Help needed with new dog

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I picked up a 6 mo black lab at the weekend for a rescue place. He seems to be a lovely boy, but there are a few things that are worrying me. He seems to have a love for shoes and clothing. He was trying to bite my jumper today and ended up nipping my arm, also my ds went out in the garden with him and the dog was trying to bite his jumper and was growling and barking. Is this all normal behaviour? How do I deal with it, I'm feeling slightly out of my depth.

It is normal behaviour for puppies to jump up, bite etc. But has to be dealt with. I find the only way is to go to weekly training classes and then make sure you do your home work! Your local vet should be able to recommend someone or google dog training and the area you live in.

I am doing one-to-one training at the moment with a police dog trainer for my very naughty JRT. The difference in a week is very noticeable.

I have been told that if they doing something naughty then you get them to do a 'sit' (can he do that?) and treat them. SO they do something 'naughty', you get them to something 'good'.

Also a firm voice, a stern 'no'. and point finger seems to work. Mine also knows the word 'bad'!

Hope that helps.

Awww congratulations on your new family member and good on you for rescuing him!

I have a 2 year old black lab, also a rescue dog who was 8 months old when he came to us. Your dog sounds just like mine.

I was not reallly used to dogs and also felt a bit shocked when mine did this. Please remember he is not being aggressive. He is simply excited, loving his new home and wants to play. Labs are very 'mouthy' and love to put things in their mouth, they are gentle but it can sometimes nip and cause alarm. Best thing to do is a really loud 'OW' even if it doesn't hurt. His litter mates would repond with a yelp if that's what he did to them.

Mine loved shoes, socks and watches (when you were wearing them!)

Make sure he has plenty of chew toys, and those chew bones that take forever to eat. Don't play tug of war with him, even with a dog toy as he will then think it's OK to play tug of war on ds's sleeve!

Obedience classes helped us no end, as did having him speyed - this calmed him down no end plus of course lots of exercise.

I too felt out of my depth for a few weeks, he was boisterous, unpredicatble and bloody big and bouncy!

Now we all love him to bits, he is one of the family.

Good luck!

Ah see at my obedience classes we were taught NEVER to point a finger at a dog - it's far too tempting for them to nibble it!

You need to assert yourselves very firmly with the dog, especially the smaller members of the family who he is more likely to try to dominate. Get your DS to shriek "No" at him really loud and really over dramatic if he bites or growls. You could find something noisy that scares him to deter him from jumping or biting, my MIL always used a piece of chain which she flung near the dog. Definitely worked. Just the sight of the chain was enough to make the dog behave.

It sounds like he's trying to get you to play.
Puppies do use this sort of behaviour to get their litter mates and other dogs to play with them. However, they need to learn that this is not the way to play with people and to use toys to play them.

I'd recommend Ian Dunbars book, 'After you gat you puppy' for some sensible easy to follow advice on dog training and behaviour.

That was meant to say 'After you get your puppy'

ooh thanks so far. He does love shoes, boots, slippers, socks etc and just about any piece of fabric. I've just made a shaker thing to distract him if he tries again. I've booked a session with a dog trainer to come to the house, to work with me and the kids. I haven't had a dog for years and i'm probably not as confident as i should be. I also have 4 kids so i need to get a grip asap. He was castrated last week, so i'm hoping he will calm down a bit anyway.

I guess it more of a hand held up than just a pointy finger.

At my dogs training classes there was a 'mouthy' labrador - she only did it wtih the lady owner not the man - don't know if that's significant. They said the same about a loud 'ow' too. If they were in a pack the others would do that if they got too rough.

Think you're very wise to have a trainer come to the house as the kids will need to be trained how to train too. Otherwise you'll end up doing it all yourself and they may undo the good work you do.

At six months he is still very young and immature - is he your first lab? Whereas smaller dogs mature faster, labs stay very puppyish until they're over 2 years old, and in the meantime they are very bouncy and excitable and clumsy. At his age they're also very mouthy and chewy, and they explore everything with their teeth. You've got him at a particularly bad time as he'll probably be smack bang in the middle of teething as well. Have a look at his gums and see if they're red or swollen (they may even be bleeding).

Regardless of whether he's teething or not, he needs plenty of chewy bones and toys to focus his attention on, instead of your clothes and shoes. If he is teething you should try to match the chew to the texture he likes - e.g. if he's going after hard plastic, get him a Nylabone. If he's going after fabrics, wet a rope toy and freeze it. Most dogs will alternate between chewing hard and soft surfaces throughout the teething process (softer to massage and sooth sore gums, harder to help the teeth break through), and unfortunately it seems like sometimes the perfect chew toy is our hand - soft on the outside, hard on the inside! Leather shoes are also a favourite, just the right amount of 'give' in them - not so good when it's your favourite pair! He's not doing it to be bad though, sometimes the pain of teething can literally drive them crazy.

The nipping and growling is just his way of trying to get you to play when he's excited - if you shout or point or run away, he'll think it's part of the game. Avoid any tug or chase games as these will encourage him to grab and nip, and focus on games like fetch or find. If he does get over excited and start nipping or jumping up, turn your back on him and walk away - he needs to know that biting = no play, and stopping the game will work much better than any amount of shouting - and also has the bonus of taking you or DS away from his teeth or claws while he's excited. Only ignore him until he's calm (probably just a few seconds) and then move his attention straight on to something positive, like a short burst of training with a clicker and treats. Above all, labs love to please, and they love food!

Rest assured though, as he settles in and matures a bit, he will grow out of it

He's very new to you - and probably also very confused and excited. I expect that as he gets more secure and clearer about what you expect from him he will calm down with the mouthing. I also doubt he's trying to be dominant with you - he's just being an unsettled young labrador.

I'm sure you have toys which are especially for him, so when he takes something he shouldn't take it away and replace it with one of his things instead. Heap on masses of praise when he gives up the forbidden thing, and again when he takes his toy.

Make his toys fun for him by giving him a bit of one on one play time.

Also, as DrNorth says, avoid tug of war type games with him at all costs. It's not appropriate for a big dog to think it can play like that with you.