Hi everyone. I introduced myself on feeding board but for those of you who didnt see my name is Katy and I have a new man in my life! He is an 8 week old chocolate labrador named max. He is a very big boy already!! My minor concern with him is he seems very over confident I know I dont want a nervous wreck but I feel he may be the other extreme. My 2 friends bought his sisters and they are so different. I can do anything without max chewing my trousers/socks/toes and ears if I am trying to clear up whatever destruction he has left all over the floor! He responds a bit if I whine like a puppy but then woofs at me and goes at me again with even more determination. e is also doing it to the kids and they are getting a bit more nervy of him and are not being firm. I dont know how to turn this very cute little terror into a trustworthy big boy. The size he is going to be he will flatten my kids if we dont always control this so I dont want any problems to develop which is why I am asking for advice early! Hope somebody can help.

Hi Kathy

at eight weeks I presume he is a new addition to the household. Labs can be very lively, especially at this age and they don't know their own strenght. You need to start training him with treats etc. If he is doing a lot of jumping, I would train him to sit, and reward him with a small treat when he does. Between 6 and 16 (ish) weeks is an ideal time for training as puppies catch on very very quickly. Catch is attention, and tell him to sit, just the word sit, not sit down. For the first few times you will probably have to push his bottom down (gently), and when he is in the sit position praise him lavishly. If he knows you might have a treat in your pocket he is liable to do anything for the treat. 5 minutes a few times a day is enough. make sure there are no distractions, and you can give him 1 on 1.

Puppies chew, they go through teething like babies, and loads of good bones for him to chew on would probably distract him from other house hold items. Does he have his own space where he can be quiet - where you can put him to chew a bone - out of harms way? Crates are great for this. Also what are you feeding him on? sometimes the food can add to the hyperness.
Hope this helps

Me again, I forgot to say that by reading your post it appears he has access to a lot of areas in the house, restrict him to certain areas, i.e. the kitchen and only in other areas when he is supervised by an adult.

he has a puppy crate which he is shut in at night and when I am out. Apart from that he has the garden living room hall and kitchen. He is not allowed upstairs as that is cats space. He has started to respond to his name today and he knows wee wee but apart from that I have not had any joy yet but it is early days the problem is if he knows i have treats in my hand or pocket he jumps about wildly and I then cant get him to listen to anything.

He sounds a handful (but lovely!). I would suggest for starters buying a copy of "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey - lots of common sense advice and it also goes into what you can expect when the dog becomes a teenager
John on here is our resident Labrador man so you don't have too far to go for good sensible help also.

I suggest you only give him treats as a reward for a job well done (such as coming back when called, etc) so that he earns them and that way he will start to understand that being excited doesnt get him what he wants ;)

lindsay
x

Back in December, I felt exactly like you do now.  "There's something wrong with this dog, I can't take it anymore!"

It didn't matter how many toys we had out, what distractions we created, if we yelped, if we ignored - the only thing that puppy had on her mind was biting - hands, feet, trousers shoes, socks....we went into January and February and nothing changed and I didn't think it would ever get better.  My hands were covered in scratches/bites, and I permanently had a set of teeth attached to my foot.  You couldn't walk from room to room without having a dog trailing behind clamped to your slipper!

And then all of a sudden, it stopped.  I couldn't tell you when because I didn't even notice it, I'm just aware now that it eventually stopped!  She still loves a shoe to attack, but now she knows to capture the prize one that's been left on the floor by mistake, and doesn't bother with the one still attached to a foot.  She still has little 'bitey games' with OH's hand, but only because he encourages her, and it's their little ritual at bedtime, she wouldn't dare put her teeth on my hands now (I know, I tried last night - she's in season and is ratty and bored and a bit stir crazy, so I tried to initiate a bit of rough and tumble because I felt sorry for her, but she wouldn't have it, and whenever I put my hands near her mouth she licked them instead!).

So I can't offer advice on how to stop it, I'm not aware of what actually worked - something must have eventually but it would have been when she was old enough to comprehend and I didn't notice it stop - but all I can say is - it will get better!  You think its never going to end and you have the devil puppy, but trust me it does get better eventually!

Puppies can be so difficult to live with, but it will be worth it in the end. I would definately suggest enrolling in a good puppy class, as it will not only help socialisation, but teach you the most effective ways to train at home. You can find a good class by searching the APDT website (sorry can't do links). There are some classes that puppies can attend after the first vacccination, as long as you carry them to and from the club. My retriever started at 9 weeks and i think it did her the world of good. It also helps to be able to discuss problems with other puppy owners as you can often discover that you are not alone in suffering!! ;-)

Couldn't have put it better myself - we got our (now 9 months) black lab at 9 weeks in December and the first couple of months were really, really hard. Nothing we tried seemed to stop the nipping and though our despair now feels like an overreaction it was very heartfelt at the time, so much so that we considered rehoming. But, we stuck with it and as jessthepest says, it stopped so suddenly that at first we didn't even notice! And now he's beautiful, still cheeky and will nick your slippers at the drop of a hat, but so lovely. Things WILL get better, so just be patient... :-)

A tired pup is a good pup... My motto after living with a Doberman puppy...there's hardly a more exuberant pup out there. Give him appropriate exercise and some brain work.

I think you're descibing a confident, fearless puppy. That's a good thing! Now all you have to do is channel all that energy in the right direction.