Wow, I'm glad I didn't read all the reasons for not getting two puppies at one time, as I think I would have changed my mind. We have two 7 month labs that are related but not from the same litter. They were, however, born the same day and we picked them both up at ten weeks. They are best buds, but show us as much love as any dog could do. They have very different personalities, but neither has emerged as the alpha. They balance each other out perfectly. My dilemma? Our past pets were ball fetchers and swimmers....and I mean they could do this all day long. Only one of our pups, Lucas, has a touch of interest in retrieving, but Hudson who has the most energy has none. We take them on walks and they do spend several days in day care where they socialize all day with other pets and humans. When I am home with them, Lucas, the laid back one has no problem keeping himself busy with toys, chews, playing tug with me etc., but Hudson does not seem to be interested in any of the typical canine activities. He wants my attention and I give it to him but he just doesn't seem interested in playing with anything even though I am at the ready to do so. I guess I am not used to a dog that does not plead to go outside to retrieve at every opportunity. They did enjoy the water and boating as we live on a tributary off the Chesapeake Bay, but now the season is coming to a close. So does anyone else have a lab that doesn't do what nature intended him to? And if so, what activities does your dog enjoy?
Welcome to the forum There is always and exception to the rule Your two dogs sound lovely. My Labrador Obi has little interest in retrieving (unless it is from the water, then he's in!!). We wanted to do Flyball with him, in which they need to retrieve a ball, so we had to teach him to want to hold and then pick up a ball using shaping with a clicker and treats. And now he retrieves the ball just fine (but only to get a treat, not because he cares about the ball.....actually that is a good thing because ball obsession is a real pain in Flyball when they have to ignore so many loose balls. Contrary to what one might think the ball obsessed dog is not the best candidate for Flyball...but I digress). Anyway, my point is that a dog can be trained to retrieve for a greater reward. Have you thought about tracking? Tracking can be done in winter. Or obedience-style things like Rally-O (this is great fun, and involves fast-paced concentration between dog and human, and you can talk to your dog too, unlike traditional obedience). Google Rally-O I bet a whole lot of people are reading your post and wishing to heaven that their dogs were laid back and sensible like yours!!
Er...yes. I have a genuinely ball obsessed dog. Not, just ultra, ultra keen on balls like lots of Labradors. Obsessed. I spend my life looking out for tennis balls and footballs like other people with hunting dogs look out for wildlife....and I live in Wimbledon (London, UK, where EVERYONE is obsessed with tennis and whack tennis balls around all the time). It took 5 months for him to be able to walk through the park gates because a tennis court is just inside the entrance.... So be careful what you wish for. Having a ball obsessed dog means I don't play with balls very much, or at least only in ways that doesn't fuel his obsession further. Outside we now play tug a lot. Plus we play hold and carry games, hide and seek, find it games....he enjoys lots of things that I've trained him to do. So there are alternatives. It's about finding what floats your dog's boat, really. (Although, I have to admit ANYTHING floats my dog's boat, he is that kind of dog....unfortunately at times ).
I have a wildlife chaser. She only retrieves a ball at the beach. She learned that from her doggy cousin. We got into agility. Really good fun. Have you done any clicker training? That might be a way of shaping a bit of a retrieve.
I have litter mates and they have completely different personalities. At nine months, Shadow had pretty much zero interest in retrieving. Now (14 months), he really enjoys it. Willow absolutely loves it and always has. I did quite a lot of puppy switch retrieves (throwing the dummy one way, jiggling another when he comes back close with it to make him drop it near your feet, then throwing that one, repeat) to build Shadow's enthusiasm. If Hudson has absolutely no interest, though, this probably won't work. To be honest, unless you're interested in doing gun dog training with hi, I wouldn't be that bothered, and concentrate on other things.
Hi there,your dogs sound lovely and well done on building such a close bond with them...I only have the one dog,a yellow 3 year old but I've read discussions and stories of owners taking 2 puppies together,challenging but very rewarding x I have a very ambivalent retriever...he's a working line dog with a very strong prey drive so blame for our lack of skill lies totally with me in our case and in my inexperience as a trainer.The Forum really helped me and Pippa's books and articles....I don't know if you use a clicker for training?Pippa wrote a step by step guide : The Clicker Trained Retreive .....it really helped me....here is the first part http://totallygundogs.com/clicker-trained-retrieve-part-one/ you can find the rest on the Totally Gundogs site. I also threw any steadiness out of the window,Dexter lives as a pet with us so that didn't matter....we used to make a great game of racing each other to the item too to build up the excitement .....he's never actually realised that he wins everytime in that game,when he gets it I spin round and run the other way and he comes charging back after me.Finding something he loved was also key.....tennis balls still don't cut much of a dash with us.I've had to use slippers,fluffy dice , many squeaky toys ,plastic bottles .....yep,all out in public!Items covered in rabbit skin have become a reliable favourite now . Dexter is a little like Obi ,he will retreive now but only because he knows he will get a treat and I have to watch him very carefully to make sure I gauge when to stop...if I give him that one too many ,he will lose interest and take himself off for a sniff.....better to finish on one to early than on one too late! Bye for now Angela
My labrador Max absolutely LOVES water however he cant swim, we've tried but as soon as his paws cant touch the bottom he turns around to where he can paddle
Hi. I have two labs (brothers) who are now four but we had a very similar problem to you. One, Scout, loved to retrieve from a young age the other, Scott, wasn't particularly fussed. He would retrieve but very half hearted. Now Scott is still not as eager as Scout but not far off. As Angela has said I didn't worry about steadiness it was all about making retrieving fun and exciting. I used balls on ropes and tried a variety of things but stumbled across the answer by accident. Pigeons !!! We live on a farm and there are a lot of pigeons one particular day a pigeon landed in the tree above me so I started flinging Scotts ball around my head shouting shoo pigeon. Scott got very excited bouncing about wanting the ball so I threw it he raced off straight back wanting more. I built up the amount of retrieves slowly so as not to bore him and eventually I could stop shouting shoo pigeon although he still gets a shoo every now and then. I'm not saying shooing pretend pigeons will get Hudson retrieving like a trial champion, although you never know, but if you can find something that gets him excited about retrieving it works. The other thing that helped build his retrieving desire was playing piggy in the middle. Throw the ball between two people and the dog only gets it when you drop it. It makes the ball very exciting because it's out of reach flying over their heads. Ok so you might look a bit daft for awhile but who cares.
I think we have to accept that , whilst the same breed , they can be very different My Lab Sam,who is now four and a half yeats old, is a passionate retriever/ tracker who becomes very excited when his dummy or a ball comes out . His walks are filled with tracking, nose never leaving the ground to the extent that I often wonder how he doesn't bang his head on trees ! My last lab Tess was totally opposite , no interest whatsoever in retrieving , her walks were just fun, looning around but never ever tracking , not even much sniffing going on . As suggested, you can try to encourage interest , good luck .
Thanks everyone for all your wonderful suggestions!!!! We will definitely try them out. Our last lab Cabo, was also OBSESSED with balls, so I am thankful this time not to have that much over the top eagerness, but at least I knew he got plenty of exercise, never was bored, slept like a champ, and never destroyed or chewed anything. That was a funny statement about Max, loving the water, but not swimming. Both our boys were naturals, but puppies being puppies they would easily get distracted by something and would stop paddling. They learned quickly that this is not a good idea as they sunk like cannon balls. Thanks again for everyone's input. I'll be eager to try the new activities.
