Hello, only just joined the forum so be gentle! We have a 6 month old labrador, he is a pedigree pup whose parents were both working dogs and field trial champions. He now lives is a terraced house with a small yard. He eats everything, if he sees it, it will go in his mouth. He destroys his bedding and swallows eat, eats stones, sticks, glass, sponges. We try and keep everything out of reach of him but the garden has alot of gravel in. Do all lab puppies eat stones and anything else they see, we have tried training this out of him but nothing seems to work. He also digs, not just in the garden but also in the walls and the floors, we stop him when we see him doing it but alot of the time he will do it when we aren't there. He has also become very snappy recently, if you try and move them away from something his head will flick round and snaps his jaw together. He also gets quite a snarl on at times and lunges at your hands, often this is during play but also when trying to stop him from doing something he shouldn't be. Is all this normal behaviour you would expect from a 6 month old dog?
Re: Is my Puppy normal? [quote author=Nick_V link=topic=4937.msg61694#msg61694 date=1395154511] Hello, only just joined the forum so be gentle! [/quote] Oh dear - have we got ourselves a reputation? ;D Seriously, I am not very experienced, but a lot of dogs go through phases such as you describe from what I can tell, and most grow out of a lot of these behaviours. How exactly are you responding to the bad behaviours? What type of training techniques have you used - a rap across the nose, angry voice, clicker? Just wondering what you have been trying up to now. Oh....and[size=10pt] Welcome to the Forum[/size]! Jac
Re: Is my Puppy normal? Pretty much, yes. Lab pups are very mouthy, but all pups investigate their world through their mouths, just like small children do. I try very hard not to ever take anything away from a puppy, as this encourages them to swallow what they've got (so you can take it away from them). If I really do have to remove something from them, then I swap it for a higher value reward. If they volunteer to come and show me something, then often I'll tell them how wonderful they are while they are holding the item and if they give it to me willingly, I then give it back to them, so they can see I'm the "Giver of All Good Things" not the "Taker Away". He sounds frustrated. He's just found something he considers a prize and then you come along to take it away, so he is now guarding it. It is a perfectly natural reaction, although an unwanted one, so try the swapping for something better routine. Get his attention and thrown him a biscuit or a tasty treat, so he has to let go of his prize voluntarily.....and praise him for letting go. If you are all Take and no Give, you can easily create a problem with the dog either guarding any prized items or swallowing them.
Re: Is my Puppy normal? Hi and welcome to the forum I've been lucky in the fact that Harley isn't a chewer, but I have 4 crater size holes in my garden :. She doesn't dig inside though. When she digs outside I distract her with a fun game or hide and seek or find the treat......these usually work and she forgets about digging. If she does pick something up she's not allowed, I swap for a high value treat just as Jules says. Chewing stones etc is quite normal and I have been assured it does stop eventually. Good luck
Re: Is my Puppy normal? Lab's are notorious "eaters", they'll eat just about anything! Our new pup Mella (15 weeks now) will try to eat just about anything, loves flowers and moss. So far she has survived.
Re: Is my Puppy normal? Hello! Welcome! [quote author=Nick_V link=topic=4937.msg61694#msg61694 date=1395154511] swallows eat, eats stones, sticks, glass, sponges. We try and keep everything out of reach of him but the garden has alot of gravel in. Do all lab puppies eat stones and anything else they see, we have tried training this out of him but nothing seems to work. He also digs, not just in the garden but also in the walls and the floors, we stop him when we see him doing it but alot of the time he will do it when we aren't there. [/quote] I don't think it's normal for a dog to swallow stones, glass etc on a regular basis. My boy will pick these things up, but spits them out. It's completely normal for labradors to eat anything that is actually edible though. There is an article here that covers some of your points. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/why-do-labradors-eat-rubbish/
Re: Is my Puppy normal? [quote author=JulieT link=topic=4937.msg61713#msg61713 date=1395160996] I don't think it's normal for a dog to swallow stones, glass etc on a regular basis. [/quote] No I don't think it's normal behaviour either. I think it's a totally understandable behaviour though, if the pup has had stuff constantly taken away from it. I've not had a swallower myself, even though all my pups have picked up, carried around and played with pebbles, socks, mud, anything else they can get in their mouths, but I do know of a good few others who swallow non food items, thanks probably to their early training.
