Oh my. Chewie is nearly 6 months old now. We were just settling down after the initial puppy phase of weeing and biting and now... He is SO much more boisterous. He jumps, nips, pulls on clothing and barks like mad when excited. Thankfully he is not like this all the time, but he has periods where he can be a real handful. Sometimes a game of tug or 'fetch' (he hasn't quite worked it out, but likes chasing things...) or training settles him down. His recall is still pretty good and he walks okay on lead, only pulling occasionally. He wakes up much more energetic in the morning- around 6am, which isnt much fun on weekends. He gets woken up at 5.30 by an inconsiderate idiot with a motorbike but does go back to sleep. His schedule has been disrupted since he spent a week with his daycare family while we went on holiday but is slowly getting back to normal. We have just started a "manners" class and he was a disaster in the first class- barking with excitement and not listening. We think we will give him some exercise beforehand and some breakfast (the trainer suggested saving it for class, but I think that just made him over excited at the thought of food) and hopefully he goes better this Sunday. Basically, I'm looking for reassurance! Please tell me that if we keep training and being consistent that this will pass...
Hi @Chewies_mum, I have had 6 Labs. 5 were gentle from the outset. The penultimate one was a nightmare. Biting,,biting and biting. She is now the sweetest and most affectionate Lab I have ever owned. It will pass.
Thank you. Chewie is a very sweet dog when he isnt being a stroppy teenager. He loves a good cuddle. His behaviour is generally worse for me, and he is very much "my" dog in that he wants to be where I am in the house and thinks that he is my lapdog. Is it usual for dogs to act out more with their favourite people? I suppose most of his behaviours are demanding my attention.
I think you have worked out the issue yourself. The dog learns in terms of patterns. He has spent more time with you than any other individual. He knows your patterns. Some of the issues emerge because we inadvertently reward undesirable behaviours. He knows what gets your attention. And other issues are self-rewarding to the dog and not of our making. Recently I had to teach my 8 year old Lab scent detection, targeting, and a laser pointer retrieve. I had to make videos in familiar and low distractions, and unfamiliar and high-distraction environments. I did them for a distance-learning course I had enrolled in on dog behaviour and training. I watched the videos and was shocked to observe some of the problems that I was inadvertently creating. Perhaps you might gain from filming yoursefl and watching whether there is a problem you are inadvertently creating. The other thing I was required to do was keep detailed training logs. The log entries were very revealing. It forced me to reflect deeply about why some things were not working, and encouraged me each day to work out tentative solutions for the next training session. Some failed, and others worked. I know it can be very hard working with a young dog (and an 8 year old Lab who does not attach any association to a laser light and one of three kictchen appliances placed on the floor over two metres away). Don't despair. Fairness, consistency, and realistic expectations will result in a wonderful dog. Everyone who knew my dog said I would never pass the course. I am happy to say she turned out to be brilliant, but it did require many, many, many sessions of training and introspection. You'll get to your objective too.
Thanks @Michael A Brooks. I do think I unconsciously indulge him a lot, so I need to examine my own behaviour. Interestingly the daycare has suggested that we swap one of his daycare days because there is a very boisterous puppy that she thinks is a bad influence on him! So hopefully that helps too. I'm just glad he isnt the most badly behaved dog at daycare.
It's really important to work on keeping him quiet in class. In short, because if you don't, you will give up - no one wants to be the person with the loud barking puppy, and no one enjoys being that person! It is pretty simple though - 2 things: 1. Always take a stuffed Kong to class, filled with easily lickable soft stuff - soft cheese spread, wet dog food, mashed banana etc etc. Preferably also bring something to refill the Kong with, since some pups finish quickly and then resume barking. 2. Keep your puppy working. You may notice that when everyone is training stuff, all the pups are quiet. When you are all sitting there listening to the trainer, the pups bark. Why? Because suddenly your attention has been withdrawn from them and the food has stopped. So you need to figure out a way to keep training your pup whilst also listening to the trainer. This may just be practising 'Watch Me' over and over. Or it may be marking focus from your pup with a 'yes' and putting the treat on the floor, marking focus with a yes, treat on the floor... etc etc - but you need to keep the pup working and it will be quite rapid fire at first. Good luck!
