Hello, I am new here and have welcomed a fabulous lil man to our family. Thunder is 11 weeks and mum was a full lab and his dad is 3/4 lab 1/4 collie for a bit of background. We have had Thunder 3 weeks now and from end of next week will be able to get out into the big world. I have read sooo much I am starting to get confused myself.. so how can he not be!?! Thunder has been a breeze to house train, so far not too much furniture biting. He shows no food or toy agression. Sleeps all night in his crate. He is very clever and a quick learner. He does sit , paw, lies with the aid of a treat. Developing a better recall and leave with toys - lots of positive and definately has the lab trait of does anything for food. Our issue being.. biting. I know all puppies bite and part of the course. Thunder is determined and I have identified some triggers when over stimulated/tired so now stop and have started early intervention and using the crate this has been a new success. I have tried not moving - he bites harder. He barks and lunges for me. If I come downstairs and he is waiting he tries to hump and bite me and on occassion If I am walking ahead. Ignoring/removing myself or him/crate on his return he immediately returns to the same behaviour. Yelp doesn't work. I emphasise on lots of praise and he does gentle and licks to release treat. So he can do gentle. The vet suggested he is dominant and likely look towards early neuter. She also said to hold his muzzle down and say no. This I tried a couple times and to be honest made the situation worse so quickly stopped this advise. He has met neighbours dogs a shitzu he immediately tried to hump and a cocker he did try but also got a telling off and took note. He also spends time with 2 older dogs but tbh they cant be bothered but 1 keeps him in line. I feel I have read so much from techniques to not neutering early I am confused never mind him. I have made contact with a local trainer to discuss and set a strategy and support too. We will attend puppy classes too. Wonder if clicker training an avenue to explore? I already do I eat first and I walk through doors first. I have 2 children 11 and 6 and he typically children wise goes more towards the 6yo to bite. I just at times feel overwhelmed and now feel ive read too much and making matters more confusing than required. Regardless expectations and commands are staying the same. Sorry for such a massive ramble on my loveable rogue who is currently snoring away at my feet. He has excelled my puppy expectations and preps in many ways already and his quick learning. Hope this makes sense. Help.
Welcome. I hear a lot of individuals do that exercise. I don't think it's a good exercise. It doesn't teach the dog what he is allowed to do. And you bear the injury waiting for the behaviour to stop. But it doesn't. Time to buy a selection of tug toy. Only plays tug with humans. Otherwise the tugs are put away. Redirect his mouth to the tug toy. Play with your dog with the tug toy. Imitate an animal. A snake moving through the jungle aka your carpet. If he bites you the game stops. Drop the tug toy. It's "dead". If he persists in biting you then it is time out in the crate. No yelling. Just quietly put him in the crate for say 10 minutes. Please ignore the vet. On the basis of his comments he knows nothing about dog taining. Dominance went the way of the Dodo. And I'd even question his knowledge of medical matters. The evidence for neutering does not support his strong claims. My advice: Find another vet. Enrol in a puppy class with a positive reinforcement trainer/instructor.
This is very harmful advice. I'm glad you recognised that and stopped it. Please DO NOT TAKE ANY TRAINING ADVICE FROM A VET. They receive ZERO TRAINING in behaviour. Please don't neuter your dog, you should not neuter a male dog at all (IMO) unless there is a clear reason to do so - and then, once he is adult and mature. Neutering increases the risk of many cancers, joint diseases and even auto-immune conditions because hormones are involved in just about every aspect of the body. Puppy Culture are just releasing an excellent booklet on not neutering or spaying, which is readable: https://shoppuppyculture.com/produc...order-now?mc_cid=306a7d8cad&mc_eid=c12bcb8a6c Avidog have an online list of research papers: https://www.avidog.com/research-on-the-effects-of-spaying-and-neutering/ And if you want more research, join this FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AgainstRoutineNeutering/ Labrador puppies can be very full-on, socially, with other dogs, and not all dogs enjoy or want that. They can frequently verge on being canine bullies. It is important that you try to match him with dogs that are physically at least as big or bigger than he is, because it is harder to bully a dog bigger than you - the two older dogs you mentioned, ESPECIALLY if they can't be bothered with him and just ignore him and he gets bored of them - are IDEAL. It is best NOT to allow him to play roughly for ages with other puppies who also love to play rough, because this play style will get 'programmed' into him and he will seek it out from every dog he meets. Have a read of this article I wrote: https://totallydogtraining.com/over-friendly-dog/ You also, though, do not want other dogs to 'tell him off' or for him to experience aggression from them. He is at a very formative time as a puppy and young dog. So you need to avoid dogs that may feel intimidated by him and not let him get put in that situation. This will achieve absolutely nothing. It is part of a completely disproven and debunked theory known as 'dominance' theory, which is absolute rubbish. Have a read of these links: https://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/ https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/DominanceTheoryPositionStatement http://www.dogsmart.ca/cgi/page.cgi/Articles/Debunking_the_Dominance_Myth?_id=105 This is just because the 6 year old is more 'accessible' and at his height. Puppies should not be allowed free range and contact with children. They should be living in a puppy play pen or stair-gated into a couple of rooms and they should be crated when not supervised. They simply should not be able to walk up and start mouthing children... Often unwanted biting or mouthing is because you haven't taught the puppy to play tug or to play with you WITH TOYS - so the pup continues to play with people as they played with other puppies in their litter. Make sure there are loads of SOFT floppy toys lying around, since these are what pups will want to play with and any time the pup is in a bitey mood, redirect that to a toy. Alternatively, you can have a short training session using his next meal - food and thinking/concentrating re how to earn it often switches off that bitiness almost instantly....
Trainer booked for 1:1 for Friday who also does puppy classes. Also a local pet shop does puppy socialisation based on size. (Vet card produced for vac I guess selling point to this so many will purchase too) Thanks for reply.
He is fantastic with a food insentive and we had a successful meal time tonight from your advise. Thank you for all your advise and links to deepen knowledge.
Hi @Thunder* Well done on getting assistance. Unfortunately the quality of dog trainers varies. Let us know hhow you get on.
I will let you know thanks. Lots of knowledge/tips from reading other posts too. Today being a new day and new key skills going forward and importantly my own continuity and continuing to identify triggers.
