Takes time, repetition and patience. And the 6-12 month adolescence stage brings its own challenges. Have you read Pippa's Happy Puppy Handbook, and also Total Recall? - they cover a lot of the basics at least, and can give some ideas, as well as all the resources on the main website. One of the biggest challenges I think is being consistent - just like with children, you need everyone in a family to be doing the same thing, and to understand the consequences of doing (or not doing) things.
Knock on wood but Finn is biting way less these days. Feels like it's 95% over. His adult teeth are almost all in (he has canine "doubles" right now) and it just seemed like one day he evolved and now relaxes in the evenings rather than become a psychopath. He doesn't bite my clothes for attention anymore, and the jumping on the couch has been reduced. I did have a few trainers come for home visits - they helped show me ways to deal with him confidently. So I think that probably had an effect too. I also switched to feeding him breakfast and lunch on walks as training. Still working on crate whimpering and the random crying in the car (I have no idea why he does it....he seems to enjoy the car. I think it's mostly frustration that he's "stuck" in the backseat). Anytime he's stuck somewhere and can't go elsewhere on his own terms is when the whining tends to happen. His biggest challenges now: jumping up on people, stealing shoes and any "new" objects lying around, and eating every freaking thing on the sidewalk on walks. Also, he hasn't barked at ALL yet except once in excitement to get another dog to play with him. He's like a mute.
Good to read your post @FinnOfSoCal, I find it helpful to look back every now and then and realise just how far we have come since she arrived last June, and assess what we need to work on. Like Finn, Cassie moans a little bit in the car, only briefly and within the first 5 minutes, but after that is totally quiet. She salivates a little bit so I wonder it she feels slightly sick, although she's never been sick. And she jumps in happily and appears to enjoy looking out the window. She's too big for her crate now though really, and will shortly be changing to a different way of travelling so I will see if that makes a difference.
Issues with my lab at the moment (8.5 months old Barking at neighbours when they're in their garden (barks out of fear rather than aggression, but it looks and sounds terrifying - I have to bring him inside) Jumping up on people (I don't let him do this but I know if given the chance, he would) Terrorising our other dog when she clearly doesn't want to play (have to separate them or he works himself into a frenzy)
I'm putting Finn in a board and train while I visit home for a week. I kind of want to see if the trainer can nip the jumping up on people in the bud, I'm kind of at a loss on how to stop it. Since it's only me and he doesn't jump up on me for attention anymore, and I'm sick of always telling people not to pet him if he jumps (I take him in public a LOT and of course everyone wants to pet him)
We have heard a few bad experiences from this. Have you checked them out they don't use aversives? Sorry if I am preaching to the conversed (probably ) but I would be wary about anyone else training my dog even if they were kind and positive. Behind closed doors and all that......
Yeah I asked about her methods and had an intro training session with her at my house. He will be staying with her at her house with her family--not at a kennel. I actually found her listed on the Victoria Stillwell website. She has a bunch of credentials from force free and positive institutions and is a guide dog mobility instructor. I know what you're saying though! I did look into a few board and train places and I saw that a lot of them used e-collars, even if not advertised. I even dug into the instagram account of one of the clients of a board and train person and saw that there was an e-collar on one of the dogs. Nope! So, I did as much due diligence as I could. I have no other options actually....I'd rather have him at a trainer's than with a friend that's going to let him run amok
Sounds like you know what you are getting! Good for you with such good research ( aka *stalking on instagram* )
Bailey just made 12 weeks. I can't wait until the biting is over with - she loves my shoes, my hair, anything that is mine. She does not really go after my boyfriend items as much as mine. She is also being stubborn with potty training, however we have made progress!
Help me! We have got ourselves a beautiful 6month old black lab (called Dexter) When he's asleep or calm he's a fabulous pup, but those moments are very few and far between. He's into everything, the biting had subsided and has re-started (but not breaking skin or anywhere near as hard, just persistent!) He is forever getting on the chairs, couch. He knows "down" but refuses to do it. He wont leave the OH shoes alone (I've removed mine so he cant get to them) he wont leave me alone, his biting seems to be focussed on me. He's been to puppy classes but was too focussed on the other pups to really learn anything. I'm trying clicker training with him, but he's figured out that when the clicker comes out he MAY get a reward for following commands - which he does fantastically but that's only at that moment in time! The rewards aren't on my person, they're in the other room so it's not as if he's responding to me holding the treats! I'm getting so exhausted by this puppy, the OH is old school when it comes to puppy training so consistency is an issue - he marks the bad behaviour more than rewarding good behaviour (ie rollocks the dog when he's on the chair, but barely acknowledges the dog when he does get down) which to me seems counter productive but being a male, his voice is more authorative than mine so dog listens to him more - which leaves me getting herded and nipped and bothered generally. I'm the one who feeds, walks and trains the dog and yet the dog seems to hate me at times I'm sure this is mostly puppy behaviour but it's really getting me down....sometimes I delay getting into the house or down from a bath just so I don't have to be alone with the dog. This is our first puppy (but 2nd dog, who we lost in December unexpectedly) and at the moment I can honestly say we will never get another puppy!
Things will get better! With clicker training, the click should always mean a reward. If you don't always match the two then the clicker doesn't reinforce the behaviour in the same way. I would also carry treats in my pocket for now and reward immmeditley. It doesn't mean you'll have to do that forever, but it's essential while you're training. If you don't want your dog to get on the furniture, I suggest you train your dog to lie where you want them to be - so if its not convenient to have Dexter's bed in the sitting room, then get a good-sized mat or comfy towel and train that as his place. Reward him for lying on it. Perhaps give him a stuffed kong while you're sitting in the same room. @Boogie has to keep her guide dog puppies off the furniture so I'm sure she'll be along to advise further on this. I would also say try to build your relationship by playing games with your pup. These sessions need only be 5 minutes or so at a time but they really help your dog focus on you. I'd also say try another class. If you're in the UK look for one that does the good citizen dog scheme as it's all about achieving calm behaviour with distractions of other dogs and people. Don't feel embarrassed if your dog is difficult at classes - the trainers are there to help you.
Thanks Joy, I do try to play with him but he starts to get quite impolite with it so spend half the time ignoring him nipping and jumping at me lol. From what I've read that's the joys of a young lab puppy though so perserverance and lots of deep breaths on my part. We passed the puppy foundation course for the good citizen classes (how I'll never know!!)
@FinnOfSoCal - so glad to hear that Finn is improving! I think it's great to do board and train, in that I had some regression with Bessie with housetraining and chewing on rugs when I left her here with housesitters about a month ago, for a week. Very frustrating. I had to put the rugs away for weeks and just got her over chewing the one, and found a pee spot under furniture that they hadn't cleaned up so that seems to be mostly the reason for the housetraining regression. So gross, had to soak it with Simple Solution and hope the floorboards dried out and got less warped (they did). Bessie is now very close to a year old and so many things have improved! No more counter surfing; no inappropriate chewing except when there are new things out or, rarely, if she wants attention. Her worst remaining habit is jumping up on people. So - what I found for that is that any "No" or "off" or yelping would just encourage her. I simply turn my back and cross my arms. When she has all four on the floor, I turn back around and give her soft, quiet praise and pets (too excited and she jumps again!). What has also helped is teaching her to "get your toy" and greet someone with a toy or bone in her mouth. She'll wiggle her whole body in excitement and wag her tail but she won't jump when she has something in her mouth. She is a leaper, and she'll leap from the ground and push her snout in your face--in your eye, in your nose, etc. She's hurt people this way! It's annoying!! It actually seems worse if I have her on the leash and it's still almost impossible for me to counter the force she can leap up with. Anyway, it's still happening, but improving, in that we can pretty quickly get her to stop leaping/jumping and behave appropriately. "Luckily" she does it to me, too, when I arrive home from anywhere, so we have lots of chances to practice. Oh, she is digging in the lawn, which annoys the crap out of me. What do you do for that? I'm going to have to fence off my flower bed, I think, and my garden (well, need to do that anyway for the deer).
We've had our Jasper for coming up two weeks on Saturday. He's 10 1/2 weeks old. I honestly don't think I've been this stressed for a long time. We always planned on getting a dog and think we will be sticking with a dog rather than children to be honest. I just feel very emotional a lot of the time. I don't want to go home because he'll be there waiting to be good for 10 minutes then start to nip, bite, jump up on us and the sofa. I can't get him to stop. His truly mad time is around 7 till 9 at night and this is usually the time we like to rest and talk to each other and maybe watch a TV show before going to bed. We don't like putting him in the kitchen to calm down but many times we can't get him to stop grabbing clothing, biting, or jumping up (which will hurt him either in short-term of where he jumps or long-term in causing damage as he's so young). He's due his 2nd jab next Friday and praying that being able to walk him might help wear him out / chill him out a little. We're trying to find a puppy training class as the one nearby which would have been ideal starts the day before his jab and we don't want to chance it. My husband keeps saying "do you want me to find him a new home or take him back?" and 98% of the time I want to scream "yes" but I can't. I just go upstairs or in the kitchen to make tea and usually cry in secret away from them both. Do you all go through this or am I just a bad mummy to him?
Hey Jen, this really is completely, completely normal. Read back through this thread for some good advice on how to deal with it, and browse the rest of the puppies board. It really is full of stories just like yours! Here is just one of them, started by our member @Atemas - hopefully, you will see the similarities, and that, with patience (and wine!) you can come through the other side: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/puppy-blues.18265/
Im so glad that I found this post. @Jen123 @Dextersmum i could have written either of your posts As much as I adore Maisie 20wks now, I feel quite stressed most of the time and have put off going home at times. I've also been in tears at times but reading all the posts on this thread have made me feel much better. I feel as though we take one step forward and 2 back. I live with hubby and 3 sons and trying to get them all to be consistent is really tiring. Think they need training more than Maisie. Let's hope we all feel a bit more relaxed soon x
Well, this seems like an appropriate place to post my very first post. Since this is the thread I found when Googling my puppy problems! Hank (chocolate) is 19 weeks and we have had him for 6 weeks. Our life is like one of those signs you see hanging in warehouses/docks for employees ____# of Accident Free Days. As the weeks go on, the numbers get higher before resetting to zero and I was feeling optimistic...until this AM when his deep obsession with brooms caused him to break one of my brand new beloved lamps. Usually it's my husband at his wits end (like last night when Hank nearly killed the cat) and I am the patient one but today I am feeling extra blue about this. SO I'm grateful for this thread and some perspective. Hank's nasty habits- -He talks back. Seriously. He sits there and barks defiantly in my face. -He won't leave one of the cats alone, he jumps on him, bites his tail and last night he grabbed him by the neck. Of course the cat does nothing. Gonna have to make that a priority after last night. -He took a giant crap in the middle of The Home Depot (even though he was just outside and had the chance to do his business in an appropriate place, he decided the lumber aisle was more suitable) -If he thinks we are about to put him outside, he starts racing around the house, flying and leaping and bounding across couches, tables, or anything in his way, the cherry on top- twice he has stop to PEE ON THE COUCH during one of these manic episodes. -He pees in the grass and then lays in it. -He can't resist licking freshly lotioned legs and toes, while I may secretly think this is cute, guests certainly do not. -My BIL tried bringing his lab over to play with Hank and thank goodness Charlie is a very calm, understanding, patient dog because Hank would not let him be for a single second, jumping chasing, biting his tail, he was so underfoot the whole time Charlie accidently peed on him twice. -He is obsessed with brooms of any type, if he gets a hold of one he will "go manic" with it in his mouth (hence my broken lamp). Even the little chimney sweep from my fireplace set wasn't safe, I had to get rid of it because the big heavy brass set was getting pummeled and knocked over at least twice daily. -He jumps and bites anyone new that walks through the front door -He jumps up on the patio table and steals my cigarettes, doesn't eat them, just breaks them all, then he goes for the lighter. This may be a favor to me in the long run and maybe he just cares about my health (yah right). -He dumps his water bowl. Every time. No...I take that back...sometimes he pounces in it with his front paws and starts going at it, it looks as though he is digging his way to china. This is all making me crazy. I feel like he doesn't like it here, like he doesn't like us? Maybe we got him too late? He had some medical issue (nothing serious, just an eye infection) so the breeder wanted to hold on to him to make sure everything was OK and he was around several other dogs with real human interaction or connection and no guidance for 4 weeks later than we had expected. He is getting better, but the vet told me that we better get him under control because he is going to be about 100 pounds. Yikes.
