Pointers for a crazy black lab?

[89jeepxjw]

Ive had my dog bailey (Female AKC black lab) for about a year now and she is well...crazy, no other way of putting it. My other lab tank was a female and i cant say she was ever this crazy and hyper. Basically bailey is going 100mph all the time,I cant walk outside without getting tackled or jumped on and she pretty much chokes her self out when shes on the leash. She comes into the house at night but getting her into her kennel is a marathon and shes actually knocked over pretty much every standing object in the house as she tries to make her escape. I know shes a pup with about a year on her but is there an easy way to calm her ass down? its not that she doesnt listen(she knows basic sit and her name) but she is just so wound up its hard to calm her down. Is there anything that I can do? Ive thought about obideance classes but actually getting her in the car seems impossible. Help?

 

[olivedrabcj7]

I assume she lives outside except for at night? She most likely needs attention. Ive had labs that live outside and had terrible luck with getting them to mind. Basically the more you are around your dog, the less excited they will be to see you.

I have a 1 year old chocolate lab that lives inside pretty much 24/7. By having her in the house and around me all the time, she is getting obedient to the point where sometimes i can swear she understands english.

In the past when Ive had outside dogs that basically chill in the backyard all day with little attention, all they would do is go crazy when you got around them. In order to get your dog to be obedient and calm around you, It needs to know you expect that from it. The first command any dog ever needs to learn is the most important...... "NO". When i train a duck dog from a puppy, every time it does something wrong, "NO" followed by a swat to the ass. Eventually, when you shout "NO"....the dog will freeze and look at you. Once the dog learns "NO", you can train from there because when it screws up after that, all you have to do is shout "NO" and it will know it just messed up.

Basically Labs are a very active breed. They need lots and lots of interaction with their owner/handler in order to be obedient. Once you get the dog to be obedient, it will almost seem like they WANT to please you from there on. That will make it much easier to train and handle the dog.

 

[DrMoab]

It's the name.

I had a friend with a lab named bailey and it was crazy as hell.

Change her name and all will be well.

 

[olivedrabcj7]

also, what do you feed her? Ive noticed the cheaper dog food (ol roy, great value, etc) will make them more hyper. I prefer Iams or pedigree. The vet always tries to sell me Science Diet, but i refuse to spend more on food for my dog than I do for myself in a month. As an added bonus, the better dog food will have less fillers in it therefore ou wont have to shovel as much poo.:farmer:

Hershey (1 yr)

 

[SKIM]

I had a lab the best dog in the world, all I have to say is teach it how to Fetch a ball then you can sit in the front yard and just keep throwing it till they get tired it mite take a couple hours though.

 

[DrMoab]

Looks a lot like our dog.

He is a Wiemador.

 

[8Mud]

When my Weimaraner was young I'd take him out in the middle of a farming area and throw him out of the Jeep and drive off fast. You had to be quick or he'd run in front of the Jeep. When he looked like he was running in slow motion and his tongue was hanging out, I'd start his training.
I have a Jack Russel that is just wired, always in motion, a real bundle of energy. My solution was to get another Jack Russel and let them wear each other out. It kind of worked, they are too busy with each other to get in much trouble, but both still go pretty much 24/7.
Your dog may be really nuts, sad but it happens, line breeding can produce some bad offspring.
Had a buddy with a pure White Shepard (not an albino), that was pshyco. It finally died from eating glass bottles. Dog would just sit there and all of a sudden bite the heck out of whomever was the closest. Dog was actually and factually certifiably nuts. It would look calm and collected, then go manic and do crazy stuff. The guy that owned him had jounguns around, I mean pre schoolers, he was as crazy or crazier than the dog was.

 

[Seiler]

He's a cutie!

More of a Collie fan myself...

(Turbo 3 years)

 

[motorcityxj]

http://www.jogadog.com/dc5.html

or make one yourself with a used human tread mill for cold days, on warm days and summer days get some roller blades or i have not tried these but have seen ads for them they look sweet. http://www.landroller.com/ more all terrain and smoother. Make that dog pull ya two miles then see how wild she is.

Working dogs need to be worked, if they are not they turn bad/wild pretty often. If you arent working the dog in some way you are doing it a diservice and you cant fault it for being loopy it has a biological imperitive to chase ducks and birds all day and you coop it in a yard or house (not ragging on you, all my fav dogs are the working service breeds #1 boxer, doberman, rottie, german shepard, australian shepard) but you need to burn off that energy or they turn into neurotic, annoying, nippy, bad barky dogs.

And most of the service working breeds REALLY get off on doing stuff, serving their master, and just want to hear a "good doggie" get a treat and a pat on the head and they will run through anythign for that! You can make obience part of that stuff to make her feel like she has a "job". Terriers get off on chasing crap and arent so good at tricks and obiedence. Your lab can be an all star obiedience dog. Just think off all the seeing eye dogs, bomb dogs, that are labs. Labs and golden retrievers, and german shepards are the number one seeing eye dogs. Unless you got a bum deal on that dog it can be trained to do all sorts of stuff.

 

[HilltopXJ]

Friend got this for his wild husky. Within a week or so he was only using the tone/vibration to calm him down.
http://www.k9electronics.com/product/DA20-200NCP/200NCPGoldDogTrainingCollar.aspx

 

[FarmerMatt]

Give it beer...

 

[WB9YZU]

Ive had my dog bailey (Female AKC black lab) for about a year now and she is well...crazy, no other way of putting it. My other lab tank was a female and i cant say she was ever this crazy and hyper. Basically bailey is going 100mph all the time,I cant walk outside without getting tackled or jumped on and she pretty much chokes her self out when shes on the leash. She comes into the house at night but getting her into her kennel is a marathon and shes actually knocked over pretty much every standing object in the house as she tries to make her escape. I know shes a pup with about a year on her but is there an easy way to calm her ass down? its not that she doesnt listen(she knows basic sit and her name) but she is just so wound up its hard to calm her down. Is there anything that I can do? Ive thought about obideance classes but actually getting her in the car seems impossible. Help?

Yah, basic dog training, which means BTW: Train the owner

Open phone book and look for a reputable trainer near you. Also ask your Vet.
A dog that has obediance training and the attention of it's owner is a joy to be arround.

You will need to work with your dog every day and excersize it every day. Your puppy will act out if you don't give it someplace to release it's energy.

Be patient and don't loose your temper. Remember who is the master and who is the dog, or as Cessar would say "Be the pack leader".

Get the appropriate tools for the job. A short leash, and a fine linked choke chain would be starters. Also, the normal collar should be a nylon or leather one of fixed size.
Corrections while on the training collar should be a short "pop" or "Zing" (the sound the chain will make). Your trainer will instruct you on the proper use of these tools and will give you in class instruction and will send you and your dog home with "Homework".

Oh, and jumping on you (or anyone else) is right out. When you see your dog crouching to jump you, raise your knee (sort of like a Cptn Morgan stance). The dog will hit her brisket on your knee and this will discourage her.

Labs are lovable, yet head strong, but atleast they're not as stuborn as Dalmations!

 

[casm]

Labradors are puppies until about five minutes before they die. Great dogs, but you've got to work out the best way of interacting with them - their personalities tend to be rather pronounced, and they have very strong ideas of how the world works. Giving them lots of attention mixed with firm training seems to go a long way.

 

[8Mud]

http://www.jogadog.com/dc5.html
Terriers get off on chasing crap and arent so good at tricks and obiedence.

Funny, Terriers are known for being hard to train and/or control. I've been on sites and asked advice and mostly get :dunno: I think I've finally figured it out, hand commands work better than voice commands. They seem more receptive to hand signals than verbal commands. Once they get the hand signs down, the verbal commands are quickly learned. They seem more visually oriented than audio. I use toys a lot, to train. Reinforce with treats.
If what you are doing isn't getting good results, try another methode. You have to give it a month or so, to see if it's taking well.
I always thought I knew dogs pretty well, not a world class trainer, but I've rarley failed to get acceptable results.
After I got my Wiemaraner under control, I trained him to the bicycle, best thing I ever did. He needed a good five six miles a day jog or he was hard to manage.
Assert dominance, don't be the first to break eye contact. If you give a command, don't give up until the pooch complies, force of will is also a dominanace thing. No matter how long it takes, unless it turns into a real contest of wills and he absolutly refuses, then switch commands and try it again, but don't let him take the initiative..
People will argue this, but sometimes you have to kick the chit out of them, just to get there attention. A rolled up newspaper can be helpfull. That way they don't really get hand shy. Sometimes nice is only going to get you so far, in nature, dogs do it among themselves with force. They need a stable pecking order. One good technique, is to lay on top of your dog, immobilize him. A dominanace technique, that doesn't really hurt anybody, unless he snaps, then you just have to suck it up (in the beginning). It may also save you trouble in the future if a child sits or falls on your dog, they get used to it and don't snap.
I have one Terrier that will dive down a hole after a Rat or Fox, squeeze through openings you wouldn't believe. Some of it is genetic, most of it is learned. The other I've been training to climb. Foxes sometimes go up, they are often great climbers. Team work.
I have a two tone whistle, one tone is for retrieval (calling them back), the other is for lay down and freeze. I taught the Terriers the whistle after they mastered the hand commands.
Heel and sit are two commands they have to learn, pretty much a hundred percent. When I walk in the yard, my Weimaraner, will automatically pick up the heel possition and sit if I stop walking. *On my non gun side* (I'm right handed, he is on the left). I've seen the Police train there dogs to heel, on the gun side. Which always seemed kind of silly to me.

 

[ladywolf]

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my stepmoms mutt that she rescued from the side of the road at work

 

[srimes]

These are all really great pieces of advice. My parents had a yellow lab named Abbie. She was beautiful and sweet, but crazy wild during the first few years of her life. She chewed the screen to their back porch- all the way around it- twice before they put re-enforced steel mesh there.

Abbie was a wild girl, but she settled down after a couple of years. She was incredibly intelligent. When she was hungry, she'd gather her food bowl up in her mouth and bring it to my Mom, asking for food. She loved to play fetch and was never happier than when chasing a ball with my Dad.

In the end, Abbie was the best dog my family ever had. She just needed to get through those first tough puppy years. But I think it would have been better for her if they had had her doing something with her boundless energy and impressive intelligence. I could literally look into her eyes and see her thinking sometimes. They did take her to puppy class, which helped somewhat. But the biggest help for her was time and maturity.

Don't give up on Bailey. When she matures, you might find you have a gem on your hands. In the mean time, I'm with all the others here who say exercise her well and give her a job to do, as well as lots of praise and love. Good luck! Labs are great dogs.


Carrie Rimes
srimes's wife

 

[motorcityxj]

These are all really great pieces of advice. My parents had a yellow lab named Abbie. She was beautiful and sweet, but crazy wild during the first few years of her life. She chewed the screen to their back porch- all the way around it- twice before they put re-enforced steel mesh there.

Abbie was a wild girl, but she settled down after a couple of years. She was incredibly intelligent. When she was hungry, she'd gather her food bowl up in her mouth and bring it to my Mom, asking for food. She loved to play fetch and was never happier than when chasing a ball with my Dad.

In the end, Abbie was the best dog my family ever had. She just needed to get through those first tough puppy years. But I think it would have been better for her if they had had her doing something with her boundless energy and impressive intelligence. I could literally look into her eyes and see her thinking sometimes. They did take her to puppy class, which helped somewhat. But the biggest help for her was time and maturity.

Don't give up on Bailey. When she matures, you might find you have a gem on your hands. In the mean time, I'm with all the others here who say exercise her well and give her a job to do, as well as lots of praise and love. Good luck! Labs are great dogs.


Carrie Rimes
srimes's wife

yep. you need to invent a task for a working breed that is living as a pet dog in the city. It really really needs a task to be complete. You can make the task keeping squirrels out of the yard, or doing tricks and agility trainging, or pulling a cart. It has to do something to be complete.

If people just want a lap dog they should get a toy breed or something that is genetically happy doing nothing like a bulldog, a pug, a pomerian, a shitzu or something like that.

Just because they are hunting dogs doesnt mean the task has to be hunting. In my city there is a large lake front park .... well a bunch of them and two of them are patrolled by very fiesty border collies to keep the canadian geese out. They are sheep dogs i think, but they use them as bird chasers. Channel your dogs instincts into something you can do together and he can do .... he doesnt even have to know he is good at it as he would be at retrieving water foul. She just has to think its important and she thinks shes good at it.

 

[89jeepxjw]

Thanks for all the great advice, it all really makes sense. Tank (my other lab) died about 3 months ago. Bailey was still a crazy gal around tank but didnt seem to be near as bad as she is now. Im thinking tank kept her active when i wasnt around(tank was a female pervs ... wait... ok nevermind). I took a football and strung it up on a tree pretty high yesterday, its amazing, she can sit and look at it all day and figure out how to get the damn thing when its 6 ft off of the ground. She will run right at the trunk and catapult her ass off of that and snatch that ball right off. I need to find a stuffed squirrel so she can learn to stop letting those things come down and steel her dog food from the bowl! I see bailey getting better in the long run as she has already amazed me in 2 days. Thanks to all!!