Really finding today tough

Penny is nearly 11months and i am finding it tough today (tbh lots of days). I am not coping well with the demanding..exhausting behaviour of her constantly wanting attention. She has been recently spayed (mon) and the only day she has settled was after her operation. She very rarely lies down..she is back to the biting every part of me if i dont immediately give her attention. I am supposed to keep her settled and not jump about but its impossible. I am having problems again in every department..lead walking is hard as she pulls like a steam train. I feel we are going back the way..she had brilliant recall and now she wont come back when i call
(she doesnt run away but refuses to budge when she knows we are going home). Its really getting me down today and i know its a learning curve for me as a first time lab owner. All i seem to do is come on here and moan. I never have advice as i am rubbish at training her. Yesterday i didnt so much as go for a walk on lead but spent a while just walking and turning and stopping when she pulled. I did this in a quiet area..once treats were gone she just bolted. She got away from me when i brought her out from vets and she bolted right to the kirb of a busy main road..i thought she was gonna get hit by a car but she just stopped dead and turned back. It frightened me so much. I am not sure if this is common at her age..is she testing me or have i left it too late to get her to behave better. She is so beautiful but i am at my wits end.

 

I expect lots of people will come and give you advice soon. What I can tell you is that Ripple was so shocking at the age Penny is now that I seriously felt I should give him up.
I had a behaviourist come out when he was a year old and that really helped, but everything she said to me I did really know, it was just I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't think straight.
Ripple is my 3rd chocolate boy so it happens to us all, not just new owners.

Ripple is now nearly 3, and although still a challenge in lots of ways, he is a million miles from the dog he was 2 years ago. Perseverance, advice from the forum, and being able to occasionally step back from the problems and get them in perspective, all really helped.

I'm sure you will get there with Penny, and everything will be worthwhile.

 

Our puppy is now 7 months old and I too feel like this a lot of the time, but then we have a good day or even moment and it will be all good again! We have had 2 other labs before and totally different to Luna so in a couple of years you too will have a lovely loyal friend and all of these long stressful and demanding days will be past and you will enjoy every month ent.

 

No you don’t and it doesn’t matter anyway - that’s what we are here for. I do think young Labs can be very hard work and training goes in peaks and troughs. I do training in the home and it often goes to pot when we go out - the nicer weather has bought out all the dogs and owners that only come out in fair weather - my puppy (16 months) is finding this more of a challenge after a winter where it was just her and me most of the time. Don’t be hard on yourself - I think they sudden realise there is a big wide world out there that’s just so exciting. I look at my older Lab now and think back to the days when she ignored us - I used to get so despondent but then all of sudden we had the bestest dog ever .

 

Thanks and i am always very greatful for all the support. I am truely amazed at all the great people on this site. I know that i dont put in the work it takes and its constant. But at least i know that i am not alone when things get a bit tough

 

9-11 months was a tough patch for us, and Quinn was always a very good and easy puppy, and now dog. This was when her recall disappeared as everything was wayyy more interesting than us, she actually jumped on strangers (something she did not do before, or after her teenage months), went loopy for balls, pulled, etc. I went back to a training class, and honestly, it sharpened her recall so much. I practice recall daily still (she turned 2 in December) and she still has the odd day where she decides she's not done with the park, but it's rare. I just have to think that as a first time owner/trainer it's great that I have a 95% trained dog! I thought the pulling would never end, but over time and with work we have been on a flat collar only for months on loose leash. Even my parents noticed the change in her walking. Stick with it! One day you will notice that X behavior hasn't happened in ages. For Quinn, she pestered due to boredom...games, hiding treats, an extra 15 minute walk was all it took for her to settle. She just grew out of as she got older and into a routine...now the only slight pestering I get is when I am having another cup of coffee on the weekend and she is impatiently waiting for her walk and she paces and cries (fair - she is usually out early during the week!).

 

Looking back we didn’t with Sky. She was my first dog and I worked full time. I was very ignorant about dogs and training but despite all that, she suddenly became a dog to be proud of - everyone loves her. Don’t be hard on yourself - we know how much you care for Penny.

 

@Jacqueline Mckendrick you are doing so well with Penny. All these experiences you are posting serve as advice for those that follow you. Don't do yourself down. Raising a puppy is an enormous and difficult thing. One day I will attempt it and your advice will be invaluable.

 

Remember that even the most experienced members on here sometimes ask for help. Just breathe. Most people with easy dogs think they are geat.

 

We all feel it. I always think it will be fine. It will be fine it usually is. The fact that you worry about things is normal it just means it's important to you and you want to do your best. Penny seems to he thriving despite her being a jerk they just can be at this age that why loads of pups get rehomed around this age. You not on your own, we get it you are just echoing our own feelings and experiences we all want to support you,. Bet you will be helping someone else with similar problems in a few months time.

 

Instead of focussing on everything's that going wrong, perhaps choose the one thing that bothers you the most and focus on that. It's easy to get overwhelmed, so it can help to write a list and just work through it.

 

Oh I love a good list

 

You’ll get through it - and never worry about moaning. This is a good place to vent your feelings and your anxieties will help others who are struggling to realise that they’re not alone in having a lab that hasn’t read the training books too!

It’s not too late. Penny is still young, so just take a deep breath and keep going with the training, little and often, concentrating on lead walking and recall. It will get better!

 

I feel like I could have written your post! My Rufus is 10 and a half months and has always been a handful but has definitely taken a few steps back of late. I’ve no advice, but just wanted to let you know you are not alone!! X

 

It's never too late and we all learn as we go, even professional dog trainers get better with time and develop better techniques and new ideas.

Working with my current foster dog, who is nearly 1.5 years old but has spent his life in a shelter, I think a lot about what 'would have been' if someone had worked with him from a small puppy as he is so smart. But I can't go back in time to take him home as an 8 week old pup, all I can do is start with him today and go forward. We'll find our way and you and Penny will too.

I bet you'll be amazed where you and Penny are even three months from now, let alone a year from now.

 

And even if you do, that is okay. That is what this forum is for... people who love their labs despite the fact that they were puppies once I am joking but they are not easy. And @Jacqueline Mckendrick your courage to come to the forum and write about the challenges you are going through with Penny will help another person who also feels overwhelmed and like they can't cope. So if nothing else, remember that your kindness in sharing will help a stranger and honestly, that is one is the most beautiful things we can do as humans.

But back to missy madam Penny. Yesterday I was at obedience (insert snortle and laugh here) training and yet again I was the only Labrador. What is very positive is that there are labs in the more advanced classes, so I have hope. But back to the point, we were doing preparations for the Canine Good Citizen tests and Harley reached not very deep inside herself and found a previous Harley that was so distractable that is was difficult to do anything. I belong to a really nice club and one of its advantages is that. for instance, yesterday they had invited two experienced judges (that won't be judges in the upcoming exams) to be available, seperately to the class. We could individually spend time with the judges and they would help us with specific aspects of the tests that we were worried about. For us, and it is the very first test of the bronze level, is meeting a stranger (or something like that). Harley believes that it is completely appropriate to meet a stranger with a lovely wet kiss on their mouth. She achieves this by boucing like a kangaroo and, without jumping on them, smooching them.
So, with this possibility in my mind, I approached the two older judges and I waited and explained my concern. After telling me what a pretty labrador she is they coached me through the introduction and it really made such sense. Small things but it helped and of course Harley was lovely. They praised her for being a lovely representation of her breed and said that I must allow for what she is, she isnt a GSD or a BC, she is a labrador and I must trust her.

She is now 21 months and when she was Penny's age I would be distraught more times than not. She would be much better at home but had started nipping, well actually pulling at our clothes for attention but often nipping us in the process. She had everything in her mouth ALL the time and the jumping was out of control. I also felt like we had totally regressed in our training and being a first time dog owner I was also very self critical. I mean, who can't train a labrador - they care for people with disabilities! Right? So it must be me. There is no solution to what I was going through, we just had to go through it.

Just a note on the spaying, it makes logical sense that she is having a hormonal upheaval at the moment. So that can also cause confusing behaviour, and at the moment she is a teenager too.

Last laugh bit - at the end of the class I was standing with two of the trainers and we were talking about dogs and I mentioned labs as puppies. The one trainer, without thinking blurted, "labrador puppies are such terrors, whenever they arrive at puppy class the chaos starts". She really didn't mean it in a nasty way, in fact, she dotes on Harley in class but she is right. I remember going to training with Harley at that age and she did cause chaos and many, many tears for me.

But @Jacqueline Mckendrick I can tell you that the people Harley works with in therapy and also in her training class at the moment don't believe me when I tell them how rough it was, because whats they see and experience is what a fun, confident and brilliant young dog she has grown into, despite me! And as I said at the start, yesterday I felt like she was all over the place with focus but from the outside she was still praised for being a friendly and confident young dog.

This too shall pass. Possibly as something illicit she chewed and ate through her bowel but it does get better. I promise.

Sending you positive thoughts and labrador love (which is very powerful).

 

Oh I know this scenario so well!

@Harley Quinn , that is an absolutely brilliant post

 

What a lovely post! Well done you and Harley, and Yes! Labrador love is seriously powerful.

 

@Harley Quinn, your post is so incredibly uplifting. Thank you. I’m sure @Jacqueline Mckendrick will find it very helpful too.

 

Thankyou so much. I know through this forum i have great support. I still feel overwhelmed at times. Penny seems to focus on me more than anyone else. My daughter can sit beside me quite happily relaxing while Penny is literally chewing my feet and clothes and demanding my constant attention. I am telling myself its because she adores me more and is trying to lavish all her labrador energy and focus on her mummy (does that sound convincing lol ). Any way i need to go now as its hard to text and hold down a 27kg whirling dervish haha