My wife and I have Booger, a Lab/unknown mix who looks almost pure Lab, and Bitsy, his smaller sister/litter mate who is Lab/Shepherd mix. They are a fun bunch but it seems as if I have some reading to do here to correct their behavior. They can be together all day but when let out of their area, Booger will try to run all over Bitsy. They sleep in our bedroom at night in their own kennel. Yet, if I let Bitsy out first, she will wait outside the bedroom door for Booger and they will rumble. Bitsy, almost 40 pounds, will stand up to Booger who is almost 70 pounds. When I say "stand up" I mean they will be standing up hugging each other like two bears fighting. Booger has also learned not to touch Bitsy's food bowl and turns into a submissive wimp, afraid to come near her food when she is eating. They, especially Booger, get very hyper when they see us coming to greet them in their fenced in area. Oh, did I mention they used to have 70x20 foot fenced in area but now have 20x15? This is because our backyard has very little grass left, the door frame around the back door has been eaten as high as they could reach, some of the wooden siding has been eaten, and the gutter drains have been chewed to pieces! We finally found a dog-proof dog door but now in their new area they can't get to the house nor eat it! We are now in the process of reclaiming our back yard! It's a struggle to walk them with any leash and I don't use a choke collar as they will lurch and hurt themselves. They do handle a prong collar well but are smart enough to know when it's on or off them. They love to ride in my Jeep more than anything. Yes, I have a Dirty Dog brand cargo net so they can't get out. These critters are so much fun but we got to get them trained. Dog obedience class didn't help much. They are pretty good with "sit" and "down" and we are working on "stay." We play with them daily till they are worn out, mostly by chasing balls. We are trying to find a trainer will will come to our house. Wish us luck, lol!
Hello and welcome to the forum. It sounds like your dogs are bored, which is what is causing their destructive behaviour. I understand it's a cultural difference, but in the UK we generally don't leave our dogs outside unattended. How old are they? You've already found the limitations of the prong collar - which we would never advocate on this forum (please look through the rules to see under what terms they may be discussed) - as you are really not training your dogs to walk well, simply to avoid the pain associated with pulling while wearing. If the collar isn't on, the dog will revert to pulling. I have three Labs, two adults and one nearly seven-month puppy, all who walk well on their flat collars 90%+ of the time, taught using only kind methods and no "corrections" (punishment). You might like to consider changing your method, as you're really not training by relying on a tool.
Welcome to the forum How old are Booger and Bitsy? Regarding a prong collar, the best way to train a dog (that already pulls) to walk nicely on leash is going to be with a back fastening harness. This won't stop them from pulling, but it will stop them from hurting themselves while you're training them. Switching from a device that restricts pulling (prong collar), to a back fastening harness, is definitely going to be a case of "it gets worse before it gets better", but it really is the only way you can go about it. As you say, they know the difference between when they have the prong collar on and when they don't, so it really isn't something you want to be relying on. Have you read this article? http://www.thelabradorsite.com/walking-your-labrador-on-a-loose-lead/ I'm currently in the process of teaching my lab (11 months old, strong male) to walk nicely, it's not easy by far! But it is really important to do. There are a lot of knowledgeable members here who I'm sure can give you really helpful advice. What's a typical day like for Booger and Bitsy? As in, what's their schedule? It sounds like they need a lot more stimulation during their day, and are hyper and destructive because of it.
Think what you'd be like if you were stuck in a room (or enclosure) for extended periods with no TV, books, or anything to stimulate your mind. I'm sure you'd very soon start picking at the wallpaper, digging holes etc. Anything to occupy yourself. Labs are bred to work and problem-solve, so giving them jobs to do is the way forwards to preventing boredom. Even if that's just learning "tricks", they'll get so much out of it and it will wear their brains out. At the moment, I'm teaching my puppy "middle", where she runs to me from wherever she is and positions herself between my legs. Is it something we need? Nope. But it's a fun trick and she's enjoying learning it. Physical exercise alone won't necessarily help with any boredom - you'll just end up with dogs that are fit and who then need more exercise to tire them out! Throwing balls endlessly is mindless and really bad for their joints, so I'd stop doing that (not entirely, just to excess - a few throws each walk is enough). If your dogs love the ball, use it as a reward for doing something good. Walked for ten paces to heel off the leash? Great, you get to chase the ball. My lot never get a ball for free (except when I leave them with my DH ), it's always earned and is a very powerful reinforcer. Learning how to teach your dogs effectively will help you to train opposing behaviours which makes it impossible to do the thing you don't like. Instead of trying to stop your dog, for example, jumping on visitors, you teach him to sit to greet. Instead of him begging when you're eating, you teach him to sit on his bed at meal times. Instead of trying to correct the pulling, you need to refocus into actually training him to walk on a loose leash. Sometimes the difference is subtle, but it's about focussing on teaching not correcting.
Welcome to the forum from me, Hattie 9 years and our rescue dog Charlie 6 years. Couldn't agree more with the advice you have been given. Change to positive methods of training so bin the prong collar because they don't work. As well as enough physical exercise have you thought about maybe doing some clicker training with your dogs? You can teach dogs all kinds of tricks for fun and for important things too. Lots of information on the forum to get you started. Charlie was a very difficult dog when we adopted him but clicker training him really helped with his behaviour as he is a clever boy and he soaks it up and enjoys it so much. You could do scent work as your dogs are Lab/Shepherd they would love it, again my boy excels at it. Again lots of information on the forum. Dogs need to be stimulated to use their brains and they love it. Give it a go and you will see the difference in their behaviour and bond with you
Thanks all for the comments. Booger and Bitsy are 1 year 4 months old. Just to clarify, I have rarely used the prong collar, just noting that they know when it's on so it's basically useless for training. I have used a harness where the lead fastens at the back. Booger will pull my 215 pounds all over the place with that one. The type I use mostly is the one that fastens at the center of his chest. This type is the best one so far but Booger will still leap and pull even with me trying to distract him. I'm 6'3" and he can jump higher than I am tall! My wife really would like to do agility training with Bitsy as she is so fast. I'd like to do tracker training with Booger. My wife and I both work but Karen is a teacher so will be off for the summer in a few days. Usually, we play with them after we get home. Even though they now have a smaller area, they both have sun decks on their dog houses, a tire, and a pull toy hanging from a rope. We will be adding other things for them to play with over the summer. We're looking forward to more training!
Hello from me & Coco - a German Shepherd x Labrador. He is very strong and pulled like crazy when we got him, aged 16 months. I've face-planted on a number of occasions. It's been a long journey, but we walk well on a lead now, with a back fastening harness. We did a lot of practice, while not actually going anywhere.
