I have a 5 month old chocolate female lab that is taking well to training. She sits on command, does down, touches and has good recall, and is increasing her stay. We moved to a new home a month ago and I am having trouble getting her to settle indoors. I wake up and take her out for a good sniff walk every morning, take her home to feed then take her to run off leash. I crate her two to three hours on the morning and she is very content in her crate. She sleeps soundly or plays with her toys. In the afternoon I do some training, another walk, and often take her to the beach to explore and dig. She is great in the car. She often sleeps or looks out the window. The problem is when we are at home. She is difficult to settle. I’v has some success with bully sticks or stuffed Kongs, but she is constantly jumping up on me, the counter, table, etc. If I ignore her she barks and wants to jump. I reward her when she goes to her pillow and drop treats on the floor when she calms. Her adult teeth are coming in, so she often bites at my arms. I redirect and give her firm commands. I do take her out to see if she needs a walk or bathroom break, but mostly she jumps at me. I turn away and wait for her to settle before giving her attention. I can’t leave her unattended in the garage due to areas that aren’t puppy safe. I try to ignore her in there and sit in a chair reading, but she is constantly jumping up on my lap. I’m at a loss at what to do.
Labradors are very sociable dogs and it sounds like(correct me if I’m wrong)that she is either with you out of the house a lot of the time or would be in her crate in the garage sleeping. She isn’t learning to be around you in the house amusing herself whilst you are doing normal day to day things like cooking/cleaning. Is there a way of sectioning off her sleeping area in the garage that is safe for her to move around in but also leave a door open to say the kitchen where she could wander in to see what you are doing. I have no experience training a dog that lives out of the house but I’m sure someone else has.
Thank you for the suggestions. It has been a few weeks and my puppy’s behaviour has improved. I find if I put a pillow out for her she immediately settles in it. She’ll nap for a while and then come looking for attention. My partner had the wherewithal to give her a bit of love and then go out of range. She settled after she realized we weren’t coming over to her. I guess I had been giving her too much attention. I have set up an area in the garage on rainy days so that she has room to roam, but it isn’t ideal. I think she likes to be in visual contact with us. Her behaviour has much improved though. I guess it all comes with maturity.
