Wild lab

Yourmove · 12-29-2004, 06:48 PM

I have a lab that is a little over 1 year old. He is quite wild. At our hunting club when i let him out to walk around he " socializes" he is quite rambunctious. Running at cars that come up. sometimes jumping up on cars and people. Just alot more hyper than other labs his own age. I really dont mind it but alot of people he is around do. will this wear off at the age of 2. I know this is a hard question to ask if u dont meet the dog. Thanks

johnch · 12-29-2004, 06:53 PM

Work him hard and then work him again.
My lab needs to be worked HARD just about every day or he gets hyper.
My lab "Simmon" is 5 and is not slowing down.

TreestandEd · 12-29-2004, 07:20 PM

It"™s not the dog, You got all winter to work on basic obedience skills. And yes the behavior you describe is very rude. Pray he don"™t scratch a car or gun.

charger19 · 12-29-2004, 08:28 PM

I've got the same problem.Like they said, work him every day.Mine gets a little better every day that I work her.She's about 1 1/2 yrs.

SWOSUMike · 12-29-2004, 08:38 PM

I would say this dog is still just a pup, but you can still break him of bad habits. You might try not letting him jump up on trucks and people by keeping him on a long lead and popping it hard when he starts to jump. Or you could try a shock collar for the jumping, you'd just have to do it right and not overdue it, while still being consistent. You aren't bothered by him being hyper, I don' think, and you can't help that anyway until he is older, but you can teach what not to do when hyper....good luck. -MIKE

Doc E · 12-29-2004, 08:48 PM

Just like TreeStandED said,
Obedience ! "HERE" means get your butt over here to me NOW.
SIT means plant your butt until you are given another command.
Your dog needs to be taught that "jumping up on a person" is only allowed if the person "commands" it.
This will not "wear off" without proper training (ON YOUR PART).

IMO, this is not a dog problem, it's a training problem.

Yourmove · 12-30-2004, 06:58 AM

Well know sit, stay. heel come and all but he just likes to walk around and i think it would make him go crazy if i made him sit next to me for a few hours everyday. I mean i know i couldnt

Doc E · 12-30-2004, 07:50 AM

I'm not sure what kind of hunt club you are talking about, but why would you be "sitting for a few hours" at a hunt club ? Would this be in a duck blind or what?

At one year of age, your dog is still a pup, and like any kid, he will get 'antsy' once in awhile, but I can't see any reason why you wouldn't want to train him to a level that would preclude him from running at cars and jumping on cars and people. Running at cars could be a life-threatening situation, and NOT jumping up on cars and people should have been trained a number of months ago.

Are there cars and people all the time at your hunt club? Let him have a little freedom when there aren't any 'enticements', but as soon as he starts running at cars and people (and I'm guessing other dogs), your commands should be, "HERE"------"HEEL"-----"SIT",
and he should obey. And by one year of age, he should have already been taught to NOT jump on cars or people !

A dog will do what he wants to do unless you give him a command, and then he should do what he was commanded. There is no reason that a one year old shouldn't be able to sit at your side for at least an hour at a time -- then go for a short walk with him and let him pee and run off a little energy (Away from people and cars). Then he should be more than able to sit at your side for an hour again.

Speaking of sitting next to you, you say "I know I couldn't" --- does this mean that YOU couldn't or HE couldn't ? There's a big difference between him "just liking to walk around" and being out of control.

Let him have some occassional freedom, but get him under control when an 'encticement' is likely to turn him into a 'bad boy wild man'. I just don't understand why there could be a "constant flow of cars and people" -- when there are cars and people and other dogs, he needs to be under control, it's as simple as that.

You seem to have wanted answers that said -- "Yeah, it's normal, just give him another year to calm down" ........... but the real answer is "You need to control your dog".

I will say again, that this is a training problem, and not a dog problem.

losthwy · 12-30-2004, 08:11 AM

It does sound like the dog needs more OB work. Sit, here, off, heel, etc. It's just not he knows these things but always does them when commanded. Hyper dogs can make great hunting, HT and FT dogs but, need a solid foundation.

jashoffa · 12-30-2004, 08:59 AM

This may be a little unrelated but my GSP had the habit of juming up on cars to look inside, for what I don't know. I would correct her by yelling no and she would respond by getting down but I had a difficult time breaking her of it untill one day she did it while she was a about a step away as soon as her paws touched the car I had a hold of her, I refrain from using a hard hand with a dog but a firm hand on the collar or scruf of the neck and a gental shake while yelling NO helped in this instance to break her of the habit. She got the message that jumping on a car was not acceptable. Now she stands on her hine legges and looks inside without putting her paws on the car.