My male lab has started to refuse to go into his pen. Because he is very destructive if left to his own devices, I need to have him penned, his pen is 20ft x 15ft and he is not on his own. He only goes in the pen for a couple of hours whilst I shop or do housework. He was fine until he had to go into kennels whilst we were on holiday, whilst in the kennels he put on 2.5 kilos and I suspect from this weight gain that he did not have a lot of exercise and they were left without human contact from 4.30pm until 8.30am (is this normal). When I try to take him up the garden to the pen he lies down and refuses to move, I've tried food and toys but he just won't budge and gets very distressed. This morning after a lot of playing and gradually getting him nearer to the pen he followed me in, but as soon as I closed the gate he started screaming and crying, I am trying to ignore him at the moment but he is getting very stressed, and the others are starting to join in. Other than take him everywhere with me I am at my wits end, also it is very difficult to vacuum with a lab sitting on your feet, since we have come back from holiday he will not let me out of his sight. Also he has been in the same kennels before and was fine, but they changed hands just before I went on holiday and I will not be using them again as the two dogs that went to the kennels came home smelling so bad that I had to use the horse and cattle wash on them 3 times to get rid of the smell. Has anybody any ideas on how to overcome this problem.

Tracy,
you poor thing and your poor lab. :( You didn't say how old he was... is he around 9months -2 years old?? Just curious.

You might consider having him work up the time again to build his confidence. Is there anyway you can put him in his pen, then work around him for 10 minutes? Ignore his yelps/whinings and tell him "no-quiet", but just keep working in the garden or nearby. Then at 10 minutes or when he becomes settled, just open the door and walk away. Don't say anything to him and don't let him get "happy" by jumping up on you. Make it a non-event.

Then just keep pushing up the time again.... If he's quiet for 30 minutes of you being within sight of the pen... Leave for 10 minutes or so, then come back and work around the pen for another 10. When he relaxes, open the door, and walk away.

Just don't praise/comfort him for his loud behavior no matter how badly you feel. Then you reinforce that there is something out of the ordinary to worry about in his brain. :rolleyes:

Hope this might help you out. Good luck with you both :)
toodles

Hi, Oscar is 2yrs and is very possessive of me, probably because I have spent a lot of time with him in training, due to his behavioural problems. This morning I have spent alot of time in the far end of the garden, and he has howled the whole time, he could see me and I completly ignored him (which was very difficult has I felt like strangling him at one point), I could'nt lose him out because the chickens were being cleaned out and he chases them:). I am going to spent this afternoon playing with him inside the pen and try to make it more pleasant for him to go in there.

Hi,
Instead of playing with him in his pen, you might try to just sit there in a chair and ignore him. If you keep playing (actually comforting him) he'll associate that there should be something going on. Try just reading a book and letting him sit near you. Don't pet or soothe him. Just "be there" as if it's normal.

He'll ease up if you do. You two might be feeding off one another's anxiety :rolleyes:
good luck,
toodles