Need ideas on how to get our 11 month old rescue lab to stop playing so rough. After a short time he starts biting, growling, bucking like a horse and terrorizes the house. He was in a shelter for 6 months before we rescued him so we understand that we need to train him but he just doesn't want to stop and then goes after our feet and hands. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hello..with being a rescue dog obviously could be a part of his.behavior. I found that with most dogs, just like children, consistency in training/ discipline to achieve the desired outcome is a main key. Maybe reinforce the behavior that you want him to exhibit with a treat.... Use one word or signal commands to get him to stop the negative behavior. We used a palm out with 'stop" and one finger pointing down with "sit"... Also, with our 3-year-old lab, because she was so excitable and hyper, she was prescribed trazodone, a half of one, to use for her when she was very reactive and reactive behavior when she went to play care. We don't give it to her all the time of course.. but it has helped her tremendously.. this might be something to talk with your vet about especially when you're trying to continue training.
thank you for your reply, we our doing that, i think its because he is scared of everything. i have had 3 labs and they were never like this, i think playing with big dogs in the shelter.
