14 week old lab driving me POTTY

[gBean]

She sleeps through the night happily in her crate, doesn't bark much, few accidents inside but that's it.

The problem is she thinks my sons are fellow puppies and despite me saying "ignore her behaviour" until I'm blue in the face, she keeps biting them, tugging their clothes, etc. Mornings are chaos as she's excited to see them and quite frankly, it's driving me potty.

I am attending puppy classes and will ask for help there, but the woman running it doesn't really have a clue about a lot of stuff so I'm not hopeful.

Please tell me she will grow out of this!

She is a Lab pup. Lab pups are mouthy.

Have a look at the files on the FaceBook group 'Dog Training Advice and Support'. There is one called 'Puppy Biting' which is spot on for you.

That's puppies for ya!

For us as I could not leave room easily we did an ahh ahh noise then if carried on into his crate for a minute then when calm even for two seconds let him back out

Also lot of appropriate things to chew so could divert attention if not used above he got the idea very fast as hated not being able be near us

That sounds like typical lab puppy behaviour. They do grown out of it, but Labradors are lively dogs so there will always be a bit of chaos! That said my 5yo girl is snoring next to me after a lovely walk and won't move now until lunch.

Yes, she'll grow out of it, in a year or so . Labs are puppies for a long time. We made tuggies out of old jeans etc, long strips of fabric with a couple of big knots, which lab could attack instead of us.

My retriever puppy was like this - I despaired that she would ever grow out of it - she did. I have four children and just had to keep on with the ignoring/don't encourage it thing and she did settle down. I had huge amounts of cardboard/toys/tuggies so that she had plenty of things to chew and as soon as her teeth made contact with skin, the game had to stop....

She'll get there - it does get better!

It does sound like normal puppy behaviour but that does not mean you just have to wait for it to stop on its own :)

Prevention is 90% of puppy training so could you allow an extra few minutes in the morning for the puppy to greet your DC's. I would want this to be on your terms. Would it be better if the Dc's went outside and the dog could run off his energy out there, could they play with a tuggy with the puppy instead of letting him pull their clothes. Only do this for a few minutes, then back inside for calm time while you get ready and have breakfast etc. Give the puppy a stag bar or a kong or scatter his food on the floor so that he is busy while the morning rush is going on.

You may want to put a house line onto her harness then if she does start to play bite just remove her from the situation.

Thanks all

I am surprised that your lab breeder hadn't warned you about this. If you arm your DC's with a 'something' for pup to have in mouth it will satisfy its need to be mouthing all the time.

Lab pups are extremely mouthy/bitey as an expression of their working genes and they do need something in their mouths.

Please never play 'tuggy' with a soft mouth like a lab as you will ruin its mouth by hardening it, and playing tuggy will enourage pup to tousle with them.

The DC will need to turn away, keep upright with faces away, and have a 'give' for the pup to satisfy its natural need to 'hold' and go with the instincts rather than against.

Have a chat to your DC about remaining very calm around pup and instigating 'pup only' toys that are kept by pup's bed.

Pup will learn, and personally i would say that a pinch point like getting kids ready and out the door (same as meal times, etc) is down-time for pup, or crating if thats your preferred method. Pup must learn to dissociate from the household excitement.

labs are also known for carrying things like 'blankies' around, and if you introduce a smallish 'blankie' type fleece or similar not only will it help to comfort across any new situations, it will also be a great soft thing for pup to exchange for bites!

good luck and fun with your bouncy pup!

My lab pup was like this. It has settled lots now she is 6 months and had a spay on Monday. She has her moments where she zooms everywhere but she is a softy who is terrified of the cats. But she will steal teddies or socks and take them into her crate

My lab is eight months and has never been like this. His thing is licking. He has to lick every hand that he can reach. He can't greet you without licking your hands. I have to keep reminding the dds to wash their hands.

What I would say is, now you are aware of this behaviour, you need to monitor her more closely. When she starts mouthing or biting, remove her immediately. She has to learn that there is a consequence to her behaviour. When she bites, she gets removed from the fun. It has to be immediate though or she won't understand. I'd also look around for another dog training club. The first few months lay down the ground rules so you want to get it right.