I recently got (2 months ago) a Lab mix from the shelter. He is 18 month old Male, Black lab mix. We dont know what he is mixed w/. He started as a VERY sweet dog.. but started showing other sides. I would walk him and once we came to another dog and he went CRAZY. Went to the end of his leash would jump straight in the air, barking. Its a very strange bark.. his tail is wagging but he is jumping and barking. If a dog walks in front of the house he is jumping on the windows and barking and is really almost unstoppable. We have put a harness on him so we can grab it, but nothing is working. My gparents dont want to pay for obediance training. Is he too old? This is the only problem.. he doesnt growl when I take things away from him.. hes just very loving. I didnt know if he was just being protective. But i've gotten to the point where I cant even WALk him except at VERY early in the morning when no one is out. (as in like 6am) We have a big back yard that I can walk him in, but it doesnt seem enough. If anyone can help, please do. Is this something im stuck w/? Thanks!

Hi Ashley,
How much exercise is your lab X getting? And how much is off-leash, free running? As you will know, a labrador has been bred over generations to be able to be out all day with the 'guns' - so a couple of walks on the lead each day will barely scratch the surface of what he needs. It could be that, as he is almost grown-up now, he needs lots of both physical and mental exercise. Do you do retrieves with him? Get him to find hidden things? A dog is never too old to learn - and an intelligent dog needs to do new stuff every day.
:)

Thank you. I do think my not exercising him enough is part of the problem. As Im going back to school thursday, my grandmother isnt going to walk him. I really dont want to get rid of him, but I want him to have a good life. Also, do you think its possible that maybe hes just a mean dog?

No, I wouldn't say he's a mean dog. I think he's a normal dog, who wants to live life to the full! Who will be exercising , feeding and generally taking care of him while you are at school?

My gma will be feeding him and all of that while im at school. Exercising him, I was wanting to get up an hour earlier.(5am lol) and give him a GOOD run... around the subdivision. Then She was going to take him in the car to pick me up (he LOVES to go "bye bye") and then I get home at 3 and I was going to give him another good run.. and spend the rest of the night w/ him.

He will be able to get out into the garden or yard or whatever during the day, won't he? Because he may not be able to be clean for that long.

He'll be taken out to the bathroom and all that. We dont have a fenced in yard, and w/o really knowing him (because of just having him for 2 months) I dont feel good w/ just her letting him off his leash, we havea big yard and common ground that goes to woods, but I dont know if he would just run off. She will be taking him OUTSIDE, just not running him. I got offline and went and played a game w/ him of hiding his toy under the rug, he seemed to like it...little things like thta you think will help him to not be so agressive?? Also, the times he is agressive what should i do?? Just pull him away, say no?? Thanks for your help :)

He doesn't sound aggressive, just excited. A dog is never too old to go to obedience school -- I would try to convince your grandmother to shell out the money for it because everyone will be happier in the end.

Some training classes are not too expensive. Perhaps you could explain to your G'Mother that training your dog is a good hobby, cheaper than most, and it'll keep you out of trouble ;) :D

Good Luck with your dog!

liberty

Thank you for your help!! Im trying out some other things, and *already* see improvement, maybe because hes tired? LOL!! His *barking* was just a result of my laziness I guess. I wasnt realyl prepared for such a *needy* breed... its gonna be work, but im willing to do it, hes my baby :) hehe I hope this works, heres a picture of him .. he LOVES to lay like this LOL

<IMG SRC="http://images.snapfish.com/33836%3A5923232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3238%3E432%3E838%3Ewsnrcg%3D32324%3A866%3A84%3Anu0mrj">
And here is me and Max :)
<IMG SRC="http://images.snapfish.com/33836%3A5923232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D523%3D929%3Dxroqdf%3E23233%3B775%3B%3A62ot1lsi"> this is when we first got him:) hes smelling the camera lol i hope those worked!

*edit*
they didnt put you can copy and paste that "http" thingy into the url and look at it there.. lol