golden lab

Paradigm

piglet74 wrote: »

I work 2 jobs, run a home, my husband works out of the country a lot, I was asking the question "when do they grow up".. I wasn't asking "am I suited to training and breeding dogs"

It's a pity you didn't post the above info in your original post as it's extremely relevent to your problem & also to any solution.... how long is she left alone? How much time do you spend on training?

If you don't mind me saying given your stated circumstances I would say that breeding is a big no no.

krlyr

piglet74 wrote: »

My question was "when, if ever, will she grow out of being "bouncy"

Then you're asking a very difficult to answer question. No one will know when your dog will grow out of her bouncy stage. They may know that certain foods can cause hyper behaviour though, or hormones can cause behavioural issues, or that a lack of training or mental stimulation can cause hyperactivity, or separation anxiety can cause destructive behaviour in a house - we're suggesting alternative reasons for her behaviour other than her age, because if it really is just a case of "wait and see", none of us could possibly put any more than a guess on when that will be.

piglet74

She is never left alone in the house, she is very rarely totally alone, always someone there looking after the other animals

Breeding is not an option, at the moment or maybe ever, and I do not need people to keep pointing out how I am not qualified enough or knowledgeable enough to breed,

If she never grows out of it, so be it, if I treat her like a pet, I can only expect her to act like one,

If food is the problem it would be impossible for me to say what it is, as besides her food, she also gets fed leftovers too.

aliasojo

piglet74 wrote: »

If food is the problem it would be impossible for me to say what it is, as besides her food, she also gets fed leftovers too.

It's much more likely to be the dog food IF food is a cause. Leftovers are less likely to be an issue, especially since they would change from meal to meal.

What about having a Kong ready for her when the she comes in from her walk and you trained her to sit as soon as she was in the door, rewarding her with the Kong. You could stuff it sometimes just to keep her interested (don't do it all the time).

She would then be focused on that for a while and less likely to run about like a looney. Maybe.

Like someone else said, it's all trial and error really.

krlyr

But pet dogs can be in a house and be calm, non-destructive and non-hyper (even at 2.5 years old) so obviously the problem is not "treating her like a pet". Pet dogs still need to be taught how to behave, pet dogs can still be affected by their diet (we're not talking so much titbits, but certain brands of food are often linked to hyper behaviour - such as, but not limited to, foods high in artificual colourings), and need mental and physical stimulation.

It sounds like you expect to just bring a dog into the house and it knows how to behave and is the perfect companion animal, quiet, cuddly and clean. That's not the case, and people are trying to advise you on how to reach that stage. You obviously seem to hold no interest into going to any effort to address the issue - just want to know how long you have to wait until it's sorted. If you don't do anything, then chances are you could be dealing with this issue for many years to come, even when she's matured, because she may not be an energetic juvenile but she'll still be a large breed dog with no manners due to the lack of training.

People are just trying to help. If you don't want general advice then I suggest you stick to reading Yahoo answers or similar, because people here will veer off on a tangent in an attempt to help you and your dog.

Person_one

piglet74 wrote: »

Fyi, my husband was a dog owner, trainer and breeder for YEARS tho not for labs, for racing dogs,

I suppose I'd better not give my opinions on the greyhound racing industry then...

piglet74

Person_one wrote: »

I suppose I'd better not give my opinions on the greyhound racing industry then...

No thanks, again it is not something I require any advice on.

Paradigm

piglet74 wrote: »

She is never left alone in the house, she is very rarely totally alone, always someone there looking after the other animals
If she never grows out of it, so be it, if I treat her like a pet, I can only expect her to act like one,

What does that mean?

southcoastrgi

that's the trouble with some people on here, they come on ask a question then get all uptight when other people give good answers or advice that they don't like.

of course food is important which is why people are asking about it, but you haven't got a clue because your husband sorts it out, he breeds grey hounds which will req a totally different food to your "pet" unless you plan on racing him.

of course you need to train him you need to train all dogs whether they are a pet or not, you aren't doing him any favours by letting him just do what he wants, if you have been around dogs for a good while then you should know all this, or did you just pat them on the head & say good doggie.

piglet74

Of course she gets dif food from the greyhounds,

I am "uptight" as u put it at the remarks such as your own eg "unless u plan on racing him", why the need for such sacasim???

The reason I didn't think the food had any bearing on her is because my other dog (pet) gets fed the same food and behaves totally different, but then all dogs do.