I'm at my wits end with my dog Teddy, he's been really hard work from day one from weeing in the kitchen for months, digging holes, chewing everything, eating poo, picking up stones, jumping on dogs, jumping up people, biting us etc, etc, the list is endless. I didn't socialise him enough as a puppy and he doesn't get let off the lead as I've had lots of problems with him so now he's jumping up us on a walk and bitey our arms and hands etc, he's seeing a behaviourist whos good but very busy and he's just been castrated as he was humping stuff all the time, really bouncy and after bitches. I usually do training with him inside, I don't use a bowl to feed him he has it in a snack, kong or treat ball. He only had his stitches out today but I'm exhausted as feel like I have no control over him and can't start outside training with the behaviourist for recall, socialisation and lead training until he stops jumping up and biting myself and older children. Any suggestions welcome please
Hello, I am not a behaviourist so hopefully one of the experts on here will chime in. 14 months is a challenging age, basically you have a puppy in a big dog exterior. Labs don’t mature really until nearer 2, I would say. However, you are now living the reality of a pup that was under stimulated and not socialised in those early days. The behaviours you describe are often due to frustration and boredom, lack of mental as well as physical stimulation. You now are in a chicken and egg situation in that you can’t train outside as you can’t manage him, but he needs to be trained around distractions or else he will never learn to adjust around distractions. He also would benefit from a good run about off the lead, to release some energy to the let him focus. Could you hire a safe enclosed space somewhere, or find a field where he could have a zoom about without distractions, so he could burn some energy off. Then perhaps you could try a walk with low volume of distractions but some distractions, maybe before a meal and take a very high level treat with you. Warm chicken or smelly sardines or something, then when someone walks by you get him to sit and get his epic treat. You could even set up a situation with your friends, people and dogs to do this exercise. I think what I am trying to say is he won’t stop jumping up and biting you (seeking attention) until he gets out into the real world. If I was nearer I would bring a Meg over to do some distractions for you. He sounds lovely, I hope you can fathom a way forward for him soon. Keep us posted. Emma.
Hi As Edp says it is a challenging age. If you have recently had him castrated it takes a while for hormones to settle down. It isn’t instant. I don’t understand why need to wait for your dog to stop jumping for the behaviourist to start the training Surely they are there to help with all scenarios. If he/ she didn’t give you many pointers the first time round try someone else. Stick with it. Things will soon calm down with the right amount of stimulation. Have a look at scent training too. That tires them out without the physical excitement.
It took a few weeks post-surgery for hormone changes but we saw a big difference in our boy at 12 months. He too was a big humper, still is a bit when over-excited, but nowhere near as bad as he was. He'd hump cushions, his bed, toys, even doormats 7-11 months. Only occasionally humping these days at 2 1/2. Behaviourist was great but did say Lab pups weren't their favourite breed in classes because they're often 'over-excitable & a distraction to the other pups'
