We are raising a lab puppy to (hopefully) be a service dog. I think it's going well, but this is our first time, and I was hoping you wise and welcoming dog people could help me with a couple of concerns. She is the most trainable dog I've ever experienced and we've got a good cycle going of petting/grooming, potty, train, play, train, play, nap, repeat. We use (all) her food to train her, and higher value treats for recall, hide and seek, and the only thing she's hesitant about so far--water. Two of her play/train sessions each day are outings to friends backyards, nature preserve, beach, etc. She settles well in her crate and naps about every two hours. If we try to settle her out with us, we end up with the thrashing-biting- zoomies. I've read that zoomies means she's not getting enough exercise/stimulation, but with her, it honestly seems like overtired and needs a break. When we tell her "kennel", I feel like she's relieved, and she enters and sleeps (we do close the door and cover with a towel). Am I interpreting her right? When we open the crate door again, she never comes right out but stretches and wants petting/scratching for 5-10 min. Can we keep crating her for naps for now (working on preventing zoomies)? Or will that mean she doesn't learn to relax with the family? Another issue we have is dirt/mud. She can't play in our yard anymore because she is attempting to eat her weight in soil. She will also chew up sticks, acorns, grass etc., but dirt seems to be her obsession and she actually consumes it. Gulp. We stop her, but is this normal and will she outgrow it? If she starts doing it outside our yard, I don't know what we'll do because she has to romp outside somewhere! My final question for now is the water thing. It's been 95 degrees here, she's black lab, and I'm totally mystified that she doesn't enjoy water. I've looked it up and tried a lot of things (plastic wading pool in the backyard, and going in with her). We allow her to make all her own choices but do encourage and throw a treat party when she enters. Still, she'll only go up to her "knees" in the bay (gentle sloping entrance, no waves, sandy bottom). Should we keep trying once a day, or back off? Other positive things we could try? I'm concerned that if she doesn't swim and love it before 16 weeks, the window of new experience will close and she'll never like water. Not a problem if her eventual family doesn't live near it or like it, but she might go to a child or parent with children who does want to take her to the water. Our wish is for her to become a service dog, but if she isn't cut out for the job and is offered back to us, we are very big beach/boat/water people and it is so nice for all of us that our pet dog loves to swim (he's a black spaniel). Thanks so much for reading and for any thoughts you want to share!
Hi there, and welcome to the forum! We have lots of young puppies on the boards at the moment so you are not alone and it sounds as though you have got off to a good start I'll link you to some threads that are relevant, then it's probably a great idea to start a new thread for each question as a long list of questions can be a bit daunting for other members to answer An occasional turn of the zoomies is normal and not something you need to actively prevent, but general overexcitement at the end of the day is really common and this thread will give you some more information: Over-excited puppies Here's a thread about puppies eating everything - also very normal - And here's some info about swimming: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/my-labrador-wont-swim/. Dogs can learn to enjoy water at any age, but you may find the process a lot quicker if you can get it going sooner rather than later
Thank you, Pippa for the wealth of information. I'm sorry I asked too many questions in one post! Happy to find a group of people who care so much about dogs.
My lab pup is 4 months old and eats sticks like crazy. He eats them as if it’s his dog food. He will also eat grass, moss, acorns and pine cones. We try to keep driveway and yard as clean as we can, but he finds every little thing. Frustrating and I don’t take him in yard as much either. I know labs are gluttons. I hope this goes away too. I just wanted you to know yours isn’t the only one.
@Debbie it is frustrating isn't it? Mango also eats sticks, cat poo, grass, pine cones, apples, pears....it is quite embarrasing in dog park, when every other dog retrieves sticks and apples, and Mango just eats them. The other day he ate about 10 apples (I guess people thought it was fun to give him some even when I told them not to, so we had to go out at 2am)
It took our lab until he was about 9 months old (he's nearly a year now) before he would willingly go into water. He fell into a pond in a nearby farmer's field when he was four months old and we think that may have inhibited him even though he got himself out fine and seemed none the worse for wear. We have access to beaches so we never pushed it but occasionally threw his ball into the shallows and over a period of time he started going in to retrieve it. Now we can't keep him out - he even 'surfs' the waves and will swim with us. At the pond, we occasionally meet a neighbour who has a spaniel who swims in the pond and retrieves a ball. Our Wilson would watch him closely from the bank but never went in. But then one day - after he'd been in the sea earlier in the week - he just went in of his own accord and retrieved the ball. Now he actively wants us to throw in a ball every morning! So from our experience I would say perhaps not doing something every day but just occasionally and don't worry about any specific window ... your puppy may well develop a love for water later.
Welcome welcome! What a great post. I'm not an expert but I can share my experience. The "eating everything" stage for my boy Pongo only lasted a few weeks, really. By the time he was about 4 months old he had had a taste of pretty much everything and had decided that dirt wasn't food after all. (It took a little longer for him to get over his fascination with snails....bleahh). He still like to eat grass. The zoomies were regular as clockwork at about 6.30pm every evening! I agree with you, I think it is more a tiredness thing than excess energy. He is nearly 5 years now, and we still get a bit of zoomie most days - it is very, very funny and I don't think anything to be worried about. The biting and nipping were the worst bit of young puppyhood (see all the threads on this forum about crocopups!) but for us the "yelp and ignore" technique worked absolute wonders - within a week or so his crocopuppiness had pretty much disappeared. Water...Pongo HATED water until he reached a certain age...then one day when some other dogs were playing in the river he just went in and followed them. I would say just keep giving him the opportunity, but let him discover his inner dolphin in his own good time!
Debbie and Mango, I am so glad to hear that Hattie isn't a mutant for eating non-food items! I guess her food drive is part of her super trainability, but it really is a downside when I have to police her all the time outside. Not that she doesn't eat try to eat non-food items inside . . . it's just much easier to keep everything smaller than a lab-puppy-mouth out of reach! Jenem, that's just what I wanted to hear--that Hattie may develop a love for water and even swimming, at some later date. We have been playing in the shallows like you said, but it's better if I don't feel the pressure of a closing window. Our spaniel's mission in life is to fetch sticks out of the bay, but so far, Hattie just looks at him in what seems to be disbelief, and does not try to follow. Rosie, oh how nice it would be if Hattie realized that dirt is not food! Our dirt is mostly orange clay with little pebbles and no matter how vigilant I am, Hattie will vacuum some up, lickety split. I'm willing to let grass eating go. But shells seem bad, and mulch is worrisome . . . I love this quote about water and puppies: "I would say just keep giving him the opportunity, but let him discover his inner dolphin in his own good time!"
I had the same experience with Mango as Janem. Mango fell in a pond at realy young age and would not go in the water for a month. He came close, to the edge of the water but not a step further. After a month or so, he started just walking in the shallows. When we visited a breeder at 4 months his mother would invite him in the stream near their house, and he just stood there on the shore, crying. He did go in eventually, but it seamed like he was out before he even got wet. Another time he followed a dog who was retrieving a ball to the lake, but panicked when he realised he lost the ground under his feet. Did not follow her again. He was waiting on the shore for her to get out of the water. He is now 24 weeks and still won't swim, but I feel we are getting there. He still needs to stand to feel secure, but he is close, sometimes I can only see his tail and his head out.
Just a follow up on swimming. Yesterday I took Mango out and as it is raining here we took a little longer route since he could not play outside much. We went to the pond where I had hoped he would go in to clean hih paws after running through some mud. We came to the edge and he saw a few ducks swimming away. He went into the water and....swam! No panic. He returned I praised him and he went straight back in. The whole way back home he was looking for a way into the stream and river. I guess it was just the diffrence in temperature between the air and water that bothered them.
