Hi,
   Can anyone offer a friend of mine some help or advice. In January this year she took on a one year old male Chocolate Lab. She already had two Labs so she thought she knew what she was getting. For the past few months he has been a real handful and she just doesn't know what to do for the best.
It appears that his previous owners locked him in the cellar everyday while they were at work. They split up with neither being able to keep him so my friend took him home to live with her not knowing how he had been treated.
He eats as if he has never been fed before, often so quickly it makes him sick. He doesn't know how to play with her other two labs and gets totally carried away with himself until one of them tells him off. He mouths and bites, has no manners and pulls people over he is so strong. He pees and poos in the house on occasions and she has come in to find him laying on the kitchen table. He is not allowed upstairs but once when he sneaked up there he demolished several rooms and wouldn't let him self be caught, leaping around like something possessed. He chews up all her plants and is destructive in the house. He gets very upset if the back door is shut and likes to be outside most of the time but only with company.She questioned his previous owners about his behaviour and they admitted he was locked in alot of the time.
He is a loving and affectionate dog but with so many problems my friend doesn't know where to start. She wants to keep him and help him so if anyone can point us in the right direction that would be great.
  Amy

I am not a lab owner but have had lots of untrained labs through our training club

Basically what your friends have to do is treat the rescue as a puppy & to prevent damage to the dog & the house a cage/crate will be necessary

They need to be feeding him the right amount of food over several meals this should reduce his problem of eating to fast as he will learn to expect food on a frequent rather than rare occasions

They also need to go out with him when he goes outside as you would a puppy & praise & treat when he toilets outside

The cage/crate can be used if he has to be left alone & to give him a place of his own(he should be fed in the cage/crate so that he regards it as a pleasant place to be especially given his background of being confined on a daily basis

They should also do some basic obedience training with him as this will help them develop a relationship that will give him confidence

It will take a lot of work though

Thank you so much for your quick reply.
I am going over to meet him this morning so I will pass the message on.
I will suggest the crate to her but he panics when he feels shut in so I don't know if it will work for him.
I have Labs myself and was thinking along these lines, treat him like a 12 week old baby, just in a bigger body.
Has anyone else taken on a dog like this and been able to help them? I would be interested to hear from anyone with experience of a dog like this, no matter what the breed.
  Thanks,
   Amy

Hi Amy, this is what happens when people get what they think is the 'ideal dog for everyone'  Labradors are not, his behaviour is typical of a young dog left do as it pleases. I reinforce what moonmaiden has said  'go back to basics'   He may not like the crate but they must be his leader, he has had no boundaries and this is what he needs and wants, once he has this and has learnt some manners he will a happy dog. I am concerned of what will happen if they find him too difficult, has his breeder been informed? Have your friends experience themselves with training?  This is no easy task for those without experience.
Debbie :)

The crate should be open at first & if he is fed in there he will learn to think of it as a good place it does work, one of my cavaliers hated being crated(had too learn at they are crated at shows, once he twigged on that he was crated before a show & having a day out he often pops in for a day time snooze away from the other dogs :) They will probably find all the dogs in it at some stage if it's big enough

They will be able to turn him round I've had a few rescues through the club & whilst maybe never being perfect(what dog is)the improvement can be astounding

My own rescue was fearful of being in the house, we have a dog kennel & run that is raely used & she spent the first few night in it refusing to come into the house. Eventually she did & she spent the last two thirds of her life a very pampered pet(she was around 7 when I got her !)she trained for agility & obedience (for fun)& I lost her last year after having her for 13 years. She was a mongrel

Hi,

My mum took on a young rescue lab last year thinking it would be the perfect dog for her (and the dog home encouraging it) but when she got him home he behaved much like your friend's dog.  He unfortunately didn't improve and before she could try professional training he injured her and sadly he had to go back to the home.

The upside is, however, that she gave the dog home the total truth about the dog and before long he was rehomed again with someone who had gundogs and was used to training.  The last I heard the dog was very settled.

I'm sure with patience and a lot of hard work it will all come good but if it doesn't don't be afraid to admit it might not be the right dog for your friend but it might be for someone else.  I wish them all the luck as mum's dog was really lovely and it was such a shame he had to go.

CG

Unfortunately the owners have decided he is too disruptive and too much for them to handle.Their other two dogs are suffering and they just don't have the time to really work with him and give him the training he needs.
They don't want to send him to kennels and are willing to keep him until a new more suitable home can be found.
Can anyone suggest where my next port of call should be? He needs an experienced owner who has lots of time to spend taking him through the basics. Would Labrador rescue be able to help them? He is in West Yorkshire.
I don't think his breeder would be in a position to take him back (He was bred from a family pet and the breeders have already taken back one of the litter as the new owners realised they couldn't cope with a pup)
He really needs a home for life.
  Amy

Send a PM to Mattie and another to LJS on here - both might be able to help you :)

Go to "Messages" on the top right of your screen and put in "LJS" and then another one after for "Mattie" :)

THis dog may be suitable for a working home, you could try advertising him on agility.net or Working Trials UK as experienced owners and lovers of labs would be interested in taking him on.  Otherwise Customs and Exise, police or the MoD like lively labs for sniffer dogs etc.

If the people would care to contact me I will help them if they are in another area I will get help for them .
Trouble is when taking in rescue dogs we are dealing with other people faliures etc.. labradors are adaptable and are trainable even up to three years old its a case of pressing the right buttone,Im sorry for your friend she took him on with good faith,has tried her best so thats all we can ask.
Tell her to contact me on 01257452500 or 01257451143