6 month lab - help please

[rachel540]

Hello all! I have a 6 month old Labrador (of working strand), we decided that we would try and train her ourselves and haven’t attended any puppy classes with her, things went very well, she settled in at home and with her crate, was house trained and learnt commands (sit, down, stay, leave, etc) all very quickly, overall she is very loveable and couldn’t imagine our lives without her.

Recently however things have gone a little crazy (well there had to be a reason why I am here) and we are looking for advice.

Walking Pepper has recently become intolerable, she has a harness and we are still working on heal training, which she is learning slowly but I know she can do it, but whenever Pepper sees another dog or person she is so excitable it is starting to ruin our walks and not to mention be extremely embarrassing! She bounds toward them (usually dragging us along she is that big and strong now) and ignores us completely.

We have been letting her off the lead and her recall is good, we play fetch, etc but we always choose somewhere we are alone, as we are afraid that if she saw someone or another dog, we would loose her.

To teach her to heal we have been trying different techniques such as stopping and starting which she did sit nicely then as soon as we stepped to continue more often than not she launched forward, so as you can imagine we didn’t get very far. So we decided to try turning around whenever she pulled to teach her that pulling won’t get her anywhere, but she doesn’t really care which way she goes, as soon as we turn she launches again.

We are now at the point where we are considering a head collar, but I have my reservations. This may help her with heal training but what will happen when she launches forwards towards someone? I have heard dogs can slip out of them easily?

We have limited her exercise while she is young and while her bones are developing and we are giving her 30-40mins a day, but wondered if this is enough? If her excitement is because she has so much energy and not enough of an outlet? (She is on adult food now and hoped she would calm down after the change over – how foolish!)

On another issue, I would also welcome any innovative ideas to keep dogs occupied. Pepper goes through her toys very quickly and I am running out of new and exciting ways to challenge her.

If anyone has any advice, tips, experiences, etc to share it would be most appreciated.

Thanks, Rachel

[Ari_RR]

May I ask what kind of harness you use?

[minkee]

You've got a handful there with a young lab And you're doing really well. I'm going to point you in the direction of two threads we have here, both of which should help you out, and then if you have any more questions feel free to ask them here or in either thread

The first is about loose lead walking: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=858 - it's a really simple technique that will have you wearing a groove in the pavement to begin with, but if you're consistent your pup will soon pick it up. It also means doing lots of short 'training' walks, rather than long walks, so that's great for a puppy too.

The second is a really great thread about "Exercise the Mind" full of ways to keep your little one occupied and out of mischief. Take a look here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1135

Good luck, and let us know if you need anything else

[rachel540]

May I ask what kind of harness you use?

Its a nylon harness, I don't know the office name of it but its the shape of a T on her chest with a strap round her body with a clip and loop for the lead on her back.

[Ari_RR]

Using harness with clip on the back only increases dog's pulling power.
I would recommend in the near term switching to harness with the clip on the front, like "no pull Easy Walk", you can google it.
I would not recommend head collar without understanding what it is for, risks involved (neck injury if the dog lunges) and ways to reduce those risks (using head collar AND harness together).

But these are just short term "equipment-related" points. Follow the link that Mikee included for more on how to actually train the dog for nice, clam, loose leash walking...

Cheers

[ladybug1802]

I would avoid a headcollar....its not so much an issue of them slipping out of them, but iof she lunges she could really badly damage her neck...even break it.

With her exercise, what kind of exercise is it? As in is it off lead or on lead?

What is her daily routine? How long is she left alone for? What other training do you do to occupy her brain? Clciker training is great for that kind of thing and you can basically work to teach her anything, just to work her brain. I have taught my boy silly things like 'take a bow' and 'high five'...because he loves learning, loves the clicker and it is good for bonding and for working his brain. But only do short sessions.

Stuffed frozen kongs are great for occupying dogs...as are feeing food from a treat ball, or hiuding a treat in a load oif screwed up newspaper!

You have to remember that you have chosen a working intelligent dog, and she is at an age where she has a lot of energy and is being an adolescent! Can I ask why you decided against going to classes with her?

Is she food motivated anhd do you train her with treats/take treats out on walks?

[Sarah83]

She sounds like Spencer. He just launches himself forward in whatever direction I'm going in, if I turn he just launches himself forward in the direction I've turned in. Not much fun is it? I've been looking at the Premier Easy Walk harness to help me control him a bit better while I train him. My hands are actually bruised from his pulling.

The thing to remember when using the stop and start method or the turn around and go in the other direction method is that your aim isn't actually to get anywhere. Set a time limit rather than a destination. 5 minutes of practising loose leash walking several times a day is what I did with my last dog. Because I'm unable to drive I used a Halti with him when I absolutely had to get him somewhere (vets for example) and did the loose leash walking practice on a regular collar. That way me having to get somewhere in a time frame didn't undo all the work I'd done on teaching him to walk nicely. I would not use a head collar on a dog who lunges though, that's why I'm looking at the harness for Spencer.

[rachel540]

Thank you for such speedy responses and for so much advice already. I will begin reading through the threads as suggested and will look for at new harnesses asap. Pepper really does have so much power behind her and I dont know why i never thought of that before. But your comments on the head lead just confirmed my concerns.

Her exercise is a mix of on lead and off lead, in addition to games in the home and garden. We play tug, hide treats and toys,etc and she has her favourites that shes just quite happy to lay and chew. I do think we have relaxed with her training and this is something i realise we need to continue. Pepper is alone for approx 3 hours each day and this is where im running out of innovative games to entertain her, she hasnt caused huge amounts of damage yet but dont want to get to that point of boredom. She loves her kongs, ropes and shredding anything cardboard. She loves her treats and use them for praise and playing games.

With regards to puppy training, there was no real reason why we opted against it, we felt well equipped at the time having been thinking and preparing for her arrival for a long time. My partner also works shifts and would have difficulty attending the same group each week. But we have considered maybe some one to one lessons to help point us in the right direction. I think sometimes things can be so frustrating its hard to see beyond the problem, even if the solution can be so simple, which is why im on here really.

[Nettle]

You can perfectly well train your puppy without classes some are far better than others, and some classes set you up for failure. One to one sessions can be very good with the right trainer - run from anyone using words like pack, dominance or alpha. If you try a trainer and you are unhappy with anything they say or do, you don't have to allow it. Owners' instincts are usually good, so don't be afraid to say No I don't want to do that.

Your dog is heading into adolescence, and there's no cure for that except time and patience. She may have her first season about now, and their heads can be all over the place at this time - hormones do that. But once she has had her season she will come out of it as a more mature dog. However, she won't be adult until two years old, and it can be a rocky ride for some.


Have a read through our pinned threads on Loose Leash Walking and Exrcise the Mind, and come back with your questions.

[Natalie&Coco]

Hi Rachel

As an owner of a 2 year old chocolate lab can I just say I know how your feeling haha. At 6 months my Coco was exactly the same, whenever someone walked past us with a dog or not she would just want to go say hello and make friends, which in turn made me look like i couldnt control my dog as she would pull me all over. I have to say though with time she grew out of it. On every walk I would purposely take her near our local shops where I knew there would be lots of people and a good chance other dogs.

She now knows that not everyone is going to fuss her just because they are walking on the same side of the road, If they give her a pat then thats a bonus.

She also has a harness like yours and a headcollar. Ive never had any problems with the headcollar as it has stopped the lunging completely but understand that its not for everyone.

Just keep taking it day by day because from what you have wrote there is nothing wrong she is just being an excitable friendly lab.

Good luck

[easilyconfused]

I second that. I have a house full of Labs and between 6-9 months is hard work. They are an incredibly social at that age, hormones are running wild and they are usually getting adult teeth and growing their jaw.

Try to spot approaching dogs early, keep her attention and walk away when she focuses on the approaching dog. Get nearer when she focuses on you. The ultimate reward for staying focused and calm should be to greet the other dog. Labs are very quick learners so with a bit of patience you will do fine.

[Labsrule]

Hi, I have 2, quite mad at that age. Too late at night to offer much help, do PM me if u want to, chin up it does get better!!

[rachel540]

Hi! Thank you for your comments, its nice to hear we're not alone. We are incorporating more training when we play and reiterating all the things we taught her when she was a pup. We bought a head collar this weekend and seen such an improvement already, she walks to heal and we didnt come back from our walk aching from her pulling lol she still wanted to launch at other dogs but only when they were very close, she simply looked when they were across the road and we managed to get her focus on us and continue. To be honest we have avoided busy areas and after a few more sessions concentrating on her new head collar and her focussing on us i think that will be the next step.

Thanks again will keep you all posted on our progress.

Rachel

[ladybug1802]

Are you using the headcollar in conjunction with another lead on her flat collar or harness?

I p[ersonall thnink you would be better off using a harness with a ring on the front and back, and using a double ended lead....less likely to damage her neck?

[rachel540]

Hi ladybug
We really struggled to find a harness that had a front loop (only the easy walk harness online) therefore got the gentle leader head collar to try, we didnt use any other lead just the one connected to her head collar. The difference was amazing but i must admit my partner took to it a lot better than i did, he felt he had full control and because he wasnt battling against her power could easily control the situation should we bump into another dog. I on the other hand struggled because it was such a change in technique, but we just need more practise.

We're open to try different things and may not stick with the head collar, but i must admit so far pepper has shown a vast improvement. I'll keep you posted.

Rachel