Back to square one eh? He bites when you play tug. How long do you play it? Do you make him work for it? For example he must SIT. And at age one year he'd have to do more than that for me. He has to do a short COME. Then he gets a couple of seconds of tug, then he has to do a short COME again. That way you can work on reinforcing recall at the same time. A class with a trainer to watch you work would be best, it's hard to learn this stuff over the internet and I'm no instructor. Be happy he likes tug though. In our first classes with Oban most dogs would work for food, one would only work for tug and one dog would only work for tummy rubs. A lying down on his back tummy rub was the only thing that effectively rewarded him. While the rest of our class advanced his poor owner worked diligently to turn the lying down on his back tummy rubs to him standing up tummy rubs. She loved her dog but we all felt sorry for her. She'd have loved to be able to use tug.
Yes i make him work for it and i had to specify that he bites me after i put away the toy at least he did so the other day prolly because he was way to excited
Myles just turned 1 and he still does this occasionally. I agree it is an over excited or frustrated response, and when he is in that state there is not anything I can do to snap him out of it. However I am better at understanding what triggers it and can often prevent it now. I can sense when he's about to do it with his body language. It was often happening at the end of a lead walk, on our way home. So I started using higher value treats for this stretch and I keep him engaged with me by doing various things. Sometimes I will throw a few treats in the grass and have him "find it". Training comes in handy here because I will say "Yes" to mark when he's doing the right thing and then reward him. For example, when he's about to go into a zoomie he often walks at a perfect heel but he looks straight up at me. This has become an undesirable behavior so I say "yes" when he turns his head to look forward, even for a second. Then treat him. This keeps him focused on getting it right for a treat and he forgets to go into a zoomie. And same as you certain types of play just get him too excited so I've had to learn to avoid them. When he does go into a zoomie inside the house I will go into a room and shut the door so he has to have his zoomie by himself (he can't jump up and bite at my clothes). He will usually stop quickly and whine at the door where I am. No fun to have a zoomie alone. I wait long enough to where I think he is done and then I will re-open the door. If he starts up again, I will remove myself again. This has worked well. But do not be over discouraged because he is 1 now and still doing this. You are not alone. And I think it will improve and he will eventually grow out of it. But you do need to learn his triggers and a bit of training to redirect him or prevent it will help.
Mylestogo that's very interesting about the end of a lead walk, we have had several instances of this with Ripple - I've always assumed that I've walked him a bit too far and he's got overtired. Today I started to recognise his body language and managed to get him home without incident but as soon as we got indoors and I asked him to sit on the towel to dry his feet he was off. I squashed myself against the wall and Ripple had a go at biting my arm, then attacked the doormat, but within a minute or so had calmed down. It's certainly hard work but hopefully I will get better at recognising the signs and be able to deflect it a bit easier.
Do Labs get overtired on regular walks? Heh, mine certainly don't! They can walk for several hours in the mountains and not be tired! Willow gets frothy round the mouth sometimes on walks. It's just because she's both a drooler and an avid sniffer. Combine the two, and she looks rabid, even five minutes into a walk. It's lessened with age (they're coming up 17 months) but she still gets it on occasion.
I was wondering that too because i noticed the foam and it seems like Sirius is similiar to Willow he too sniffs like crazy
Been trying some of the exercise and he does quite fine but as usual when he gets excited it zoomz and bite like crazy,it even starts when i pet him and he's lying down it either roll on his stomach and still bites whatever it comes near him, he seems more like a crocodile than a labrador!
