, on here. It really helped. Because that's the thing, many of them might display this behavior but they all have different trigger points I think .
