the labrador is my favourite breed,this lady i know brought a lab puppy a while ago, she is now giving it up, when i asked her why, she said, the breed advice i got said that they are born obeideint so i didnt bother taking it to classes, the puppy is very hyper and wont concentrate or listen to me. its so sad to see that people think labs dont need firm training, they do! they are 100% reliable IF trained, i cant believe people think they are 100% reliable by nature, she has returned the puppy to the breeder, as its 7 months and has had no training so is very uncontrollable. i wish breeders would inform people the commitment when people buy lab puppies, then maybe the amoutt of labs in rescue's would drop!

OMG, like people are born with common sense. Can't really blame the breeder they are entitled to think people have something between the ears, and folk are such good liars. At least she returned it to the breeder and did not leave it outside Tesco.

im not blaming all breeders, i know some breeders do question the new owner and really find out if they are capable of having this breed in question, i think all breeders should do this, cos there are people like that lady who think like they do, i advised her the pup back to the breeder, the lady originally wanted a spaniel but saw the labs when passing and fell for them ( dont we all) she didnt really know much about the breed, but people had advised her the breed was born obiedient, she said the breeder didnt ask her questions about her home or anything!

labs can be very obedient and quickly trained but they can't do it without being trained! sounds like she just hasn't bothered in the slightest and wanted a ready-trained dog, and it has been given no boundaries from day one. no control =out-of-control. an out of control 7 month old would be hard to deal with.

it hasn't been trained to listen or concentrate so why should it know what to do now?!! i wonder if she has children and how/if they are disciplined?!

my pup knows 'sit' and 'stay', 'down' and 'no', and that 'hurry up' means for her to do her wee's and poo's in the garden - she is only just 10 weeks and a terrier!

She would have done no better with a Spaniel, may well have been worse, she is not capable of owning a dog, full stop.

the dog was out of contol shes only a little lady and couldnt control it, i would like to meet a ready trained puppy! that was brn obeidient that would be good! although i really enjoyed training my two labs and terrier, not so much the terrier lol! labs are wonderful wonderful loyal dogs if the groundwork is put down. i do believe labs to be easy to train tho, i didnt have to take my choc lab to classes she just learnt all by herself, she was very obideient and friendly to everyone, it was to good to be true, i knew it wouldnt last! my black needed a little more training, its different fro each dog.

This is just ridiculous but some people really are that stupid. Every dog needs training no matter what breed, labs are obedient but if you don't tell them what you want how do they know what they're meant to be obeying?

I've never owned my own dog before and went to pick Molly when she was less than two weeks old. I spent the next six weeks practically camped out in the pet shop and glued to the internet making sure I'd researched everything and knew as much as possible before we got her.

Any idea what the breeder is planning to do now? Not just palm the poor thing off onto someone else I hope.

This is the reason why I keep putting warnings on here about just how difficult and distructive Labradors can be. As I've said before, people see the Andrex advert and think that is what they are getting. If only people with average common sense brought Lab puppies sales would drop by half and the puppy farm Lab breeders would be out of business.

Regards, John

I am amazed the pup lasted 7 months with her if it had no training.

It amazes me how totally stupid some people are. :(

Lucy

She can't have a heart at all. After 7 days with Morse I couldnt imagine life without him, never mind 7 months! Training a dog in my limited experience is great fun, frustrating at times, requires organising very satisfying and takes time. Nothing worthwhile in this life comes easy but people expect instant everything with minimum effort now. Credit not saving, pills to lose weight, instant coffee/cake mix, instant labrador just train in the microwave....... Help Im turning into my Mum!

she found it very hard to give him up, as he was a loving dog, she had been emailing the breeder, and they said they would take him back, they are keeping him, and training him, hes making progress, but very slowly! she had to give him up, if she kept a big dog which was out of control it could cause an accident or worse be in one. she rushed into buying a lab without knowing much about them, luckily marcel (the dog in question) is being trained and looked after now, he will have a good life, but other labs arent as lucky, i just wish people would think and look at the breeds bad points and take time to make the dog socially acceptable. i had to confront the lady the other day i overheard her on the phone, in a cafe asking about some springer spaniel pups! is she mad!!!! they are nearly twice as much work than labs, i couldnt believe it she was going to get another puppy, when clearly she isnt up to the responsibility to bringing up a pup!

Just a suggestion why doesn't she rescue an older dog maybe ???

Surely she realised when she got him home that he wasn't ready trained? Did she think he would grow up reading books about dog obedience and train himself? Sounds a bit dense to me.

Some people are complete dorks! :( A friend sold an 8-week pup to a friend of hers, who returned it the next day, saying that it had messed on the floor!!!

Nothing surprises me now.

It's scary that people can do so little towards informing themselves before buying the pup. Labs are notorious for many problems....destructiveness, wilfulness,separation anxiety. None of this is new info and most good books will tell a novice lab owner that these can be problems that they may encounter. The breeder also has a responsiblity to ensure that people know what they may be taking on. I hasten to add that labs are also famous for their many wonderful qualities too - my lovely girl is a prime example - patient,loving, obedient, kind, friendly and completely bonkers!:D I have to admit we often feel that the way she is only has a small part to do with us. She was certainly born easier to train to be obedient than others....not like my 2 bichon pups for instance.:D
Of course I suppose there are always the exceptions to the horror stories where novice owners strike it lucky with fantastic dogs but wouldn't it be great if it wasn't left to luck? Oh well, we've all been in the position of owning our first dog and having to learn. Shame the poor lab pup had to be the one to suffer tho'.

im sure the dog the lady had was having a great time being naughty, but at least he's with someone who knows how to care for labs, had an email from the lady saying the male lab she returned is really making progress, learning to heel on lead at moment. already mastered sit and down, hes a clever boy

A happy ending thats great :)

he was lucky many arent as lucky and end up in rescue's, i wish people would just read up on breeds before going out and getting a puppy, labrador puppies are so gorgeous its hard to stop and think about whether you can dedicate 12 years to the dog, many believe them to be the "easy option" my choc bitch was a dream to train, my black bitch was a little bit madder, and i had to take her to classes, but both my choc and labs bitches were angels once they understood what i wanted they did it! thats why they are my fave breed, so loving loyal and so beautiful, i was going to take on the male lab the lady brought but in the contract it stated the dog had to be returned to breeder, the time i knew him was great, but he really was a big boy and very naughty, typical young lab!

At a barbecue on Saturday I heard a dog owner say that labs were easy to train and nearly inhaled my drink thinking of this very thread. A young couple with a Weim male aged 18 months are considering another dog and feel a choc lab would suit. John's description of labs digging to China to visit their pals next door was laughed off, and I got told as Guide Dogs use labs they must be easy to train........I suspect its the people who get the dogs and dont put in the work rather than the breed.

Hi guys-
I've been involved for quite a few years now training dogs and it still amazes me how little research people are willing to do before getting a puppy. We had a lab dog, 7 months old, never been anywhere near a training class, very big for his age, boisterous(... you get the picture!), well anyway, his owners brought him to training as he was 'getting a bit much' for them. Our training school always does a 'new starter' talk for everyone joining with any age/type of dog to decide which class/type of training is needed. We went through all the normal things, (Breed specific bahaviour, diet and nutrition, canine/human interface, any behaviour problems), after which they admitted that he was a rush purchase and that maybe a lab wasn't for them. He is a pedigree puppy that I know cost them over £500, but why they wouldn't spend a couple of quid on a good dog book before buying him, I'll never know. They have admitted that they haven't got the time to spend on training him and had to be talked out of buying a spaniel puppy to keep him company!!
That said, he's a lovely boy who would make someone a nice pet, the willingness to do something is definitely in him, its just not channeled anywhere. I know that I'm biased as I have 2 black labs, but
I know that they will do our 8 week introductory course and then never train him again, until our behaviourist sees him in about 18 months time as a behaviour case. Its such a shame!! it makes me really mad. The family bought him because of the 'Andrex' puppy thing as well. They thought that he would be easy to train because they are used as Guide dogs. When I told them that even as young puppies, the prospective guide dogs learn their manners and basic obedience, they seemed surprised.Anyway, thats the end of my rant for today!!

Just a thought - reading about a dog/pup/breed is all very well, but once in the firing line things can be very different and thats when it takes guts to stick with it - and encouragement from friends.

Good point!!- I've said that i'll speak to the family this weekend at training and see if we can come up with some one-to-one sessions away from the other dogs.

the bottom line is labradors are very eager to learn and please, therfore easy to train. but it can take time, my two took less than others but all labs have the nAture of wanting to please so labs arent hard to train, as long as the handler is the boss and makes learning fun.

Someone should have told my Bethany that I Love Dogs!

Regards, John

you had problems training your lab?

Call it "Differences of opinion!" She wasn't called "Big Bad Bethany" for nothing!! I would also say she was my all time favourite :)

Best wishes, John

cant be as bad as my terrier!