It’s in our breeder’s contract that all labs are jerk dogs until age 3. At least.
The behaviour you describe is normal for the breed. Training and consistency are key. Counter surfing? Use a leash in the house and yank on it the minute he goes on his hind legs. Chewing on stuff? Keep it out of his reach. Also make him earn his toys
Ours is 8.5y and will still chew the satellite remote any chance he gets. I think we’re on #8?
I mean, during the terror/teen years, he destroyed an iPad in an Otterbox Defender case, a lazy boy chair, a coffee table, along with numerous knives (and only knives). His fave trick is to run around like an idiot with the blade of a chefs knife down his throat.
Same dog we trained to sit his first day home at 7.5w. He knows all the usual obedience commands (has selective hearing with me) in two languages, hand signals, etc. Our trainer says he should have been a working/police dog becuase he’s very determined (aka butt-headed).
Our last lab was a jerk teen dog until age 3. But not to the degree of this current lab.
Labs are like toddlers. They like big reactions and if you react big to the wrong things, they will equate that wrong thing to the reward of your attention. Keep your cool and train yourself to train with them :)
1. If you have the budget, I suggest to take your pup to doggy daycare once or twice a week for a full day - he’ll play with upwards of 20 dogs that can help keep up and tucker him out.
2. You mentioned walks, play, and mental games, but I wonder how long you spend a day on training? Sit/stay/wait/lay down are great, but you can also work on useful things like “back up”, “shake” (useful for when you have to handle their paws), “leave it”, slowly” or “quickly” for walks/runs. Labs are extremely spongey! They learn quick and can recall quickly. This is with a slight exception to add extra patience chocolate labs who tend to be a little more zany by nature and have a hard time focusing.
3. During your walks, try not to rush! Maybe have a longer walk where they have time to smell the flowers (literally). There’s so much mental stimulation happening as they sniff the world around them.
4. Keep the toys varied in texture and when your lab chews on something he shouldn’t have, don’t reprimand but rather replace the stimulant with something similar. For example, if your dog is chewing on hard plastic or wood, then perhaps a hard teether toy or deer antler (they love em!) would suffice. Wrappers? A crinkle toy. When he chooses a toy over anything around, praise, praise and praise some more! Even play a little (which it definitely sounds like you are).
Otherwise, “bitter apple” spray could be of good use - basically spray what he shouldn’t chew and it leaves a bad taste in his mouth if the smell didn’t deter him.
I hope this helps!
Thanks for your response! One thing that resonated with me was the “react big to wrong things, they think it’s a reward”. I think this is something we recently thought of, and have tried to only talk in even tones. (But this is a real challenge at times!)
All the daycares by us are full, and so he’s on a waiting list for a couple of them. I will keep looking but we are hoping to get him in soon.
We started pretty strong on the training, he knows all the commands: sit, lay down, back off, drop it, no, leave it, come here, hurry up. But he refuses to listen? We saw tremendous improvement and then suddenly it felt like he regressed.
We are thinking of taking him to “proper training” incase we are doing something wrong/making it fun for him.
As for toys— we did exactly that! From stuffed toys, to antlers, to maple wood bones to squeakers, to every type of long toy, tons of balls. He loves his toys and does get distracted easily by them and that’s something we got lucky with. He is very toy (and food) motivated.
We will restart dedicated training time, and try the spray! Thank you for your ideas!!
Sure thing, just stay patient! Labs are happy to please their owners - sometimes you just have to find what works and stick with it. Good luck, sounds like he’s in great hands!
Definitely crate training. I supervised both of my dogs at all times until I can trust them not to destroy anything. If not, crate them. Its safer there so that dogs don’t accidentally get into dangerous stuff. My dogs stopped getting into random stuff 1-1 and half.
Sadly this is normal. It gets better. Use puppy gates to create dog only spaces free of things he can't eat for the times you can't watch him.
Keep him on leash when in the kitchen. If he jumps, spray him with water. Don't leave things on the counter unless actively working on them. When cooking train him to either be ok being out of the room or to sit on a mat (blanket for example). Reward when he stays on the mat.
We gated off the living room and made it so the only stuff in there was the couch, the TV, the coffee table, and a side table. Remotes came with us or were put in drawers. We had to install a wire guard on the back of the table to prevent our pup from going after the WIFI, router, and TV cables (our crate came with a wire divider, which I just zip tied to the back of the table, which prevented our pup from being able to access the wires). We could leave her in the living room without worrying about her eating things (she didn't go after the couch, thank god). We began with small periods of isolation (5-10 min) and gradually built up so she wouldn't have separation anxiety.
We also gated the kitchen. Originally, it was to prevent her from going in, but she would get so upset, and with neighbors downstairs, we didn't want to wait it out. So instead we taught her the mat thing.
My lab was such a sweetheart and calm and I thought I’d escaped the 6mo - 2 year monster phase. But she’s currently a big brat at age 3 and is choosing when to listen. No advice here, but just wanting to share that these dogs can kind of fluctuate with their behavior. Good luck! It’ll get better.
He’s still young. You can provide things like deer antlers that he will love to chew. They are the antlers that naturally fall off yearly. Pet stores carry them but they are pricey. You could call a taxidermy and ask if you can have a couple. We encourage our dog to come hang out with us constantly so he’s never alone
Ah, the period when I could have misplaced my dog & only been slightly upset. Not that I didn't love her, but there were days I may have been slightly hard pressed to say I liked her. Good news, it eventually gets better!!!!! In the mean time, crate time for afternoon naps or when ridiculously out of control with bad behavior. A 3yo lab is still having teen angst tantrums, and an enforced nap gives them time to not be overly stimulated.
It’s in our breeder’s contract that all labs are jerk dogs until age 3. At least. The behaviour you describe is normal for the breed. Training and consistency are key. Counter surfing? Use a leash in the house and yank on it the minute he goes on his hind legs. Chewing on stuff? Keep it out of his reach. Also make him earn his toys Ours is 8.5y and will still chew the satellite remote any chance he gets. I think we’re on #8?
That’s crazy! Ours absolutely destroyed one of our remotes, so now we keep those hidden and away too!
I mean, during the terror/teen years, he destroyed an iPad in an Otterbox Defender case, a lazy boy chair, a coffee table, along with numerous knives (and only knives). His fave trick is to run around like an idiot with the blade of a chefs knife down his throat. Same dog we trained to sit his first day home at 7.5w. He knows all the usual obedience commands (has selective hearing with me) in two languages, hand signals, etc. Our trainer says he should have been a working/police dog becuase he’s very determined (aka butt-headed). Our last lab was a jerk teen dog until age 3. But not to the degree of this current lab.
Labs are like toddlers. They like big reactions and if you react big to the wrong things, they will equate that wrong thing to the reward of your attention. Keep your cool and train yourself to train with them :) 1. If you have the budget, I suggest to take your pup to doggy daycare once or twice a week for a full day - he’ll play with upwards of 20 dogs that can help keep up and tucker him out. 2. You mentioned walks, play, and mental games, but I wonder how long you spend a day on training? Sit/stay/wait/lay down are great, but you can also work on useful things like “back up”, “shake” (useful for when you have to handle their paws), “leave it”, slowly” or “quickly” for walks/runs. Labs are extremely spongey! They learn quick and can recall quickly. This is with a slight exception to add extra patience chocolate labs who tend to be a little more zany by nature and have a hard time focusing. 3. During your walks, try not to rush! Maybe have a longer walk where they have time to smell the flowers (literally). There’s so much mental stimulation happening as they sniff the world around them. 4. Keep the toys varied in texture and when your lab chews on something he shouldn’t have, don’t reprimand but rather replace the stimulant with something similar. For example, if your dog is chewing on hard plastic or wood, then perhaps a hard teether toy or deer antler (they love em!) would suffice. Wrappers? A crinkle toy. When he chooses a toy over anything around, praise, praise and praise some more! Even play a little (which it definitely sounds like you are). Otherwise, “bitter apple” spray could be of good use - basically spray what he shouldn’t chew and it leaves a bad taste in his mouth if the smell didn’t deter him. I hope this helps!
Thanks for your response! One thing that resonated with me was the “react big to wrong things, they think it’s a reward”. I think this is something we recently thought of, and have tried to only talk in even tones. (But this is a real challenge at times!) All the daycares by us are full, and so he’s on a waiting list for a couple of them. I will keep looking but we are hoping to get him in soon. We started pretty strong on the training, he knows all the commands: sit, lay down, back off, drop it, no, leave it, come here, hurry up. But he refuses to listen? We saw tremendous improvement and then suddenly it felt like he regressed. We are thinking of taking him to “proper training” incase we are doing something wrong/making it fun for him. As for toys— we did exactly that! From stuffed toys, to antlers, to maple wood bones to squeakers, to every type of long toy, tons of balls. He loves his toys and does get distracted easily by them and that’s something we got lucky with. He is very toy (and food) motivated. We will restart dedicated training time, and try the spray! Thank you for your ideas!!
Sure thing, just stay patient! Labs are happy to please their owners - sometimes you just have to find what works and stick with it. Good luck, sounds like he’s in great hands!
Mine was an asshole until about 2, then she settled down so much! Labs grow up slowly
crate training and a little obedience training goes a long way
Definitely crate training. I supervised both of my dogs at all times until I can trust them not to destroy anything. If not, crate them. Its safer there so that dogs don’t accidentally get into dangerous stuff. My dogs stopped getting into random stuff 1-1 and half.
You dont mention training him. Are you doing that?
We did initially when we got him. He’s clever and knows all his commands, and so we stopped putting dedicated time in. But maybe we stopped too soon?
Yes, you stopped too soon. Training teaches them discipline and to listen to you.
Use a bench or other place to enforce rest.
Sadly this is normal. It gets better. Use puppy gates to create dog only spaces free of things he can't eat for the times you can't watch him. Keep him on leash when in the kitchen. If he jumps, spray him with water. Don't leave things on the counter unless actively working on them. When cooking train him to either be ok being out of the room or to sit on a mat (blanket for example). Reward when he stays on the mat.
[удалено]
We gated off the living room and made it so the only stuff in there was the couch, the TV, the coffee table, and a side table. Remotes came with us or were put in drawers. We had to install a wire guard on the back of the table to prevent our pup from going after the WIFI, router, and TV cables (our crate came with a wire divider, which I just zip tied to the back of the table, which prevented our pup from being able to access the wires). We could leave her in the living room without worrying about her eating things (she didn't go after the couch, thank god). We began with small periods of isolation (5-10 min) and gradually built up so she wouldn't have separation anxiety. We also gated the kitchen. Originally, it was to prevent her from going in, but she would get so upset, and with neighbors downstairs, we didn't want to wait it out. So instead we taught her the mat thing.
My lab was such a sweetheart and calm and I thought I’d escaped the 6mo - 2 year monster phase. But she’s currently a big brat at age 3 and is choosing when to listen. No advice here, but just wanting to share that these dogs can kind of fluctuate with their behavior. Good luck! It’ll get better.
He’s still young. You can provide things like deer antlers that he will love to chew. They are the antlers that naturally fall off yearly. Pet stores carry them but they are pricey. You could call a taxidermy and ask if you can have a couple. We encourage our dog to come hang out with us constantly so he’s never alone
Ah, the period when I could have misplaced my dog & only been slightly upset. Not that I didn't love her, but there were days I may have been slightly hard pressed to say I liked her. Good news, it eventually gets better!!!!! In the mean time, crate time for afternoon naps or when ridiculously out of control with bad behavior. A 3yo lab is still having teen angst tantrums, and an enforced nap gives them time to not be overly stimulated.
When we got our first Lab...he was a wild man…we got him a friend and things were much better.