our girl is 10 months old this weekend. She is being really michevious! Our house is really clear of stuff downstairs (she’s not allowed upstairs). We have completely dog proofed downstairs, or so we thought. She’s now grabbing anything she can find. Hubby left glasses on the “clear” mantelpiece, she chewed them up. Yesterday she grabbed a whole packet of butter right from the very back of the kitchen worktop. Apart from having no food at all in the kitchen I can’t see how I’m going to do this!! And she’s just ripped all my walking off the line and rolled it in the dirt. 9.30am She’s already had a walk this morning, 7am, so it’s not lack of excersise.
How do I tackle this? Ordinary day to day life is becoming very trying indeed! I’m home all day, she gets 2 good walks a day. Is it teenage naughtiness? She’s had one season, and she’s being spayed in 3 weeks time. All advice welcome, thanks
Does she have enough interesting stuff to chew? We run with about 20 different toys, but only about 3 are available at any one time. We swap them in/out every day or two, so there is always someting new and interesting to chew on. If a dog has to see the same toys every single day, she will soon get bored and look for "more interesting" stuff. This strategy has worked well for us. He knows what is "his" and what is "ours". I don't think he makes that conscious decision to leave "our stuff" alone, it's just that we've made "his stuff" much more interesting to play with. PS I don't think dogs suffer from "naughtiness", it's just that when they're young they want interesting stuff to interract with. If that isn't supplied, they will seek out their own choices
Thank you. She probably doesn’t, you’re right. She has Kongs, and a Kong wobbler, and a couple of other bits, but that’s a good point! We stopped buying toys at one point cos she just kept destroying them so fast it was getting so expensive, soft toys, even the ones supposed to be tough she wrecked. I will look out for some other interesting toys and chews, any recommendations?
https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/list-of-long-last-dog-toys.23881/ We tend to keep soft toys for play with us and the others for solo play. PS In the long run, spending 200€ on toys during the last 14 months has proven much cheaper than new sofa, chairs, shoes, glasses, etc.
It is natural for a Labrador to want to hold an article in its mouth as they are bred with a strong retrieving instinct, they also see it a a game if you start chasing them for your precious article. So, try and teach your dog that to bring the article back and to swop it for some tasty titbit, is better than running off. You can train your dog to retrieve and put the article into your hand. I haven't got any links but others may come along with some or look it up on Google.
Brilliant, thank you. She has a small rugby ball that we play fetch with on walks, she LOVES IT, but she sits and drops it at my feet. I will have to work on that. Thank you!
She will grow out of this. I remember Molly stealing washing hung on clothes horses in the garden during her first summer ( rising one year old)and tea towels from a rail in the kitchen, but by the next year she was fine. In the meantime, one suggestion I have is to think about your walks and whether you could build more play into them - I mean play with you not other dogs. I feel that your pup is probably enjoying the mischief of stealing things and it would be better if she got this fun from games with you. So think less of walking and more about play - tug (Molly’s favourite), fetch ( which can build into more complicated and interesting retrieving, such as throwing two toys and getting your pup to fetch them in the order you send her, or putting them into a box or basket), hide and seek, send away around a cone etc. I still take at least one toy with me on a walk, but when Molly was younger I carried a whole rucksack. This should have the knock-on effect of tiring your pup’s brain as well as body. Also think about feeding her food in kongs throughout the day to keep her busy. Don’t let her in the garden unsupervised if your washing is at risk. And maybe invest in a pen for short periods to keep her contained when you are busy / need a break. It will pass, honestly.
Thank you Joy, you give me hope. I can see the funny side of it, if it wasn’t my dog/washing I’d probably have a giggle, but she really wound me up this morning. On our walks we play “ping pong” with her treats, and she always loves her rugby ball, I hide from her behind trees etc, she likes that, she sticks close to me cos I play with her. But at home she wants entertaining lots too, and the washing flapping in the wind I guess is too much to resist. I just bought a few new toys this afternoon, so I will supply them gradually over the weekend (she managed to break the first one in 10 mins, a motorised zig zag ball, I’ve had to throw it away as it’s now dangerous). I’m glad you posted Joy, thank you
It sounds as if you’re doing all the right things and time is what will make the difference. Imagine how lovely it will be this time next year!
Yes, this absolutely. This time last year I was posting about Cassie mugging me on walks, which I know now was due to overstimulation from the environment ( she has a strong hunting drive), a phantom pregnancy post her first season and possibly her food. Have you looked at her food to see if there is anything in it that could cause hyper behavior? 12 months on and I have a lovely young Labrador, full of fun still and in need of mental occupation. Keep doing all the things like boundary games, total recall and the games @Joy suggests. she will get there, it's worth I think getting hold of the Absolute Dogs videos and the book Total Recall. These days my "walks" with Cassie include lots of games and exercises from both these sources, you've just got to be consistent. Not easy I know but it will get better . Do you do anything like hiding treats on a walk and getting her to find them, on fallen logs and tree stumps and the like. Cass adores this. She used to counter surf, nick socks from the washing basket, every time I went upstairs, but she no longer does, at age 2 =.
Great thread. My naughty fur baby - 8 month Caspar, has a real drive to find things to chew, in addition to his own stuff, and to chase (birds, bees butterflies) but I am amazed that he has not bothered with washing on the line (touches wood). He seems to enjoy pulling wool tufts out of one rug and eating the fringes of another. He often stands up to the counter but has never actually stolen food. The cast iron drain cover, on the other hand, is a favourite. Eight inches or so of rust and iron - why? Yesterday, he managed to dislodge the downpipe as well, pulling out both brackets and their screws. Sigh!
This is great, very helpful, thank you. We ll keep working at the absolute dogs, and proofing our recall. Looking forward to a time when I can do my family washing without fear, but in the meantime I’m sure I need to just keep a sense of humour and keep training all the time! Thanks again. It gives me hope!
