Hi! I’m a new lab owner and my Buddy is 8 months old. He is so wild and due to his size he is so hard to control. It takes him forever to settle down and if we have a visitor that’s it! He just can’t contain himself at all he dives all over them and can’t settle down at all, he jumps up on everyone even on a walk, when I try to put his harness on before a walk or even brush him he goes nuts and thinks it’s all a game, I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong! Can anyone help?
Hi, at 8 moths they are just big puppies. They have not had chance to learn and remember all the rules and everything is so new and exciting. They just want to play. What training are you doing with him, how have you socialised him, how much exercise is he getting ? I found this age the hardest and it needed patience, lots of hard work and a bit of maturity.
Hi Ellie, Welcome to the forum We've got some resources on our main site which might help you too: How To Calm An Over Excited Puppy No More Jumping Up - How To Stop Your Labrador Leaping On People How To Calm Down A Dog - Top Tips For Calm Dogs (this one overlaps with the first one a bit, but there's a great section specifically about 8 month old puppies, with a further link to a brilliant training technique for teaching them to relax!) Good luck - like EDP I found it was one of the hardest stages too, but hang in there and it will pass!
Hi Ellie I completely agree with the other posts that at 8 months your Buddy is still very much in the puppy stage. Labs are wonderful dogs but it takes them quite awhile to mature! One day you may look back at this stage and miss it. Hang in there!
Oh wow I remember that age ! And yes it does pass, honestly What I used to do when I had visitors was put Cassie in another room - we'd be in the kitchen, she'd be in the utility room with a stair gate so she could see people but not jump all over them. I'd wait until her excitement levels had dropped (significantly!!) before letting her out. And initially I'd do that with her on a lead so I could control her a bit more and prevent the jumping up. Training treats to get her to sit was also helpful. She is MUCH better now but still gets super excited initially when we get visitors (or at least she used to, seems like we've been in lockdown so long now I can't remember the last time we had anyone in the house!!), I normally trust her with fit/healthy adults, but with young children or my husband's elderly mother for example, I still closely supervise until I'm sure she's settled, but that's just being sensible I think. Good luck, it will improve !!
