Hello, My 11-month old female-spayed lab has had some behavior changes recently. She has started to become much more clingy and vocal. She has also started to be more mouthy and is getting more worked up. She goes to training regularly and understands and listens to commands well. And she does not have any underlying health issues. Overall, she just seems to be more restless recently. Has anyone else experienced this with their labs at this age?
Hi @rweiske what you describe is pretty standard fare for an adoloscent Lab. Definitely keep up the obedience training. i would be inclined to do some training between her obedience classes, which demands a bit more mental stimulation. Perhaps start teaching her targeting with a target stick. You can transfer the targeting to a basic skill such as closing doors. Dogs love targeting, even if you confine the exercise just to the target stick. And for the physical side, start teaching retrieve, and move to teaching recall on a long line. I don't know what you mean by vocal. If you mean she is leaking, then maybe she is frustrated, or perhaps bored. The training suggested above will be beneficial.
Has she come into season yet? Sometimes behaviour changes around adolescence are a sign of an impending season...
