Pup alone maybe 5 hours a week average. Thanks for articles see some good tid bits but not digested the link info yet. When alone pup chewed everything in cage to a hundred pieces will not tolerate being alone! But sleeps in cage nicely at night with us. Has now destroyed 2 metal cages so doors not functioning and doors had to be bent and aligned to close properly.
Probably will not post here again tried to be positive for a day or two but the pup antics today is the last draw truly am done now. D
Oh dear that’s a shame. She is at the most challenging age, it does settle with maturity. Could you try some doggy day care to give yourself a break, then figure out a way forward ?
It sounds as though you feel you have come to then end of the road. If you are thinking of rehoming your dog, here is an article to help you work out your options: Rehoming Your Dog. I hope you find it helpful
Thank you for this thread. Its been really useful. I am a new member and recently brought home a beautiful Choc Lab, Ada. Ada is 12 weeks old and believes my fingers are an extension of her toys. I'm certainly relieved to hear that her traits are perfectly normal . I'm finding the worst is the evenings and this sudden burst of energy. Next week we can take her out so I'm hoping the burst of energy will be tackled through a small late evening walk? Take care all. Michelle
Doing command training helps me redirect my pup out of those super energy moods. Simple commands work well (come, sit, down). It seems like finding something to focus on helps calm him down.
well back....pup has had a stay in deportation so far but one of us here must always be here or off to doggy day care the destruction of cages and house and yard unbelievable if left alone.
Getting a lab through puppyhood is a two year challenge. When my 13 year old choc lab died, I didn’t wait long to get a puppy because I knew it would take two years to get the dog I wanted, so best to start getting the puppy work over as soon as possible. I’m retired and it’s just him and I for 95% of the day, so I’m nothing but devoted to his training. Even still, it took 6 months to get him housebroken. I have a house lead on him so I can get things away from him he shouldn’t have (like the book of matches he was eating tonight ), and I can hook it to a doorknob to contain him while I do something that takes my attention off of him. He’s seven months now, so I only have another year and a half to go.
Latest pup chewed up couch and was only left for ten minutes. Read somewhere on the web it is your fault if anything left out for pup to chew. How the heck do you put everything six feet up in the air or more? Cages (2) destroyed or she would have been in one. Lets see 25 a day for day care or a couch um....or a tougher cage for $600 and reports some break out of those cages. Deportation looks a lot better of late ! Done
I don’t know what you mean by deportation but at that age my dog didn’t have access to anything she could destroy. I think they are very chewy at this age as their teeth maybe back teeth are coming through. It passes. Meg didn’t have access to a couch, we had a child gate on the living room door and she didn’t go in for quite some months. We had a gate on the kitchen door too, so she couldn’t get to the counters and under our feet whilst cooking. Some use house lines/leads as @katsme described . We worked hard with her training, distracting and being patient with her...she came through this challenging phase and is a delight. It took work, but it was worth it.
I do not see this pup doing anything because of teeth really it appears tantrum spite and fun and games. She would eat through a rein if not wire and try to do so with that. Have gate so she does not get out of sight but would scratch doors to death and other confinements if presented must have her way and be where she wants. Was hoping a bad dream but it is not. I am permanently grounded to home at this time if we keep her. I have not really seen an indication that anything is a no to her only a challenge to do it. Done
I do not see this pup doing anything because of teeth really it appears tantrum spite and fun and games. She would eat through a rein if not wire and try to do so with that. Have gate so she does not get out of sight but would scratch doors to death and other confinements if presented must have her way and be where she wants. Was hoping a bad dream but it is not. I am permanently grounded to home at this time if we keep her. I have not really seen an indication that anything is a no to her only a challenge to do it. Done
I think part of where you are going wrong is you say you aren’t interest in paying for training. The training will help you understand your dog better and teach you techniques to distract her. You need to build a better relationship with her. Saying “no” to unacceptable behaviour is not the answer. There are so many articles on the Labradorsite that will help you understand the mind of an intelligent labrador. They need mental stimulation as much as anything. You keep threatening to rehome your dog. If that is the case do it sooner rather than later so someone can work with her to be the best dog she can be.
Hello, just signed up to the forum. My wife and I have a 3 month old Silver Labrador, her name is Blue. We got her when she was 2 months old. i signed up just to read peoples experience and journey with their labs. We decided to get a lab because We’ve always heard nothing but great things about them. My wife and I both work Monday-Friday from 8-5. Luckily I work 3 miles away. So I come home at lunch time to play with her and walk her. She’s alone from 8am-12pm, and from 130pm-5pm Monday-Friday. We’ve decided to let her roam around the living room, dining room, and kitchen area while we’re away at work. We puppy proof certain things and we close our guest bathroom and our bedroom door. Surprisingly, and I do mean surprisingly, she behaves so well. She hasn’t torn or damaged anything. She has many many toys and we leave the tv on for her and the blinds open. She did chew the corner of the rug a bit but i guess she got bored of it because she hasn’t done it anymore. She does sleep in her cage at night. The cage is next to our bed. The past 2 weeks she sleep la from 10pm-6am without waking up. I wake up at 6 and take her out and we start our day. She did cry and wake up several times throughout the night the first 2 weeks we got her. My ONLY hassle with her is that she pees in the house hopefully she stops that soon because I’m tired of cleaning pee. Besides that, we’re very happy with her. She’s super sweet and loving and we can see why people love dogs so much haha. Any tips or advice anyone wants to give me, I’d appreciate it. Thanks!
The problem with weeing in the house is down to the amount of time she is left on her own and having the run of the house. She needs letting out more regularly in the early months and confined maybe to one or two rooms with hard floors that can be disinfected. Her scent will now encourage her to wee again in that spot. Look at the articles on potty training and crate training on the Labradorsite. You have been lucky so far with the destruction but once she needs to sleep less you will find she gets bored during those 8 hours(or you may continue to be very lucky!) Let us know how it goes.
That’s what I figured. Hopefully the older she gets, the more she’ll be able to hold it and understand to wee outside. Because when we’re at home in the evenings and on the weekends she’ll never wee at home because we’re constantly taking her out. And at night night time she won’t wee at all in her cage, she’ll sleep a good 7hours without having to go. it’s just during the day when we’re away at work and she has the run of the house is when she’ll wee and not hold it. That’s for the tips!!
