sarah_5707 Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Hi everybody, great to be a part of this site! Next week I pick up my beautiful lab, Cody, from a local pound, my first dog since leaving my parents. The vet was unsure how old he is, because he was found on the side of the road a few weeks ago un-micro chipped, but he thinks Cody is around 8 months. He is extremely energetic, he has literally an endless supply of energy, but the slight issue with that is he has had absolutely no training. Ever. I have had experience with training labs before, as my parents have always bred labs, but I've never seen a dog with as much energy as Cody. I am slightly worried that because of his 'older' age in puppy terms that it will be a huge job to train him. I study by distance so i will be home with him all the time, and i generally go for a walk/run morning and night. I live next to a beach, and I am planning on spending quite a bit of time with him there, but I am also unsure of how safe that is even though he is obsessed with water, I'm scared that he might get caught in a rip. I'm wondering whether any other members have had any experience with similar situations, or any thing that would be helpful, with both letting him in the water at the beach and training him. Thank you in advance for your suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 OK ... so dog has never been on a leash or worn a collar? Dog will not walk on lead? Dog will not respond to "sit "? Was dog in pound because he was found wandering? My first though is ...be VERY wary of him being an escape artist!. Visit your vet on the way home with him .. get him checked/vacc'd and microchipped in your name . Do not let him out of your sight at first at home. keep him on a longish leash with you as much as possible ..inside and outside at first ... so he learns what's what, and you can praise him for doing good stuff/distract/correct when he looks as if he is about to do something different Housetraining will need to be like a little puppy - outside every 20 mins or so at first ...use a word ...LOTS of praise when he toilets Don't worry about the beach for quite some time yet. You and your dog need to learn about each other - you need to learn how to communicate, and trust each other and have rules and consequences set down. may I suggest you IMMEDIATELY start N I L I F ? It stands for Nothing In Life Is Free ..and means the DOG decides how much affection it will get throughout the day ....by doing what pleases you!! When dog is not being calm/obedient, it gets NO attention . No picking up- no talking to, no patting .. BUT when dog has all 4 feet on the ground, is looking at you, is quiet,sits/lies down when near you , doesn't bounce around on the furniture, waits for dinner - a hundred different things during the day ...THEN dog gets attention,cuddles, whatever Basically the dog's day is an opportunity to earn all the affection it can handle ..not because it is there, and cute ..but because it has shown you a behaviour which is pleasing and calm and is good mannered . Dogs will learn VERY quickly like this- cos of course , they exist to take as much affection as we can give ;) Humans, on the other hand.... often have a bit of trouble with this way of behaving - they are impatient animals ... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Does he come back when he is called? If he doesn't have a reliable recall, I would think off leash swimming at the beach is a big no-no. Practice recalls at home, and when this is solid, start taking him out on a long line and practice recalls at the park or beach. I don't think him being older will be a disadvantage, Labs will do basically anything for food and learn quickly if you put the effort in. If he is an active lab he may need more exercise and training than you expect. I also have a lab and she really needs at least 3 x 1hr walks a day to be happy (and non destructive)plus extra training at home- I do a bit of trick training, obedience and agility with her everyday. She is just recovering from illness recently and was an absolute pain in the butt- basically had to be crated the majority of the time or she would rip up stuff, destroy her toys, dig, chew, bark, bring you toys/other items she was not allowed etc. Thankfully she is crate trained so was reaosnably well behaved and settled in the crate. I recommend you begin crate training with your lab. It is great to calm them down, gives them a safe place and is great if they are ever injured or sick. In summer I swim with my lab for around 45 mins in the ocean, she just follows me, embarassingly she is practically a faster swimmer than me and much fitter. If you swim with your dog (I don't know if you'd want to though?) it should hopefully follow you, although sometimes my dog will chase a bird quite far out which is a bit scary. She geenreally comes back when she is called though. Perhaps some training to exercise his mind would also be good? My dog and I enjoy agility traiing and also do obedience. Can you join an obedience or agility club? The other thing to look into is drive training, he sounds like a good candidate for this- it can be beneficial for dogs who don't respond to the traditional methods of training. I recommend you speak to K9pro about this: www.k9pro.com.au, they are great and can help out with other training/behavoiur issues if you need. Good Luck and enjoy you new lab- they are great fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I adopted a 2 year old Labrador who didn't have any training, except for a few months spent in foster care and probably picked up a few ideas on how to behave while in care. Her previous owners had her chained and muzzled in the backyard with another Lab, so I can't imagine those types of people training and walking their dogs She fit into the household quickly and was a quick learner, but then again, she had my other Lab who was 2 and I'd had since a puppy to learn some manners from. Toilet train like he's a puppy in case he isn't already trained (I was lucky that mine was), and put on a long line and teach a recall. The others already explained a lot, so I'll leave it there! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilmisssascha83 Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I adopted a 2 year old Labrador who didn't have any training, except for a few months spent in foster care and probably picked up a few ideas on how to behave while in care. Her previous owners had her chained and muzzled in the backyard with another Lab, so I can't imagine those types of people training and walking their dogs She fit into the household quickly and was a quick learner, but then again, she had my other Lab who was 2 and I'd had since a puppy to learn some manners from. Toilet train like he's a puppy in case he isn't already trained (I was lucky that mine was), and put on a long line and teach a recall. The others already explained a lot, so I'll leave it there! Good luck! Agree with Rubystar. My Labrador didn't have any training except for a few weeks in foster care where she learnt the command down. She had NO training on the lead and was a lot stronger than she use to be. She fit into my household quite quickly too and was beautiful with the cat. Are you going to take the dog to obedience school? I would also take the dog out regularly to go to the bathroom in case it isn't housetrained. I wouldn't take the dog to the beach and let it off the leash until you have bonded and had some obedience training. The first time I took Sasha to the beach I kept her on a long leash. First just to see how she would react. As we have been doing obedience training I took the opportunity to practice what we have been learning there as it was a new place. We have now been two more times and are going again in December and she loves it. She goes offlead and will go swimming but comes back. She usually doesn't swim too far out. I do know that some dogs are frightened of the waves. Sasha was first a little wary and then she thought it was a game and now she just loves it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBlue Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I got a 13 month old lab who had no training - I mean no training. She wasn't toilet trained, jumped on the kitchen bench top, couldn't walk on a lead, forget sit, come, drop, etc. Now 4 years on she is fantastic and has even earned herself some titles. Just be consistent and make him earn everything and he'll pick it up very quickly. As others have said, long lead or fully fenced enclosure is important until he's got a consistent recall. My older well behaved lab was a great roll model and I also found that training sessions were more exhausting then free running which worked well for both of us. Her energy levels are lower now shes reached middle age but she was an absolute nut when she was younger. Good luck and keep us up to date Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I would definitly join an obedience club it will be good for the dog to be around other dogs and learn self control and the instructors should be able to help you a great deal good on you for giving a rescue dog a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilmisssascha83 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Yeah good on you for adopting a rescue dog. I think they are amazing. Its so great to see what a loving home, exercise, training can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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