littlelabrador

wow, ok, i wasn't expecting to start an argument about puppy preschools. For clarification. We are going to puppy preschool, and i am implementing what they say, at home. I have used their method to teach 'sit' and she learnt that within a couple days. 90% of the time, when i ask her to sit she will. 100% when with just me, less so when my daughter and husband are also in the room. We have only been twice so far. I am getting my husband to take her this weekend, as i think he needs to learn how to handle her too, on the lead, etc, rather than just my going and telling him when i get home. We are going to do obedience training too, but i thought that started after puppy preschool. I do think she probably needs it now, so i will look into it now. She is a very active pup at times. Her habit seems to be a bit of activity in the morning, a sleep, a bit more activity around lunchtime, sleeps most of the afternoon, then wild in the evenings. Right now, shes just lying quietly at my feet ! On days that we are home by ourselves, she really is quite placid. She just seems to get so reved up when my hubby is home (and he does nothing to cause that, he ignores the bad behaviour, but if he says 'no' gruffly to her, she just goes nuts). I am going to take on board the advice to get a professional out to see her, if i can find one, as i think someone seeing her in her own evironment, with us, will get better results. blacklab - No, we are NOT walking her yet. She has only just this week had her second vaccination, because she's been unwell, the vet did not want to give it till now. In a couple weeks she will get the 3rd, then a couple weeks after that we can take her out. The only place she has gone is puppy preschool. My father owns a 11yr old male black lab, and i am going to take her to see him next week maybe. (he is fully vaccinated, etc). Please dont think because i am coming here for advice that i am some ignorant, new owner who knows nothing. I am coming here to ask for advice because i know there are lots of breeders and trainers on this forum, who maybe can point us in the right direction. We love this puppy and dont want to have to rehome her, we want her well trained, etc. Some of you seem to think we need training help, others seem to think its normal behaviour. I am going to look into the training so i can be sure we are on the right path.

Hi, i dont have any advice because mines only a pup too, but just wanted to say we had the same problem with the supercoat, up to 10x a day !!

Actually, re the puppy school, it is run by our local vets, and we've only been twice so far, but i must say that the vet nurse teaching it does definitely seem to know what she's talking about. She has talked a lot about dog behaviour, language etc. But we were planning on obedience training too anyway. Just might be sooner than i expected.

I was thinking we might need some proper dog training right now ! We are on the lower NSW Central Coast, if anyone can recommend someone. Otherwise i might try the yellow pages. Wouldn't all trainers be private ?? I'm a bit confused. Why would telling the breeders be of any use ?? They know she has been unwell, but weren't really able to help there, all of the other pups from the litter have not had the gut problems Molly has had. We had labs when i was a kid, i cant remember if this behaviour is normal or not. She is so much better with me during the day than she is at night. I wasn't sure if it is just that she wants my husbands attention at night ? And no, we are not planning to 'dump her'. We waited a long time to get a puppy, something we all wanted, and my daughter is just in love with her, but we cant have aggression, thats the only problem.

Thanks, i will try the handfeeding, cant hurt to give it a go, thats for sure. No, dont have a crate, we decided against it, because she is happy sleeping on her bed in our kitchen at night, no problems there, and we cant fit a crate in our car, so no point really.

Is it even possible ?? We have an 11wk old yellow lab puppy, Molly, who i have written about when we first got her. We've been so busy with her i havent had time to get back to this site ! Molly has had a lot of problems with loose bowel motions, and frequency, up to ten times a day. After trial and error, antibiotics etc, the vet has put her on a prescription dry food last week and finally it has helped, shes only going 2 or 3 times a day now and its much firmer. But, we are having a lot of problems with jumping, biting, barking etc, mostly with my husband at night. She is aggressive about her food. We are going to puppy preschool, and the lady there has said to pat her while she's eating and to put our hands in the food etc, well we certainly cant get our hands in the food, she tries to bite us, but if patted once or twice she will tolerate the pat, any more she startes growling. We arent sure if this is just because the first few weeks she wasn't absorbing enough and has just been really hungry. The second week we had her she didnt gain much weight, so obviously wasnt getting enough nutrition. Weight gain has picked up with the new food (1.2kg last week). When hubby gets home in the evening, he pays attention to her, has a little ball play with her, and then we eat dinner. She jumps up while we are eating, barks etc. Dont know if she just wants more attention or what. We've tried giving her time out when she does this, in the laundry and she will calm down, but it takes a few time outs ! After dinner, and daughter is in bed, we usually relax in front of the tv. This is when Molly goes 'psycho' as my husband calls it. He will be sitting on the lounge, and she will run around in circles, very hyper, then jump up at him, bark at him, try to bite him wherever she can get hold, feet, legs etc. We have been using a 'sit' command with a downward hand signal, and when he puts his hand out to say and do that command she goes nuts barking at him. Last night she nipped a bit too hard and drew blood. I don't have anywhere near as much of a problem during the day. She will obey the sit command for me. She does seem like an active puppy, not a quiet little thing, but we have a 5yr old and if she is going to be a biting, aggressive dog, we will not be able to keep her, and that would break all our hearts as we love her already ! She is purebred, from a breeder, not a shop, etc. Have to go and organise myself, will come back later this morning and check any responses, any advice or help is greatly appreciated.

bit of an update: Molly is doing well, we decided to let her just sleep in the kitchen because that is where she will sleep as an adult dog anyway, and she is fine ! She makes no noise at night, she does do one wee in one end of the kitchen, so i will try and get up middle of the night as someone suggested and take her outside for it. She is still jumping up on my daughter, but not on me. She is also nipping at her feet and clothes anytime she gets excited. Other than saying no or down, and making my daughter stand still, what else can we do ? Puppy preschool starts in another week.

thanks for all the advice. We had another very rough night last night, she cried, whined, barked, growled until about 3am. We are/were having her sleep in our laundry (a small one) in a box with blankets, we thought that was the best way to confine her, but she is making so much noise. Am going to try tonight to just let her stay out in the kitchen, which is gated off from the rest of the house by baby gates and see if that makes any difference. I need more than 2 hours sleep, lol. Otherwise she's been pretty good. Shes had a bit of diarrhoea last night/overnight, so we're doing the chicken/rice combo for a few days, and its a bit firmer this afternoon. Did take her to the vet this am though, and she's fine. Booked puppy school, yes, as 'blacklabrador' said, its 4 weeks, so we will do that, then i will look into the obedience training. We are on the NSW central coast. I've actually seen a dog training group, well thats what it looks like, just round the corner on a weekend morning, so i will get hubby to walk down there on the weekend and ask them what they are. Well, she's crashed out, daughter is watching a dvd and im stuffed, so time to have a little rest ! thanks for all the advice.

thanks. I grew up with Labs, but this is the first dog i've had as an adult. My daughter isnt 'squealing', its more moving away quickly when the dog approaches her. She has mild autism, which is a big part of why we have bought the dog, to help her learn to relate to another living thing, and i've only read good things about dogs for autistic kids. Labs/retrievers in particular. We have two cats so she is used to animals, and her grandfather has a black lab, but she has never been around a boisterous puppy. She (my child) has been better this afternoon, with constant reminders to stay still when the pup approaches, and there has been a lot less jumping. We will definitely be going to puppy school, i will be asking the vet about that tomorrow. I havent been able to put her on a leash/harness yet, as everything we bought is too big, lol. I will get smaller ones at the vet tomorrow too. So obedience training is different to puppy school ?? How long does that go for ?

thanks. She does seem to be responding to 'no', for now, it is only her first day at home, so i cant expect much more yet, can I. I think we will be needing to teach our child how to handle her moreso, as well. thanks.

Hi, we have an 8 wk old labrador, Molly. We only picked her up yesterday. She does a LOT of jumping up, and im not sure how to discipline this. I have just been saying 'no jumping' in a lower tone voice, i know it will take her quite some time to learn it. Is it normal for them to jump up frequently ? We have a 5 yr old child for whom we bought Molly. She is a little unsure of the puppy, and tends to run, puppy chases, jumps, you get the picture. Thanks for any advice.