Hi! I have a 7mo. choc. lab that has bonded to me quite well. Actually a little too well. I got him from a breeder that also raises dairy cattle. When I found him, he was cuddled up to a newborn dairy calf. He is very affectionate and quite a beautiful dog. However, he is a scardy cat when it comes to being around men. I am agirl, and he acts very affectionate and loving towards me and my daughter, however, is scared of my husband and his male friends. I am currently in the works of taking him to a dog trainer so that he can show me how to work w/ him and put him in some obedience classes. I would like to get him potty trained (he can't get the hint yet) and maybe at times keep him indoors. Breeding him was a possibility, but until i get him used to the male species and comfortable around them, i am not sure. Any suggestions??

You seem to have so many problems and questions I think the best thing you can do is to become a member (costs nothing) and then we can work through your problems and questions with you one by one. It is difficult to answer question without asking questions in turn. So join us and we will do our best to help. Jackie H

Hi.
I had a similiar problem with my Springer, she was fine in the house even sitting under my legs but outside she just would not come near me ( I had her when she was 7mths old).
What I tried was while we were out over the park I would sit down on the grass take out a few treats ( Her favorite was cheese ) put them on the grass near me and just wait....curiosity or just greed would get the better of her , for the first couple of days I never called her, just completly ignored her then after a while I would call her softly, within a week she would take the treats from my hand and the distance she sat away from me got smaller and smaller ( it was if there was an imaginary circle around me which she would not enter).
Your husband could try somthing similiar at home, make sure he is sitting on the floor ( at the dogs level , bending over the dog could be taken as a sign of aggression towards the pup ).
Who feeds the dog and who walks him.

hi Guest

Are you the one in the house who does everything for your pup? If so that won't help. Get your hubby to feed him and take him for walks etc. When you have male visitors - give them a small tasy treat and ask them to kneel down - not bend over - but kneel in front of the pup holding out the treat and waiting until he comes to them to take it. It may take some time but he will start to learn that men are nice and give him nice things. It's important that they don't bend over him as that will be taken as trying to dominate him and make him more scared - but kneeling down so that they have level eyes especially when no eye contact is made is less threatening.

It is a good idea to register with the board so that you can ask more questions and so that we can help you more as you do seem to have a couple of problems that could do with some help - and we like to know how things are going anyway:D

As for toilet training - how long have you had the puppy? You really should start to see some progress by now if you have had him from 8 weeks or so. You say about keeping him indoors - if I read into that that he is in effect living outside - you'll never train him. He needs to be restricted indoors and put out regularly and praised when he does something. He will have accidents inside - but if you catch him in the act so to speak - say a firm "NO", put him outside and allow him to finish - then lots of praise. If you find an accident - just clean it up - don't chastise him as it's too late and he won' know what he's done. But keeping him outside will not help at all as he may not have a clue what he's doing.

Look forward to hearing more from you - hth

Pam n the boys

Like Jackie says you do seem to have one or two 'problems' to address here. You also did not say how long you have had the lab (unless I missed that bit).

I picked up a rescue lab two weeks ago who is very nervous, but is getting better daily, at first she was quite scared of my other half, but he did not encourage this by making a fuss, just let her come to him in her own time and now she loves him as much as the others - I am no expert here, it could have been because she watched the other dogs of course.

Before I waffle on aimlessly, again not being an expert, you might like to take Jackies advice and become a member of the forum. There are lots of lab people here who are only too pleased to help and very good at it.

Good Luck
Lynda