My 11 week lab has finally thawed my older dog who eventually gave in and started to play yippeeee I cried! Unfortunately now puppy barks continuously at our dog to play plus today on first outing to our farm and the other dogs she is doing the same. Not only barking but trying to bite the older dogs to get them to respond. Some advice and tactics required please from you experienced Labrador owners out there. I really don't want an aggressive dog but need help on how to do this as stumped for ideas.
Hello there A very young puppy trying things out - barking, nipping - in order to find out what gets the response it wants from other dogs (or indeed humans) is nothing to be worried about. In order to learn manners, little pups do need to be around other dogs - adult, well socialised, confident, dogs. They also need a bit of time to learn to play with other puppies (but this isn't going to teach them as much as well socialised adults will). So I'd relax, make sure your puppy has appropriate time with other dogs and it will soon learn. Although also make sure that the adults have time away from the puppy so they are not driven to distraction. Also start looking up gentle and appropriate impluse control exercises for your young puppy to do, useful for all puppies, and this might help generally.
Thank you so much JulieT you have definitely reassured me. Could you also tell me what impulse control exercises are?
Impulse control is just as it sounds - training a dog to control its impulses in order to get what it wants. You want this to become a sort of default behaviour, that in order to get what it wants the dog doesn't try to rush in, grab, and act like a maniac. (My dog has maniac tendencies but has got much, much better ). Obviously, in older dogs impulse control is trained to a very high degree (a spaniel able to stop hunting on cue for example) but in young puppies you just want to start with very basic things (some of which you might already be doing but not recognise it). So wait for things - look at you before it gets things it wants - back away from food and so on. Then a bit later it's a default wait before going through a door, getting out of a car....and critically, before going to say hello to another dog. Just take it in really small steps at first, a tiny puppy doesn't have much impulse control at all of course. Here is an easy one to start with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztRNfyErf8s
My pup barked at the other dogs to try getting them to play on his first day a daycare. He was only 4 months old and I was told that if he did it next time he wouldn't be allowed to return. As he hadn't done this before I asked what I could do to help. I was told to get a behaviourist in or use an e-collar and if that didn't work, get his vocal cords removed!!!!!!!!! The chap said that every time he tried to get my pup he thought it was a game and kept running away. I was horrified, not sent my pup back to there and never will. Now if he barks to play with other dogs, I turn and walk away, do some distraction and return, sometimes I can distract him on the spot by doing a sit or down or both. He has learnt to leave food, treats and is getting really good at leave it with objects on the ground when out on walks. I think my way is better than the other advice I was given.
Newbie Lab Owner, what a shocking daycare!!!! Not qualified to be in business with dogs. How clueless. Northfarm, the older dogs will train your pup S/he will learn that continuous barking gets no response and is a waste of time. You can speed up the learning by putting your pup on lead for a few minutes of 'time out' from play. Basically, either way, your pup will learn that barking is useless or actually leads to a removal of play opportunities. It will diminish with time. My dog, who we got at 9 months, used to bark constantly to try to initiate play. He eventually realised that it just doesn't work. Dogs do not respond to such a noisy and rude invitation. He never does it any more and is actually now one of the more sedate dogs in a group off-lead situation.
It's a well recommended daycare where I live, obviously I won't be recommending them or using them again.
