Hello. I have a 9 month old chocolate male lab. He is in his crate during the day, I walk him about 35 minutes after work and then play fetch in the yard for an additional 15 minutes a day. He gets a kong with frozen peanut butter and a kong treat in the evenings as well. Any time the family tries to sit down to watch tv- around 7:30-9:00 he is absolutely wild. He jumps on us, barks at us and goes crazy zipping around the house. He doesn't listen to anyone in the house except for me and during this time he doesn't even do that. I have started putting him in "timeout" during this phase, but I feel like all I do is put him in time out and take him out for 2 hours. I do a 10 minute training session in the evenings as well. I realize being in his crate all day is not optimal, but we cannot leave him out yet. Any ideas on how to get this barking period to stop. It is very frustrating. He has several bones we try to get him to chew, etc, but to no avail. He just goes CRAZY!!! Overall, he's a good dog. We are doing training classes at our local pet store on the weekends and working on those skills at night. But it seems all goes out the window during this time of day. Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Hello and welcome to the forum. So, just to clarify, does your dog only get a single 35 minute walk and 15 minutes of fetch a day? Dogs, especially young ones, need a lot more mental and physical stimulation than that. How long is he in his crate during the day? It sounds like he's really bored and so desperate for attention and interaction in the evening - just when you want to relax. I think the absolute best thing for everyone would be to get someone in to walk him during the day - at least once, preferably twice. If you can walk him in the morning for 35 minutes or so, then he can have the same once or twice more from someone coming in, then you give him his walk again when you get home from work. If you think about how he must feel; if you were stuck in a crate all day without any mental stimulation and you just had 50 minutes of interaction a day, you'd probably be itching to have more contact, too Another alternative would be doggy day care. It's not really about him being in a crate all day - although that's really bad for joints for any length of time, so I'd encourage you to use a pen instead - as even if he had the run of the house, he'd probably still act the same in the evenings. It's a lack of stimulation he's suffering from. Here's an article about having a Labrador when you work full time: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/should-you-get-a-labrador-if-you-work-full-time/ Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Hi and welcome .I think you answered your own question , he is left in his crate all day and so this is the resulting behaviour I`m afraid . He is a growing lad who needs much more exercise , physical and mentally . Could you have someone come to walk him for you , to break up the day and give him a much needed break ? I think if you could do this ,ideally a couple of times during the day , you would find him much more calm during the evenings .
We are fortunate to have two Labs who sometimes play with each other despite a big age difference. Both have the run of the house and Cooper, the 2-1/2 yr old will sometimes run and play in the yard on her own. I can't imagine what they, especially Cooper, would be like if she spent all day in a crate. When we board them they are in a 5x20 ft pen together and get the run of a 70 acre farm two times a day with a whole herd of gun dogs. They just need some activity and interaction with people and/or dogs. I would strongly recommend looking into doggie day care, at least a few days a week.
where abouts are you? Perhaps someone on the forum could suggest a doggie day care centre or a good dog walker.
Nibbler is also 9months and has the run of the house during the day - he’s been fine- he gets a ( really sniffy) walk in the morning about twenty minutes and then settles easily about the house for the day - going from sofa to his bed and back - always someone in house to let him out in garden at lunchtime but not necessarily with him all day .After his walk at night - just come back in -about 7pm and that is him lying on the sofa now for the rest of the evening. I know all dogs are different but not fair to keep him cooped up in a crate all day. Try a gate for the kitchen at least to give him abit more room.ideally look for daycare or a dogwalker.
my boy is almost a year old. Every night between 5 and 7 he would get very excited and cry and start humping the pillows on the sofa. He started this when he was about 7 months old. Now that he is older he has stopped (thank goodness) much of this behavior. I take him for 3-4 walks a day plus play fetch and chase with him. Sounds like he more exercise during the day plus hopefully he will grow out of it.
