I'm very close to rehoming our puppy. :(

Raksha

meames wrote: »

I agree with this my 14 year old dog gets a 20 min walk in the morning! As Victoria Stillwell says "a tired dog is a hapy dog".

I think the OP said this is a Lab puppy - most breeders/vets advise 5 mins per month of age a day until at least a year - this is to prevent hip problems (along with good diet, breeding from low scored parents, not allowing unlimited tearing up and down stairs and leaping on sofas etc)

Sharon140

When I got my youngest dog at 10 weeks old (she is now 4yrs) I thought she was going to be the perfect pup just like my older dog, house trained at 4 months old, only ever chewed her toys and bed :rotfl:and loved to sit on my lap and watch tv. Boy was I in for a shock she was a nightmare! was still peeing all over the house at 10 months didn't want to sleep all night and made sure I didn't either she chewed everything in sight including door frames, skirtings and my best dining room chair legs :mad: I took her to training classes made sure she had loads of walks but nothing worked with her I used to sit crying thinking the only thing I could do was give her up Once she turned 2 it was as if a button clicked and she is now the sweetest and happiest little dog I have ever had the pleasure to have in my life So don't give up it does get easier I promise

Person_one

Raksha wrote: »

Lots of folk can't see why it's an issue, but at 6 months or so the dog stops being a 'puppy' and starts turning into a 'teenager'. Putting a dog of that age in a class with 10/12 week old puppies puts both at risk of learning bad habits/becoming bullies/becoming fear aggressive...

It would be like putting a teenage hoodie into a nursery class!!

It won't necessarily be a class full of 10/12 week olds, most puppy classes have a variety of ages up to a year.

It might not be ideal, but its better than a class full of adult rescue dogs with deeply ingrained issues and one to one is often prohibitively expensive.

Sometimes there is no perfect option.

Raksha

Person_one wrote: »

It won't necessarily be a class full of 10/12 week olds, most puppy classes have a variety of ages up to a year.

It might not be ideal, but its better than a class full of adult rescue dogs with deeply ingrained issues and one to one is often prohibitively expensive.

Sometimes there is no perfect option.

I used to run Puppy School puppy classes, as a franchise from Gwen Bailey (author of loads of dog training books, such as The Perfect Puppy). She always advised her trainers not to take puppies over 20 weeks, especially of the larger breeds, as by the time the 6 week course was finished, they're needs would be sufficiently different to the 16/18 week old puppies to actually not make it a good experience for either group.

In this situation, as the dog has already attended some socialisation, I'd suggest the money that may have been spent on a second session of classes (many Puppy School tutors run a follow on class to help through those teenage months) would be better spent on a one to one with the whole family (including the Husband, who appears to be the one whose struggling the most)

I have a 5 year old Labradoodle lying at my feet who came to me through another dog trainer as a 10 month old. He'd been shut in the garden because the household was too hectic and he was a Thug! The husband of that household wanted him put to sleep... For three months I was bruised from elbow to wrist as I taught him 'bite inhibition', for 6 months he was on a house line when in the house - during meal times he would be securely tied up so he could be with us but not get into trouble. Evenings were spent learning to 'settle' with a frozen stuffed Kong or raw meaty bone. They can be turned around at this age, but it takes a LOT more effort than if it's taught when they are puppies. (BTW he was supposed to have had digestive problems which meant he came to us with a prescription diet which was the only thing he could eat. He now eats a normal complete food and his digestive system is normal - he was stressed from being shut in the garden and not being allowed to live with his family)

MurphytheLabrador

Hi everyone.

He wasn't in a class with any other dogs, it was a one on one lesson.

All I can say is that it was a nightmare I was hoping that he would be quite well behaved. We've socialised him with people, so he meets strangers / friends at different times and always has done. However, as soon as she let him off his lead to try and do some basic commands and see how he got on, he was off It was just a small space, but when we tried to get him back on the lead, he was doing his usual - biting at us, jumping around. When he starts this, the kids literally try and hide from him so he doesn't accidently give them a sore bite? That's surlely not acceptable at over 7 months of age, it's past the mouthing stage now.

For the rest of the session, she kept him on his lead, and tried to do basic commands again. He was a complete nightmare, took him ages to do anything and he was trying to nip at the trainer too.

I know she must see worse dogs, but I was really embarrassed. I think she probably thought we hadn't trained him properly / at all, which is far from the truth. Sorry to ramble on a bit.

Rochelle

Caroline_a

How did the trainer leave it?

elsien

Is he a nervous dog? Only mine used to get hyper and jump and nip; it was like her fight and flight response went into overdrive so she'd be reasonably calm to start with then as soon as she realised there was nothing to be scared of she'd completely lose the plot. Same with training when she didn't understand what was going on - it was like ADHD with teeth. Not quite the same situation as she was oneish when I got here but there sound like some similarities. She didn't appear timid on the surface but that was definitely at the root of her problems.
I had to be consistent with training but adopt a very low arousal calm quiet approach. Which I couldn't have done with children in the house. She loved kids but as soon as they got loud or hyper she started leaping and biting, and I felt like the worst owner in the world.
Just wanted to say that I don't have much helpful advice but I do know how hard it is when your dog is nipping everyone and everything.On the nipping front what eventually worked for me was redirecting her to her toy, then praising her when she picked it up - they can't bite with a gob full of kong.

MurphytheLabrador

Sadly he just drops his toys, he is very clever so that didn't really work for him for too long. The trainer just said that he would need a lot of work done, if we wanted to go back, just to call and arrange it. She was very vague!

~Chameleon~

MurphytheLabrador wrote: »

Sadly he just drops his toys, he is very clever so that didn't really work for him for too long. The trainer just said that he would need a lot of work done, if we wanted to go back, just to call and arrange it. She was very vague!

Was this a proper APDT approved trainer?

krlyr

Remember, babysteps. If the dog can't be calm in the family home around its family, then expecting him to be off-lead in a stange place around a stranger is a big, big ask, and one he'll likely fail on.
I would work on his self-control at home, teach some commands to build his focus on you, and then look into a one-to-one trainer or behaviourist who will do home visits - would definately recommend finding one through the APDT or APBC.
As well as the videos I linked on my last post, I'd also recommend you teach "Watch me"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHLvt6TQzqA

And if he's dropping his toys, try to build up toy motivation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMy74EwNXgE

And food motivation too - a foody dog can be very easy to train, and as a Lab he should have a bit more inclination to be foody!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vjclD528k

(good video on picking which treats to use here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vjclD528k)