What behaviour expect from 5 month old labrador puppy?

[sidsgranny]

If we were to get a 5 month old Lab puppy what sort of general behaviour should I expect? Would she still be very jumpy and nippy? Am hoping that at 5 months she might be much calmer than a new puppy. We are considering re-homing one. Thanks for any advice!

[WhatTheFuff]

Hi. I have a 4.5 month old choc lab.

He is very intelligent. Easy to train with consistency. Very loving. He is completely house trained and sleeps in a crate no problem. Highhhhly recommend crate training as he now knows crate is quite time. He is a riot personality wise and it is so fun playing with him.

But, they need alot of training. He will destroy ANYTHING he can get his jaws on. During writing this I've taken 2 kids toys off him.

I find I cannot leave him alone uncrated as he chew everything (he is hardly left alone TBH but when he has been hes chewed open a cordial bottle, a full one!)

He is very jumpy (working on it) and he is nippy.

someone once described their lab pup as a 'land shark' and thats his nickname now. He's nipped the kids a few times but it is just play. Distraction is the key. Never let him chew your hands however cute it is.

I wouldn't be without him but he is hard work :)

[WhatTheFuff]

*quiet time, sorry for typos am on phone without my glasses!

[Lally112]

That all depends on who did the training and how good at training they were. Labs can be high energy/ hard work but are quite easy trained.

[HindsightisaMarvellousThing]

Agree with WhattheFuff said - energetic happy dogs at this age, but very chewy indeed. A crate didn't work for us as DDog doesn't deal well with separation from the other dogs or us at all, but we managed without one.

They need lots of company and lots of distraction when they are chewing something they shouldn't. We used lots of rawhide chews, bones and toys.

Perfect ages for puppy classes too, to help you along with any training.

[sidsgranny]

Thanks for the replies! I think I'm more concerned with the nipping people (8 year old!). Last year my son conquered a fear of dogs (no past bad experiences) and we're keen to choose the right family dog for us. This opportunity has arisen by chance and I'm wondering whether an older puppy would be better for us. I'm going to see her tomorrow so I'll see what she's like. I know she's been trained but not sure to what extent. To be honest if she's still very jumpy and nippy I might have to say no.

[WhatTheFuff]

Most puppies will be jumpy and nippy. I have been with mince since 8 weeks and he does it still, I think if you get ANY pup you have to be prepared for this.

[WhatTheFuff]

Mine since*

[Isthatwhatdemonsdo]

I have a 6 month old black lab bitch. She still nips but not too hard. She is extremely hard work. She cannot be left to her own devices in the house as she'd destroy everything she can get her teeth into.
She's very intelligent and needs training for her mind as well as excercise.

[daisydotandgertie]

Depends absolutely on the training until now. I have a 14 week old lab bitch who has NEVER nipped because I have never let her.

I bred her so was able to ensure nipping didn't and doesn't happen. I did this with all of her litter mates and with my previous litters and they are the same. It is astounding how many people willingly put their fingers into a puppy's mouth and are then surprised that they get bitten, and even more surprised that it happens again. Of course it does - lab pups learn really quickly and the attention gained from a quick nip is a bit exciting, even if it is negative.

Puppies will jump up - it's part of exploring their world. It is utterly unrealistic to think that they won't but it is something which can be managed and also it's important to remember that it is just for fun - there is no malice in it. For what it's worth, my 14 week old is jumping up a bit, she has just learned she can. Each time she does, I step away and she is learning when it's appropriate and when it's not.

A well trained 20 week old lab should be pretty good really.

[WhatTheFuff]

How have you got them to never nip?

[SpicyPear]

It will depend a lot on the training the dog has received so far and how it has been treated. Do you know the current owner? Do you know that the puppy comes from a reputable breeder and carefully selected health tested parents?

Generally at that age I wouldn't expect them to be significantly calmer, if at all. It's the sort of age at which people realise how large a lab is and that the coming adolescent months are going to be seriously hard work.

It is a very very bad idea to privately rehome any dog from people you do not know extremely well as, unfortunately, people lie to get dogs off their hands.

[Booboostoo]

Be very careful. Why are they reforming this pup? At this age I would expect it is because they have not put any work into training her and she's getting a bit too big to be cute anymore.


There is no one answer to your question, all puppies will be different, but chances are that yes at that age she will still nip and jump up.

[Booboostoo]

"Reforming" should be "re homing" sorry.

[sidsgranny]

Thanks for all your posts.

She is KC registered and from a reputable breeder who also runs a boarding kennels. I will be able to meet her mum tomorrow too. Was originally with relative of breeder but situation has changed for what appear very genuine reasons. Have emailed again since my original post and have been told she is not nippy, walks well off the lead and comes when called. I guess I will see if this is true when I meet her tomorrow!

[SpicyPear]

Make sure to look at parents health test results.

[sidsgranny]

Yep, will do SpicyPear.

[Fluffycloudland77]

My nan got theirs at 6 weeks (many years ago) and he chewed everything!.

He was the best dog ever though. Labs are brilliant dogs.

[WeAllHaveWings]

we got our small working black lab pup at 12 weeks and he nipped then, but by 5 months it had stopped and he mouthed quite gently when playing.

We have a friend who got their lab at 5 months after it had been returned to breeder and it was still a nipper and guarding food too, it nipped their 8 yr old child on nose once (don't know why they are letting their 8 year put their face near a nippy dog!) and bit their 11 yr old on the hand, thankfully both were just grazes but I don't see them putting the time into training. Its a big show lab, 9 months old now and not improving from what I hear (I don't let ds(9) visit them just now due to dog).

Totally depends on individual dogs temperament and the training its had so far.

[daisydotandgertie]

fluff by not letting them start it.

I start the weaning process at about 3.5/4 weeks, and before they start that, they don't 'do' biting - they don't have teeth. Weaning is all about teaching them to chew, so at that point they start leaning appropriate behaviour.

I don't allow any inappropriate mouthing from that point onward. A matter of fact 'ah ah' and substitution with a chew toy and praise quickly diverts them to mouth somewhere else.

The hardest thing is preventing visitors from putting their fingers in puppy mouths. EVERYONE does it and I don't know why! It creates a the problem.

[reikizen]

I would avoid 'puppy training' classes and just go straight for a reputable trainer for one to one classes. Get everything started off on the right foot, well worth the money. They are bloody hard work but lovely family dogs.