Our lovely sweet previous lab, Solstice, used to jump up at everyone she met, as a pup and a young dog. When I say 'jump up' I don't mean she just put her paws up, she ran at people full pelt, all four paws left the ground and she hit them at shoulder height at full speed! There was no aggression there at all, it was total Labradorlove. Having become worried she might knock someone over I kept her on lead whenever we saw someone approaching and also if we couldn't see what was coming up (round a bend for example) If the people seemed OK with it I would allow her to have quiet fuss from them whilst rewarding her for remaining calm. We kept this up until she was about two years old and from then on it was no longer needed, she'd just grown up and was a brilliant dog, much loved by many people. She did also do bits of the mouthing thing as well, but that's all it was, mouthing, not biting. I would never, ever have chosen to muzzle her. She turned out to be a totally kind sweetheart. It just takes a bit of time, and really not that long in the great scheme of things.Wishing you all the best, Know it's not easy when they're pups.
I like that. Totally agree! I see other people walking their dogs wearing headphones, no interaction with the dog at all and I think 'Well, what's the point of that then?' I chat away to little Joy most of the time anyway, even when we're just pottering around at home and in the garden. It's surely part of the joy of having a dog. We also water the garden to loudish music, Kong (her) and small glass of nice beer ( me, summertime only.) And we still chat away! My best little friend.
I also agree. We do on lead walks, but much prefer to let them off lead and run around and explore, or play ball. Ours are much better on lead, after they have had some time to blow off some steam.
