[size=10pt]Hi, I'm new here though have been reading the site a while. I have a black Labrador/Springer cross called Harley who is 8 months old and I adore her. However, and I am ashamed to admit it, I think I am not doing her justice. I take her on one off lead walk (drag until we get to the field) for approximately 45-50 minutes and then sometimes she gets a trot around the block (10-15 mins) later in the day. She gets to play in the back garden whilst I am cooking/washing and we have a cuddle in the evenings sometimes but for rest of the time she is in her crate I have two young kids and a grown up kid aka my husband who is very much children (and dogs) should automatically know how to behave - we make it work but what bothers me is having Harley in her crate so much. She, understandably is loopy when she comes out and my other half just gets cross with her stealing remote controls, shoes, lego etc etc even though I remind him to put them out of reach. However we are in the vicious circle of we let her out, she tears about, jumping all over the kids, causing havoc, she goes back in her crate and therefore never learns to behave calmly. I have to say she appears content in her crate, she has kongs and treats and other bits, and I do make sure we do training on walks and when she is being fed - sit, down and recall are generally great with the odd bribe. It doesn't seem right though, am I cruel? I want to have her out more even hubby says it would be nice to have her chilling with us and I tell him we will only get out what we put in. How can I start being a better Harley-mum?[/size]
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Hello, a very warm welcome to the forum. Yes, you need to move away from having your dog in a crate all the time, that's not the best way for a dog to live as part of a family, and will make the problem worse - the more time the dog is cooped up, the more excitable she will be when let out. A bit of crate time, 4 hours or so a day is fine, but no more than that really. So, how can you go about this? First, I'd say you need to make a room "safe" so pick up all remote controls, shoes, log baskets and so on that you know your dog is going to pinch. Then let your dog into the room, expect her to be very excited, but just ignore her until she is a bit calmer. Then reward with treats and attention. If she gets excited again, just let her calm down (nothing can happen because you have moved all your stuff out of reach), and reward when she is calmer. And so on. I'd also up her training time significantly. She needs to be out of her crate, and learning to behave in the family, and you'll just have to bite the bullet and get over the period of her mad excitement - as you say, if she is never out of her crate, she is going to be crazy at first. Very best of luck with it, let us know how she gets on.
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Hi there and welcome! Julie is absolutely right - your pup needs to be with you more so she learns how to behave - otherwise how is she ever going to learn the rules of being in the family? I like Julie's idea of the puppy-safe room. And maybe you could start just letting her be free in the house when only you are there, then once she has got over the huge excitement of that, maybe in a couple of days you could let her out when just you and the children are there, then a few days later let her be around when you are all there... It's really important that you don't inadervently reward her wild behaviour, so you must reinforce with your husband and the kids that they ignore her when she's being wild, but that when she is good and quiet that they stroke her and tell her what a good dog she is.
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Welcome to the forum, I have Hattie 7 years and our rescue Charlie 4 years. Can't add anything to the great advice you have already received but just to say you can improve on this situation. When Charlie came rampaging into our lives as a 9 month old pup with NO manners, recall or anything else, he would charge around the house like a tornado, jumping on us, sofas everything we just ignored him until he was calm then he got praise/treat and it eventually worked and he settled down. Consistency from everyone is the key though or it will be very difficult and will only get worse. How old are your children? perhaps they could do a little training indoors with Harley, sits, stays, paw, find it games etc. to keep her focused. Have you thought about maybe taking her to obedience training classes? I don't know if she is too young to do a little clicker training to stay on a mat with the family :-\ You could also clicker train slack lead walking there is lots of information on the forum to help you. On a realy positive note it's great Harley has a good recall so you have done some great training with it I don't think you are cruel you just need a good plan of action that you all stick too and in no time you will reep the rewards and not keeping Harley in her crate for more than 4 hours per day Ask any questions you have we are all here to help you. Good luck!! xx Helen
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Thanks guys We have had a lovely 50 minute walk this morning, 40 minutes of that was off lead galloping through muddy waterlogged fields. I found her much more focussed and less "draggy" on the lead on the way back home when she carried a stick she had found - all her attention seemed to be on that rather than ripping my arm off. I usually take some of her food with me as treats for when she does recall or walks nicely. She's out for the count snoring loudly as we speak but have started to safety proof the front room for later
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Welcome to the forum, and it is great that you are appraising the way you raise your dog. In addition to the great advice you've already had, you might find it helpful to keep your dog on a 'house line' and harness when she is out of the crate and whilst you are working on calm behaviour, this enables you to have a bit of control if she gets over-excited. Baby gates are very helpful for keeping bouncy young dogs in puppy safe rooms, and you might also find it helpful to focus on reinforcing calm behaviour in the house - catch her when she is relaxing and place a treat by her nose for example. You might find these helpful How to cope with an overexcited puppy Train your labrador to relax
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Hello,and welcome to the forum. I think you are in the position that many owners of young Labs find themselves in. They are SO BOUNCY that you have to put them in their crate for everybody's peace of mind and safety. But how are they going to learn to modify their behaviour if they never get the chance to practice being calm? It is very difficult when they are exploding with energy to get through to them. All is lovely and she is calm and quiet and there is just my husband and I here, but when someone new walks through that door she becomes a whirling dervish. I have used a house line and that gives me some control and I think even when it is not being actively used (ie she is just running around with it trailing behind her) it has a calming effect on her. Yes, we do need to keep plugging away at the training, but I can see that age is a major factor in their excitability. I can see a real difference since Christmas. Molly is 16 months to give you a clue. She was allowed to play with my 3 years old Granddaughter this week, there was a lot of running around and squealing (3 year olds do!) but nothing untoward.
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Hi and welcome from me and 17month old red fox lab, Harley I think it's brilliant that you are looking at ways to integrate her into your daily life. Everyone has already given you good suggestions How old are your children? Could they take part in her training in the house? Harley used to be very excitable when my nephew came round, but as soon as he walks in the house he tells Harley to sit and puts his hand out to signal what he wants. If she sits he gets her ball and throws it down the hallway, if she ignores the sit he walks off and ignores her, but tries again after a few mins. Keep doing lots of short training sessions - you will find they help tire her out more through using her brain, and in turn will help her be calmer
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum my lab is now 19months and i found that definitly exercise helped a lot now when milly has at least an hour off lead she is calm all day and quite happy on her bed in wichever room we are in when we got her at 6months old she would not be left on her own without howling so we are happy now but it does take a lot of work
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Well she is out, and I have kept it to just me in the room with her for now. Being brought lots of soggy chewed toys deposited on my lap and sneakily, between me and the arm of the sofa so she has to climb or lay on me : Anyone else have a not so delicate pooch who wants to sit all over them? I am trying to ignore her when she does this even though she weighs a ton, and praise her heaps when she is anywhere decent - next to me the floor etc.
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum I let Tatze put her head and front legs on me 'till my legs go numb - then she gets pushed to the other end of the sofa Gypsy is not allowed on the sofa at all, so sleeps on her day bed by me. She never tries to get on - but this took a looong time to train! When Harley brings you toys try having a little play with her (tug etc) then, when it's time to calm down, do five minutes training (sit, down, wait etc) this will help her to settle.
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Great advice from everyone already...so just a WELCOME from me and 21 week old Bella in Idaho, USA.
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Welcome to the forum It's great that you want to change things to do the best by your dog. I'm sure you will reap the rewards from this as well as her My dog likes to loll on us too. We allow head and paws and that's it on the couch (although he is allowed to get away with lying fully on top of my hubby in our bed!! ) Your girl sounds lovely and cuddly.
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Great advice from everyone, so just a welcome from me and 9 month old Daisy and 4 year old Henry (in Minnesota in the USA)! Good for you for deciding to change your approach with Harley. I have an uncle who NEVER taught his Labs how to be house dogs. They spent all their house time crated and it was so sad... :'( The hardest part for me is finding opportunities to socialize Daisy. We live on a farm outside of town and the dogs seldom see people other than me and my hubby. Daisy is quite well-behaved in the house (I think having another civilized dog around has helped with that!), but when company comes, it's nutso time for a while. I keep both dogs apart from the company for the first 10-15 minute or so, then let them out, one at a time, to meet and greet, and this seems to have worked pretty well. More exercise and training is vital. My dogs spend their days loose in a large, safe space, with access to the outside and lots of room for wrestling. They also get lots of off-leash running time across the farm once I get home from work. And, as others have said, age will help, too. Eventually!
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Hi guys, just wanted to say a huge thanks for all the advice and support Spoilt girl has a new bed and some new toys as Pets at home had 25% off a load of things today
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum from a teeny tiny black 6 year old Labrador known as The DivaDog and her human
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum Hi, we have a springador called Izzy, and she is very excitable, needs lots of exercise. I find though, after tea, she's learnt its rest time, and we all sit quietly watching tv whilst the dogs sleep. Good luck with your training.
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum My eldest (7yrs) fed Harley some mashed up banana just now from his fingers - huge progress for us
Re: Think I am a bad labrador mum [quote author=crazidaizi link=topic=9732.msg143270#msg143270 date=1423763613] My eldest (7yrs) fed Harley some mashed up banana just now from his fingers - huge progress for us [/quote] Wow,that must have felt great for all of you x
