Hi! I am so glad I found this board. I have read so much and feel so much better. Our yellow lab "Walker" will be 5 months on Monday. He is a maniac! We have done puppy class and he graduated about 3 weeks ago. He is so perfect in his class and when we visit the store the second he sees his trainer he sits and is perfect. At home is a different story. He is still crazy with biting us but we are very consistent with turning away, saying no bite, redirecting or putting him in his crate. He is losing teeth left and right so hopefully we will see a difference with that behavior soon. He is finally potty trained, something I thought I would never say. My concern is how he is with my grandchildren. They are 2 1/2 & 11 months. He gets very excited when anybody comes over and we normally keep him on his leash. If my boys friends come over he is normally pretty good. But with the little ones he goes right at them to bite them. What is the best way to work with this? I can't take the chance of him hurting them. I know he isn't doing it out of aggression, he is still a baby too. But is this something he will outgrow one day and be ok with them and we need to just wait until he starts calming down more. Or is there something we can be doing to help him be more gentle with them? Heck I'm hoping sometime soon he will be more gentle with me. lol
Re: New to this site Welcome to the forum! And I can certainly identify with what you're going through. Edsel is a little over 18 weeks and has just started nipping and chewing again, a result of all the new teeth coming in I'm sure. Sounds like Walker also gets very excited by the kiddos. Edsel is mad about children and is working on his manners there. I have 2 nephews, older than your grandchildren, and he started out quite crazy when first seeing them. We kept him on lead when greeting them until he had settled down and each new meeting became progressively calmer. He was able to greet them off lead finally about a week ago. Hopefully with time, repeated opportunities to greet and a little more self control it'll be easier. Make sure and share some pics of Walker! Love to see the puppies! Lori & Edsel
Re: New to this site Hi there, and welcome to the forum Young labradors need a lot of supervision around tiny children, simply because they are exuberant and not very aware of what they are bumping into. You really need two adults present when the dog and very small kids are together, one to supervise the children, and one to restrain the puppy. You need to have a good supply of treats and feed the puppy or use a rawhide chew and hold one end whilst he gnaws at the other. The idea is to keep his attention on you and not on the children. He needs to believe that the presence of the children means interaction with you. Obviously this is pretty intense and you'll want a break from time to time. Baby gates or a crate for the puppy will give you some respite from the constant supervision. There is a lot of information on biting on the main site, check out this article
Re: New to this site Hi and welcome Harley is nearly 11 months old can can still be a bit 'exuberant' when my goddaughter visits (she's nearly 1). I always make sure she's on her lead so I can control her. She is always a bit excited whenever we have visitors so we spend a few mins out of the room (such as in the garden or kitchen) playing together or getting a big chew. This usually distracts her til she calms down I used to use her crate when she got too excited to calm her down. With my 4 year old nephew, I have taught him to turn away from her (I stand next to him) and he tells her to sit and uses the hand signal. She now responds really well to him and will give up her toys to him without asking I'm sure you will find a way
Re: New to this site Hello from 9 month old Molly and me. I also have visiting Grandchildren and understand your situation. Very soon the biting will stop. Molly grew out of it at about 5 months. She had been awful. I despaired of her,then one day I found myself stroking a silky ear without being nibbled. The problem with Labrador puppies is that they are big bouncy creatures that want to be every bodies friend and don't yet understand that humans don't like being bounced on. It is very easy for a Labrador to weigh more than the child it is trying to play with. I always greet my Grandchildren with Molly on a house line. She is now calming down to a degree and my seven year old sturdy Grandson is allowed to come close and ask for her paw. She duly presents it and he sits on the floor holding it and stroking it much to both of their delight. I let them play in the garden together. I am always present and I leave the house line on so I can intervene if it becomes necessary. My younger Grandchild is a three year old girl who would simply be knocked flying by a bouncing Molly, wether it is aggression or not is immaterial the result is the same. I keep Molly on the house line the whole time she is visiting. We have developed a game for them to play. I put Alicia behind the stair gate with a bowl of frozen peas and she throws them for Molly to find. There's lots of shouting and "it's behind you" and great fun is had by all. I chose a Labrador because they are supposed to be very good with children. As you say there is no aggression. I know we will get there I the end and she will be an asset to their childhood, but being large friendly dog I think the situation will need very careful handling for sometime to come.
Re: New to this site Thank you all for the warm welcome! Isn't it so funny how we all feel we have a crazy puppy to find out that others are living the same craziness? Walker is so very sweet when he is sleeping. lol let me see if I can figure out how to post a picture. His cuteness saves him from big trouble most days. lol Kim
Re: New to this site It can be a big comfort to learn that the craziness is both normal and not permanent Welcome to the forum!!
Re: New to this site Hi there,welcome to the forum Your puppy sounds great so cute sitting when he sees his trainer.my niece and nephew were 2 and 4 when Dexter was 5-6 months.. This stage will stop but it does take a lot of management,we handled it how has already been advised and we were like broken records telling the kids not to run in the house ( they shouldn't have been anyway : to up get him all revved up.i know your visitors are a little younger but we always made sure that they never went in his crate ( they were a couple of times they thought it was a good idea but we were watching them) and that they never shut themselves in with him behind the gate in his little room off our kitchen.Those rules still stand today ;D
Re: New to this site No advice - just wanted to say hello. I've got an almost-10 month old puppy, but no grandchildren yet.
Re: New to this site Hello there! Welcome to the forum! From another owner of a maniac hooligan lab! Slightly unbelievably, my hooligan dog is fine with kids in the house and garden (I'm not smug, he's pretty terrible at everything else : ). I put it down to having a puppy minder who brought her kids with her and established the ground rules with him, consistently, from 8 weeks. So I'd say even the excitable hooligan ones can learn to behave around kids. Just keep being consistent and clear, and before you know it you'll have a more grown up and sensible dog (although I'm still waiting for that generally and he's 15 months now : ).
Re: New to this site from a teeny tiny black 5 1/2 year old Lab known as The DivaDog and her pet human
