Hello, I'm new to the forum. I have a beautiful 14 week old choc lab puppy who is a delight. I know they bite and nip (particularly with my young kids) but...having spent quite a lot of time on recall we've been v keen to allow her to be off the lead in the local parks etc. She walks beautifully next to us and comes trotting back when we call her however, when she sees another dog she charges up to it. She either plays beautifully and they sniff, chase and that's it or, she starts madly barking at it and then appears to jump on it, growling and nipping. It all looks scarey. I know that puppies are easily excitable but I have had a few comments from various other dog owners in the park saying "oh, she's v confident, usually puppies sit down and cower but not this one". We've got many friends with dogs who tell me not to worry but I can't bare the idea of having an aggressive dog or one that friends can't take for a walk. I've started to keep her on the lead and to only let her off if I see there aren't any dogs ( particularly small ones), which works I think and then I let her off when I have checked with the owner. It was fine until the end of our walk today when she went (barking, growling and jumping on) for another dog who was happily sniffing her. HELP! Is this normal?
Re: Over confident 14 wk puppy Ive had 3 lab pups none of them ever cowered to another dog they just wanted to play. The two I have now are 3 years old now. They, like your pup, would either bounce about playing or bark. I'm afraid I don't have the answer. I just wanted to let you know she's normal. : Oh and ignoring recall from another dog is very common and takes a lot of training to over come for most Labradors. : My two only really socialise off lead with family and friends dogs. Not ideal for socialising in general but we live in the middle of nowhere there aren't parks or places were dogs go off lead. She might have a bark at a dog that will put her in her place though which might teach her some doggy manners. Do you know anybody with an older dog that she can be loose with then if she does over step the mark the older dog will tell her off but it will be in a relatively controlled environment.? Sorry I can't be of more help good luck Jen
Re: Over confident 14 wk puppy 100% normal It is play but it can sound horrendous at times and as jen rightly says , she will get put in her place by an older dog who doesnt appreciate her . My Sam used to love playing with others too , he and Millie play a lot in the garden, but after an encounter with an older one who didnt care for his boisterous attitude, he got the message and learned to approach with respect, all part of growing up
Re: Over confident 14 wk puppy Hi and welcome Harley was 100% like that at that age now at 7 months she usually sits and waits until I ask the owner if she can say hello then say 'go on' or 'come' to her depending on the response from the owner. I do still get the odd time that she will ignore me though :. I continued to keep her off lead if possible as I found this the best way to train her she did get put in her place by one dog which did help as she then knew she couldn't be like that Hope this helps P.S what is pup called? And, we all love photos of pups
Re: Over confident 14 wk puppy Use greetings as an opportunity to start teaching a bit of self control to your pup. First, at home, work on getting your puppy to sit and look at you in response to a cue (any cue...e.g. 'Watch me'). Once your pup is good at that, start using the cue when you see other dogs (at first you will probably need to go back to luring her into a sit with really good treats as the sight of other dogs will be very enticing). Start using a practice of expecting her to sit and look at you for a nice treat before she is allowed to say hello to other dogs. To make this work you'll need to be vigilant to the appearance of other dogs and get her into that sit quickly before they are too close. Keep up the stream of treats to keep her sitting and waiting till you're ready to let her go off. You can also introduce a release word with this type of exercise. Once she's sat and had her treats say a chosen release word ('free' or 'release' or whatever you like) and encourage her to move. What you are eventually aiming for is a dog that will not just rush up to any dog or person but who will sit and wait politely until released (e.g. while you check with the other owner that it's ok to say hello). You can start to build the foundations of this with your puppy
Re: Over confident 14 wk puppy Thanks for the tips - I think my kids tearing around the garden and running up and down the kitchen squealing are over-exciting her - hence the grabbing clothes and snarling. I guess it's taken us by surprise and I found myself thinking that we'd managed to get the only vicious labrador around! Both my husband and I grew up with dogs (him with many labradors) but we never had to manage the puppies - that was always down to the adults, which we are now! She is so obedient however - sitting on command, lying down, rolling over and 'staying' at one end of the kitchen while we put her food down and only moving on command. She is beautiful and lovely. More than anything we want her to be a beloved family member. This forum is brilliant by the way - a god send for a nervous, worried new owner!! Thanks
Re: Over confident 14 wk puppy Hi there! Welcome to the forum. We didn't have a huge problem with the nipping and biting all things considered, but never the less we still felt rather fraught at several items of clothing with rips in them due to a certain labrador pup swinging of them by her teeth - aarrgghhh! It was pretty fraught at the time, but for us, actually quite short-lived. You have my sympathies. [quote author=Naya link=topic=4748.msg58803#msg58803 date=1394045312] P.S what is pup called? And, we all love photos of pups [/quote] Forum rules ;D ;D ;D
Re: Over confident 14 wk puppy Hello and welcome! As you can tell, you are not alone.. many of us have been there, so thrilled to have a wonderful, delightful, gentle little labrador puppy, and then horrified to find her turn into a snarling nipping biting horror!!! Luckily, that phase really doesn't last long. In a couple of weeks your little darling will lose her puppy teeth, and will start learning to be more gentle. Regarding the over-confidence with other dogs: You are very wise to be careful about which dogs your puppy is allowed to play with. However, it is also very important to let her play with as many dogs as possible, since this is when she will learn the doggy socialization 'rules'. Just echoing Jac - you cannot be a proper member until we know your puppy's name and have seen her photo.
