Hello there! My roommate and I have an 18 week old black lab, and training him has been a rollercoaster. Certain things he learned rather fast, but in other areas has some trouble. For the past few weeks, pretty much every night after dinner he gets these spurts of energy. Barking and growling at us, jumping up and trying to bite our hands, nipping at our legs and feet when we walk away, and running all around the room. Whenever this happens, all the bite inhibition I've taught him seems to go out the window. At any other time of the day I can have him mouthing my hand or playing a bit rough with him and barely feel his teeth on me, but during these moments he's likely to leave marks if he manages to get me. My roommate thinks this is aggression, but based on his body language (body isn't stiff, tail wagging really fast, he isn't backing into corners, teeth aren't bared) I'm pretty sure he just wants to play and is getting a bit hyper in the process. I tend to just play fetch or tug with him, or distract him with running through basic commands (sit, paw, lay down) and that'll eventually calm him down. If it doesn't and he's getting out of hand with the biting, I'll give him a time out. However, my roommate refuses to believe this isn't aggression and won't take my word on it, so I figured I'd ask around and try to get multiple opinions. She also wants to try to use this e-collar she bought to get him to calm down. Neither of us are experts on the use of e-collars, and she claims she'll only use the vibration feature it comes with instead of the shock, but I'm pretty sure they aren't supposed to be used as punishment regardless of the setting. She thinks she can use it to straight up teach him recall too, but he still ignores us when we tell him Come sometimes, though that's another story.
Please, please don't use an ecollar on your dog. You can train your dog to be well behaved with positive reinforcement. There is no need for punishment. At 18 weeks your puppy is still a baby and the biting is normal puppy behaviour and certainly not a sign of aggression. It's partly because puppies naturally explore the world with their mouths and partly because your puppy hasn't yet learnt appropriate ways to interact with you. This doesn't mean that you have to allow your puppy to bite you, just that you need patience to train for a few more weeks. I would encourage you to always use a toy (such as a rope toy) to play with your puppy and not to allow teeth on skin at any time - teeth on skin should end the game (so you leave the room just briefly, a few seconds - then return and restart with the tug toy again.) It's also very common for puppies to have a mad hour in the evenings. I found large cardboard boxes were a life-saver at this time. My puppy gnawed them and climbed in and out of them. My current dog was an awful biter as a puppy, much worse than my previous pups, but I only used kind methods and she grew up to be the lovely gentle dog she is today. Be patient and be kind and your puppy will be too. There's a great puppy book: Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy by Steve Mann ( available as an ebook as well as print). For recall you can't beat Total Recall by Pippa Mattinson.
Hi! Firstly, your instincts in relation to the e-collar are right. They're awful, illegal in many countries and should be returned to the shop or thrown in the bin as soon as possible. It really sounds as though you're doing all of the right research and your choices to play games or do little bits of training are perfect. I completely underestimated the level of "bitiness" that is associated with an overtired Labrador puppy and the scars to prove it only recently faded! I think it's hard at times to believe that the pain of their teeth could be caused by anything but aggression but it really is just OTT play. The advice that @Joy has provided above is great so do give it a go. Hang in there, keep going with the training and the biting will slowly reduce
Great answer from @Joy above. What you describe sounds like excitement/inappropriate play. It is really common - I hadn't realised how common til I joined this forum! My dog was really bitey when I got him - his previous owners had used fairly harsh training methods with him which clearly didn't work as they ended up rehoming him. I definitely wouldn't use an e collar - not just for ethical reasons but because I think it's a sure way to turn a normal excitable dog into a fearful, potentially aggressive one. They are illegal here (Wales) anyway. Concentrate on building a good relationship with your dog, have fun, play games, reward calm behaviour and as Joy said step out of the room if he gets out of hand. My dog was worse when overtired so we had to avoid the temptation to overexercise, frequent short walks worked best for us.
As for teaching recall it sounds like your dog doesn't really know what 'come' means or doesn't think it's worth his while doing what you say. I think you need to use a trailing line so he cant choose to ignore you and some really high value treats better than his normal food. The chapter in Jean Donaldson's "How to Train like a Pro" on recall is really good or there's Pippa's entire book on the subject.
Thanks @Ruth Buckley I had intended pasting the following link https://www.thelabradorsite.com/excited-puppy/
Thank you @Joy and everyone else in this thread for your advice and reassurance! I'll be sure to keep at it and take a look at the books and articles that were mentioned. Will definitely be having a talk with my roommate about the collar. She's the kind of person who thinks she has to use something just because our neighbors did.
This is very normal puppy behaviour. It is not aggression. Please don't use an ecollar unless you want to make your puppy permanently scared of you/your arm. All puppies have a manic time of day when they lose their minds and do zoomies and are frenzied. It is part of owning a puppy. Enjoy it. If you can't tolerate it, or he is too worked up, just calmly put him in the crate with a chew or a Kong and he will be in a different mood in 20 minutes.
