My day got off to a terrible start! A normal 4-30 wake up as I go to work today, half breakfast in bowl and other half in garden as a find it game, Luna then settles herself usually while I get my work things together, I then went to our shed to put items in when on way back to house Luna started jumping biting ect, I tried to get away but she was having none of it! Scratched back and ripped work shirt and no idea? I had to close kitchen door between us as by then I was crying! Luna is 10 months and I have no clue for this as she has never done this in morning only later in day randomly. She normally settles back in her crate and wakes my husband a couple hours later! Help!
Hi Base28 Can you please describe what happens on the random occasions in the afternoon when she displays similar behaviour? What did you do in response to her boisterous behaviour? How much exercise does she get? What toys does she have access to? How much obedience training has she had? What's her impulse control like? regards Michael
It's a very common thing in labs of this age. Selena and Cassie had big issues with this. If you look it up you will find lots of ideas about helping to stop this behaviour in the training part of the site.
Luna is an early ri serr as someone is always off to work, but not home alone and when left only for 2-3 hours, she has an hour walk off leash in woods either in morning or afternoon and the same on leash around where we live the opposite time. We take her to training every couple weeks and I try to fit in as much training as I can ( Luna not so keen) we give her frozen kings during day and she will do anything for a carrot! With the biting jumping ect, it happens randomly like when I am in kitchen doing something, or when I sit down to relax or even when tidying the garden. I am just worried it will go a step to far and scare me completely. We have grandchildren and at the moment can't trust her to behave with them. She is a lovely puppy with lots good things but this overshadows them all. She has loads toys inside and out, balls old planters an old drainpipe which she loves too
Sounds to me like you have a fear of dogs which is making this seem like it is so much worse than it really is. I think Luna is seeking attention and doing it the only way she knows how by jumping and biting at you. Do you play fetch with her. if you had a chuck-it you could play for a few minutes and I bet she would settle right down. you could throw in a couple of sits and downs and teach her to stay while you throw the ball too. that way you are working her mind and her body at the same time making the most of your time.
Yes you are correct, I am wary of some dogs but have had dogs my whole life! I adore labs as I love the devotion they give you! Yes today was much better so far, only one grab of hands when she didn't want her harness on.We do practice off things at off times to keep her mind on the go to wear that out .
Hi Base28 I realise it's hard to train a dog, work and manage a household. Young Labs can be a handful. Here a number of things that might be worth trying. 1. Short obedience sessions each and every day. Work on sit stay and down stay, and recall. Make it fun. Short intensive session and reward her with a game of say a ball or frisbee. It does not have to be formal. You can incorporate it in your daily tasks. Command say a down stay while you wash a dish. Make it fun. Reward her. Keep up the obedience training at a club. 2. Teach the dog fetch to expel some of the energy the dog has. You can exploit the recall training in the game of fetch. I'd keep up the walks. But it takes many, many kilometres to tire a young dog. A game of fetch is more physical and will help to exhaust some of her energy.. 3. Rotate the toys rather than leaving them all out. In doing so, you give her a "new' toy each day. Helps to keep her mentally stimulated. 4. Start using a rope tug toy or equivalent to reward her when she does the right thing. Make a game of it. Tug on the rope side to side telling her she's a good girl. When she gets mouthy command her to do something and reward her by playing a game of tug. The idea is to transfer the mouthing onto a safe object. You will need to teach her a 'mine and yours' game so that she releases the tug toy, when she say sits on command while holding the tug toy. Good luck. Let us know how you get on. regards Michael
I know exactly how you feel. My dog is 13 months old now and still has the occasional flip out when he bites my arms and clothes. It is scary and so disappointing because he's made so much progress. He did it yesterday morning out of the blue (perhaps there was something in the air) which is unusual for him (usually it's an evening zoomies related thing). It is a lot less frequent and easier to manage now though, I think he was at his worst aged around 7 to 10 months so hang on in there!
Lots of useful information & support above Training and activities are very helpful. Many labs are extremely boisterous towards the end of the first year and over-excitement often triggers the nipping and bouncing. There's an article on Dog Calming on the main site. I hope you find it helpful
