I have a beautiful 10 month old lab who is always full of energy. We would love to sit with her and she relax and lay with us but she just can't. She has to be moving/ doing something constantly. The only way she sits on our lap is if she is chewing on her bone. She gets loads of excerise too. I just wish I could give her cuddles and sit and watch TV or rest with her. I don't know if this is just her personality or she'll grow out of it. Any suggestions or similar situations would be great!
Hi and welcome to the forum from the Beanwood pack Ah and you have hit the teenage months with your lovely young labrador! Well the good news is that all is not lost, and yes you can train a settle. It does require a bit patience and time invested. The thing is with labs, is that whilst we give them lots of physical exercise, what we can end up with is very FIT young teenage hooligans, as opposed to just young teenage hooligans! . I can personally attest this when my young chocolate labrador hit around 12 months, I upped the ante on exercise, and he just upped the ante on his rather at times manic and crazy behaviour! When I started exploring other ways to challenge him,things improved immensely, he would come back from classes completely wiped out. So, if you can find a good, structured class designed for adolescents, you will find that very useful. This is age where it is really good to stretch them mentally as well as physically. Short, fun training games inside and outside really help, and it's surprising how tiring these games are for our dogs. Training a settle, have you trained a "go to mat" yet? This cue is a really good starting point A link below to one of kikopups videos. They really are a great resource: and here a good link from the labrador site: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/dog-calming/
Training a settle does not need many steps, just practice and consistency. So.... Step 1 - make a cup of coffee/tea Step 2 - select reading material Step 3 - clip lead on dog Step 4 - select comfy chair Step 5 - place foot on dog lead ensuring dog can sit/lue down comfortably Step 6 - relax with coffee and reading material ignoring dog. Dog will settle (eventually - my record is 30 minutes) quietly praise dog when relaxed. Practice several times a day and can be practiced if you need to work at a desk from home or if you stop for a coffee while out with pupster. Introduce cue and pupster quickly learns to settle quietly wherever you are
Hi Beanwood, Thank you so much for your response. I read the article and watched the video. I haven't got a mat yet but I may try. We will definitely take up your statement about alot of physical activity. We always think we have to use up her energy to tire her out. But like you said I think that's gone the other way haha. Thanks heaps for your advice
Hi Jojo, I love your idea. We just tried it with her whilst in the lounge room and she actually did well for first time. We then did the same outdoors and rewarded her when she was lying down. She was awesome! Already we are seeing changes. With just simple steps. Thanks so much! now it's just to be consistent with it.
Just keep practicing . I use this method with my clients all the time - it's quick and effective and you can use it ut anywhere you happen to be with your dog - and no special equipment required
Thanks for this tip - going to try it - at the moment I have to go and hide in the loo until he gets bored and settles but have a three hour ferry trip coming up in a couple of weeks that I have been dreading - will start practicing
