That completely depends on the dog, and on the training given. Very generally speaking, I think it's fair to expect a puppy to walk nicely on the leash and to come when called (without distractions) when they are really quite young - by about three to four months. If you miss this window, then heel walking and recall will become more difficult to train. I generally expect a young dog to be fairly sensible by about a year old - that means his recall is reliable, he walks nicely with and without the leash, he retrieves well and knows how to socialize with other people and dogs.
Start on day one and slowly build up your training. You get out what you put in. My Tatze is five years old and still has a way to go! Yesterday I was at Guide Dog puppy class with Keir - all the pups were 100% perfect and well behaved in class and terrible monsters at coffee time . .
They do say that whatever you put in for the first year of a dog's life, is what you get out for the rest of his time with you... At any rate, it really pays to train your puppy, in a positive and kind fashion, from the very beginning.
This is a really great article from the main site - what you can expect from a 6 month old Lab. I found it immensely comforting during the puppy crazies. The whole article is interesting, but the training section is probably what you're after. https://www.thelabradorsite.com/6-month-old-labrador-your-six-months-puppy-questions-answered/
I have an 8 month old and think I’m behind schedule. I’m not very good at training manners, only tricks. Good job I love my giant chaos monster haha
Different breed, but I felt that my Rottie boys were civilized around the house by 10 months old. That meant not destructive, house trained, came when called, didn't beg/steal food, didn't jump up on guests, knew basic commands, walked on lead well. Civilized outside of the house was a different story. Duncan I could take anywhere from a small pup, Brogan was a terror well into his second year. However in terms of trainability, Brogan went much further and was (eventually) much easier to work with. Very different personalities and training challenges. @snowbunny 's comment of "what does 'behaved' mean to you" is the most important. Honestly, I don't think they are really fully cooked until 5-6 years old. For me this is when I looked at Brogan and thought, "Man, you are the BEST" and didn't feel we needed such frequent daily training sessions. Of course by that time we were working as a public service dog team, so you could argue he got training and reinforcement on a daily basis simply through work. Long winded way of saying that I'm not sure they're ever fully cooked. And good thing, too - how boring would that be to have a perfect dog?
Totally depends on the dog. My chocolate lab is nearly 7 months and is VERY well behaved. I left him unsupervised for about 30 minutes at a time in the house (not caged up) at about 3 months old. But at 4 months, I left him for extended periods of time unsupervised and uncaged. I accidentally forgot to lock him in his crate one night. We didn’t realize this until we woke up. So he spent about 6-7 hours alone, with the entire house as his playground. NOTHING was out of the ordinary. He was perfect. All he did was sleep. We now leave him home alone all the time. Sometimes up to 8-10 hours a day. When we come home, everything is just as it should be. No accidents, no furniture or walls ruined. The only thing he does is he will take the stuffed animals from my bedroom and distribute them around the house lol. I’m actually amazed at how awesome he is. We had another dog (cross between a chocolate lab and a st bernard... doesn’t live with us anymore) who is currently 2.5 years old. When he was left home alone, especially at less than 1.5 years old, he would eat our walls. We actually had to put some plastic coverings on some of the baseboards because he would just eat the walls.
I consider Moose to be well behaved...for his age. He sits when told, comes when calls, gets off when told, and leave it (as in the kitty) when told, rarely messes in the house (when he does, it is my fault for not letting him out in time). But would a visitor consider him well behaved? No. Because he is an exuberant puppy and becomes very excited with visitors. I wouldn't have it any other way, but I'm not leaving him free in the house for awhile. I like my couch . He's 16 weeks old.
