Hi! our 7.5 month old adopted chocolate lab joined our family this week and while our live now feels complete, I have to admit our collective stress levels have sky rocketed. Our previous lab was adopted as well and we were so blessed to have a "ready-trained" 6yo angel who just wanted to cuddle all the time. This is the first time we have had to train a puppy and are hitting some road blocks. To be honest, I'm worried that any wrong step may lead us to have ... well an unadjusted or problematic lab and this is causing a few sleepless nights. Any advice would be very much appreciated. 1. Our puppy Tobie is right smack in his "mouthy" stage. How do you tell when it is playful biting or real aggression? Each time we try to reach behind her ear to her collar (or even in her ear for cleaning), she swings her head around snapping. Should we just ignore this? 2. Also, my husband works from home some days but there are days when Tobie has to be home alone for about 5 hours a day - because of this we aren't able to monitor him constantly and are having problems housebreaking him (we've read all the materials on housebreaking and how it is necessary to monitor the puppy constantly until he is housetrained). Any advice on housebreaking for families that can't constantly keep tabs on the dog? It doesn't help that he has certain pre-trained inclinations that we are trying to retrain. Is he too old to place him in a playpen area when we are away (75cm by 75 cm enclosure for a 7.5 mth lab?) 3. Here is the one that has been bothering me the most - Do you think that it will affect our pup if he is put outside to sleep at nights (please dont worry - we have a covered, breezy, porch /deck area with shelter, water etc. everything he needs to be physically comfortable). My husband is pretty old school about this and I cant convince him to let Tobie sleep with us. Tobie seems to be handling this ok (after trying to get back in for the first 1 minute, there is no barking or whining when he is put out and when we wake up in the morning we find him on his bed ready to greet the day with all the energy in the world). Our previous dog slept outside and would even walk herself out when she was tired and wanted to go to bed earlier. I have probably been through the whole internet and read that it's "emotionally unhealthy" for labs to have to sleep away from its family... Am I making my puppy anxious? I'm hoping for some alternative views ? Thanks so much to whoever replies. We are obviously new to this but am so in love with the newest addition to our family. He is all I can think about now a days (which explains why I am typing away on a labrador forum at 1am on a workday)! We just want to do it right but do have some of our constraints - Most grateful for thoughts and advice on the above. xxx
Welcome to you! This site is full of excellent advice - well worth reading, as are all the books shown on the right! ---------> Here is a good article about play - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/#playing-safely (My Twiglet is 7.5 months old, so I know just what you mean!) I don't know about sleeping outside - I presume you are not in the UK? It's FAR too cold here!
Welcome! I think others here will give you better advice than me (I am a novice) but I just wanted to say hello. You will find lots of great stuff here - this forum saved my sanity many many times when our yellow boy Pongo arrived with us as a little pup two years ago! Do browse around it. And I love the name Tobie! Rosie (and Pongo)
Warm welcome from me and my two dogs . Re the biting/mouthing , this is very rarely actual aggression in a puppy , merely part of development , annoying though it is My current Lab thankfully didn't go through this stage but my last Lab did , and it truly isn't funny at all , if you have a look at the sticky topics in the puppy section , you should get help, but it will pass ! Sleeping out , depends on where you are, if in the UK , I wouldn't let a puppy sleep out unless you had a heated kennel with raised sleeping area and even then, I would be wary in such cold weather . If you are able to purchase the book , The Happy Puppy Handbook , written by the owner of this forum and website , you will find much support and help in a wonderful format, it is available on Amazon .
Welcome from me and Ripple - an 8 month chocolate lab. He was very bitey as a tiny puppy and is going through another bitey and very boisterous stage. I've received loads of brilliant advice on the forum and I hope you'll find it very helpful too.
Hi and welcome, my boy is 7 months old and does sometimes get a bit bitey with me. He did stop this at about 4 months old but then he hit 6.5 months and started again, not as bad as when he was younger. I just quietly pick him up and put him in his crate for a timeout as anything else he thinks is an extension of his game. Mine definitely sees it as part of a game and is learning it's not how to play with me. As for sleeping outside, I live in the UK and it's far too cold. He does however sleep in a large crate downstairs.
Welcome to the forum I have also adopted a teenage Labrador who was supremely mouthy and bitey, and a bunch of other things. I understand the slightly shell shocked feeling! Our dog grabbed us with his mouth in play. He wanted attention and games. So when he used his mouth we stopped the game and walked away. Sometimes this involved shutting a door between us and him. We'd wait 10-30 seconds then return. This cured the play mouthing. Also we were at the same time training him to respond well to sit and drop (lie down) cues so we could use those cues to get him to do something that was incompatible with jumping and mouthing. If he's grabbing your hand when you reach for his collar or head then I'd also work on teaching him that it's a good thing to have hands come near his collar or head. He's probably learned in the past that it's a bad thing (collar might have been grabbed hard) and so he may be trying to discourage you from reaching there. So step 1 is to never grab at his collar or to make a fast move near his head. The next thing to do is use treats to show him that hands near his head are good. Do this when he's already calm and snoozy. Have a bunch of treats ready and make the world's tiniest movement towards his head. Toss him a treat a millisecond after (doesn't matter if the treat falls to the floor). Repeat, making a slightly closer movement, and toss the treat. Over a number of sessions work up to lightly touching him on the chest, under the chin and on the collar - always followed by a treat. Gradually work up to being able to reach behind his head. If he mouths your hand, you went too far, too fast. Eventually he'll realise that your hand approaching is ok, that he's supposed to not mouth your hand and that it's better (treat reward) if he doesn't mouth. Have you read about using a clicker or marker in training?
Hello there, and welcome to the forum Lots of dogs - working dogs, gundog, and some pets - sleep in suitable kennels outside overnight. It's not an unusual thing to do. It isn't what I want for my dog, he sleeps next to me on my bed, which is what I want and he wants. I'd say of course dogs want to sleep with their humans, they are social pack animals. But lots of dogs do manage not doing this. So long as you are really sure that his physical needs are met and he is not too hot, or too cold, etc. I assume you are not in the UK? I would say 75cm by 75cm is far too small an area for a 7.5month old Labrador. When I left my puppy in a puppy pen (I work) so he could move away from his bed to pee or poo on newspapers, he was in an area about 1m by 2m. Now, as an adult, he is in a pen of 2m by 3m.
Mine all sleep in the house. I like and so do they. i'd worry about it being too cold for a puppy. I also worry about the cold as they got older. colds not good for old bones.
Hi And Welcome , Well done for adopting a teenager. we adopted Poppy at 7 months and it has been a wild ride. we got her used to a crate it took a while but that is where she stays when we are out and during the night. ( I don't think i would have a house left if i didn't. ) You find find some great advice advice and support here. My OH is also old school but poppy has worked her magic, also he has watched me and has seen that the methods that i use ( Pippas Book Is Fab) The modern method of training is quicker and kinder. Liver cake and sardines are gold in our house. Stay Patience and calm . Good luck
Welcome to the forum, Chrissy and Tobie! Just remember that everything is new for Tobie right now and it will take some time until you all feel completely relaxed with each other. Right now everything is new for him, and it will take time for him to learn all the things you want. Do you know what his background is, and why he was given up? Sometimes that can help you understand why a dog reacts the way it does. Personally I wouldn't want my dog sleeping outside even if the weather allowed it, as I would be too afraid he/she might get stolen, but lots of dogs do live outside perfectly happily. It depends on your situation, and also on the individual dog.
Thanks so much for all the responses! You guys are such much needed support! It's been a trying time and today was a particularly rough day. We let Tobie have free reign of the house today and he tore it apart. When husband came home; Tobie was still destructive and when husband tried to drag Tobie to his time out room; he apparently started growling and snapping when he reached for Tobie's collar (I hope that this is just puppy play and not aggression). I guess we will have to start using the playpen. Sorry, I meant to say in my initial post that the playpen was 8 panels of 75cm by 75cm - according to the box that comes up to about 23 sq feet (the biggest available in the store)- Any advice on playpens for doggie-teens? Is it too late not that he had been given full access to the house previously. I'm currently living in sunny Thailand so the sheltered deck outside (where Tobie sleeps at night) is actually the coolest / breeziest place in the house. However, I guess I just feel very guilty that he can't be let in our room. Thanks again for all the replies. It feels very comforting to know it's not just our Tobie that is Mr Destructive!
Sorry for harping on this - if Tobie sleeps through the night without barking / whining - Can I take it that he is, for the most part, ok with the arrangement? After being put out, he does walk around and chew a few plants but soon goes to his bed to play with his chew toy and then sleep. Would it be too disruptive if we do a one-night trial in our room? Also - he is starting to chew-off little pieces of his chew toy. The pet store assistant has told me that this is fine ... please let me know if otherwise. Most grateful for all your patience with my queries!
I'd say dragging a dog by his collar while the dog is resisting being dragged is a really good way to get a dog to growl and snap - I wouldn't imagine he was playing, your dog was probably scared. It's a really scary thing for a dog - imagine you had a collar round your neck, and someone twice your size suddenly grabbed hold of it and pulled you along. What would you do? Start kicking and shouting? I would, for sure. You can get a dog to be used to being in a pen - just folllow the instructions for crate training, but use a pen. The challenge with a pen for an adult dog is finding one tall enough such that the dog doesn't jump over it. My dog doesn't jump out of his pen. The panels are 1m high. How about just making one room safe in terms of there not being anything around he can chew? The kitchen for example, perhaps?
Oh, you never have to worry about that..... you should just SEE the number of ridiculous questions I've posted on this forum! Everyone here is always very very happy to help, so just ask anything you like!
At 7 and a half months Tobie is entering adolescence. Surely not I hear you cry, he's just a baby. Oh no he's not. He would be challenging at this age whatever the circumstances. And I am being polite, I described Molly as hell on four paws. The trouble is that, like a human teenager,you have a puppy brain in a near adult body. If you had a smaller breed, his antics would seem important and Don't try to restrain him or shout at him this will only wind him up and make matters. I know how VERY difficult it can be to keep your cool in these situations Keep your head down and persist with your training. It will eventually come right. And luckily it doesn't last anything like as long as human adolescence.
Hi and welcome from Hattie 8 years and our rescue boy Charlie 5 years. I fully sympathise with having a rescue dog, it can be really tough at times, I thought we would NEVER get there with Charlie You have received great advise so be consistent and use only positive training methods and you will get there with Tobie. You will need to be patient too. Good luck! Helen x
Some dogs make a fuss when they are unhappy, others just resign themselves to the situation. Like I said earlier, it's not a really unusual thing to have a dog sleep outside, and if he is physically comfortable, safe, and feels safe, then he'll probably get used to it. Whether he is happy about it is something you'll never know really. As far as the chew toy goes, it depends what it's made of, whether he is swallowing it etc. It's impossible to say, really. When my dog is alone, I do not leave him with any toys but kongs because of the choke risk of him chewing toys if I'm not there to supervise or intervene if something went wrong.
Thanks so much everyone! All your advice is noted and appreciated! Hopefully this teenage period will get slightly better in a few months and after some training. xxx Many thanks from an exhausted but hopeful new Labrador mummy!
Im sorry to restart this thread but it has been such a tough few days and I came straight here. Tobie is so full of energy. He gets walked twice a day for 30 to 40 minutes but as soon as he gets home its jumping, running, eating everywhere and everything. I know that this is a particularly difficult stage but I read somewhere that this stage can last for 4 years? I love my dog and I know that labs will remain active for many year but for the sake of my sanity - I was just wondering if at least they calm down incrementally over the next few months. please don't get me wrong but I need just some time for myself not chasing around after him... He is also very snappy - even when it is just for basic things like wearing a harness, or lifting his ears to get him used to ear cleaning or even to GENTLY pull him away, his first reaction would be to snap (not hugely aggressive but its ...well snappy). We instantly withdraw as we are trying to not hit or drag him but I fear this is reinforcing that snapping lets him get his way... is this just a bitey stage or something we should be concern about.... thanks all... I also feel horrible comparing him to our previous lab who was the sweetest calmest darling...
