7 month old Labrador

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What should a 7 month old lab typically be behaving like. First time dog owner here and adore my lab here is his typical behaviour:
Will sit on command
Will lie down on command
Will spin on command
Will stay on command
Always toilets outside
Sleeps all night no whining
Walks x2 a day 1 20 minutes in the morning 1 1hour off lead playing on an enclosed field in the evening.

However he will not sit still unless he is crated for bed. He runs around the house like a bat out of hell. Chews everything and anything he can, mouths arms and hands and jumps up at people when they enter a room. He's been to training classes hence the sitting and lying down and the jumping is definitely getting less however I would have hoped that by now he would be slightly more relaxed we have to stand up in whatever room he is in because if you sit he jumps all over you. Is this all sounding normal ? Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Sounds totally normal - he’ll settle down in about 5 years

Seriously though it sounds as if ge’s Very responsive to training and so it’s worth training a ‘settle’ or ‘calm on cue’ response. We often reinforce poor behaviour by responding to it but ignore o it dog’s when they’re behaving. In addition look at slow feeders, puzzle feeders and increasing his exercise/engagement through the day.

We used the no speak, no look, no touch method to train ours not to jump up. It is important not to engage with the behaviour, a sharp down command and ignoring her worked eventually. People needed more training than the dog, as they wanted to fuss her which she thought meant it was ok to jump. We had to be very calm around her, using one word commands and not making eye contact.

He has one hour 20 mins a day at 7 months? I would say that’s a bit much. He’s fit and athletic and a teen hooligan!!!
A longline is useful in the house to help with control.
A settle is a great command. When mine lay next to me on her bed I would sometimes throw a treat next to her. So now she comes in and settles in it.
Training and brain games help to tire them out too.

FWIW I think that is too much exercise for a dog that age who is still growing .

He's a puppy it's normal. He will calm at 2yo. Meanwhile get a lot of bones, chews, etc to distract him from inappropriate chewing and manage his behaviour when you have visitors, e.g. place yourself between the dog and the visitor (you will have to ignore the visitor) and use treats to distract the dog and get him to sit.

Did you mean that you walk him one hour and twenty minutes twice a day? This is way over the recommended. Especially large breeds should stick, as much as possible, to the 5 minutes per month of life rule, so that is 35 minutes at 7 months.

I mean I walk him for 20 minutes in the morning and then for about 40 minutes to an hour in the evening we go out and throw a ball play in a field and let him run off lead in an enclosed space. So all together about an hour and 20 minutes a day. Is this too much? I feel he'd go stir crazy with any less! Will try and ignore him when he jumps. What's a long line can I ask?
Thanks for all the advice as I say I'm just trying my best to make sure he's happy! As I love him to death 😍

He does sound our lab puppy. We use baby gates and dog safe areas for him unless we are teaching him 'settle' in the lounge. In training we learnt settle and he will settle but only with supervision and a lead on! We are hoping that as he gets older and has more practice he will get better. We found the website 'thelabradorsite' very useful. We also find the Facebook group 'dog training advice and support ' fantastic. We also watch YouTube videos (kikopup and Zak George are our current favourites!) Have you worked on the the 3 Ds with his training (distractions, distance and duration) Our lab puppy is great with distance and duration but horrendous with distractions!!!!

I know a lot of people don’t approve of his methods, but I watch The Dog Whisperer on TV at the moment. I am learning a lot from him. The most important learning has been for DH. He gets stressed around the dog and I have said that she picks up on it. He did not believe me when I told him but, watching the owners around their dogs, I think he has recognised his own anxieties and behaviours He is more calmly authoritative now, in her presence and she responds better to him.

It does sound pretty normal tbh but you can help increase the chill time by training.

I would say too much physical exercise and also drop the ball throwing. Instead of tiring dogs out it tends to up the adrenaline and make it much harder for them to relax.

I would up the opportunity to chew - this is a huge stress reliever so make sure there are a lot of chew opportunities.

Increase the brain training and make this a calm chilled session, so trick training etc. Look at kiko pup for free videos

Also ditch the bowl for feeding - if feeding kibble scatter feed so it takes the puppy longer to eat and the dog has to sniff out the food. If raw fed hide the food in the garden to encourage sniffing and uses calm energy (well calm lab energy!)

Also reward the calm behaviour. Have a mat and everytime the dog is on the mat calmly reward, no words just a low value treat. Start waiting until the dog is lying down on the mat then reward.

(Dog whisper approach is not the way to proceed with puppies or any dogs, there is a reason most people do not approve of his methods)

A bit too much exercise. At that age 35 minute limit to walks, twice a day and no ball throwing. You can increase the training though, keeps their minds engaged.

A longline is a long lead that can trail behind them. Useful for recall training and I used one In the house. At that age mine was on a lead round the kids or visitors. A boisterous wolfhound pup can do some real damage!

Thanks for the tips think I'll invest in a long line and cut the ball throwing! Any recommendations for good chews that will actually last more than 10'minutes? He devours them el rapido!

We find frozen kongs fantastic. There are recipes online. We use yoghurt, banana, and peanut butter (made with just peanuts).

I know a lot of people don’t approve of his methods, but I watch The Dog Whisperer on TV at the moment. I am learning a lot from him

It’s a shame you’re choosing to listen to a discredited ‘celebrity’ with no actual knowledge of dog behaviour than learn how to train your dog properly

In terms of exercise, there’s No evidence that restricting exercise prevents joint problem solving later on

I know a lot of people don’t approve of his methods, but I watch The Dog Whisperer on TV at the moment. I am learning a lot from him

You know his show got cancelled due to animal cruelty, right?

He's completely unqualified and his pack theory is very old fashioned and irrelevant to domesticated dogs.

He effectively freaks the dogs out into submission and they shut down. 'oh look I cured him' - no, you caused more issues.

Antlers are great for chewing. You can get them from pets at home. Our pup also appreciates a bone from the butchers once in a while too.

Drop the ball throwing - we didn't do anything like that with ours until he was 12 months and he's a much smaller breed than a Labrador. Even now he only gets the ball thrown a couple of times a week - it's too much stress on their joints because they stop suddenly and do silly things to catch the ball mid-flight.

I would say that actually the walking is okay as the second walk is off-lead. The general rule is 5 minutes per month of age for on-lead walks but running about off-lead in grass shouldn't really be an issue. I wouldn't do long pavement walks or anything like that though.

It sounds like you need to teach him to settle - we used a house lead for that. Get him on his lead and settled where you want - bed, crate, sofa, wherever and praise him when he's calm and lying down. We used "settle!" as his command word and he's pretty good now. He's nearly eighteen months old and just starting to do it naturally without us having to ask! We barely need to use the house line at all these days.

Sorry I read it as an hour and 20 minutes on the lead in the morning . I have a friend who has a young lab and your dogs behaviour sounds completely like his , they are very mouthy dogs IME .

Our Lab is 6 months old. He does all of what you say but does settle more now than he used to, he bites less now hes lost his baby teeth..He's mostly happy to lay at my feet when I'm on the sofa, until I try to eat a biscuit then he's suddenly giving me his puppy dog eyes!
He still tries to jump at visitors but that's improving, he doesn't jump at me , DS or DH now, just strangers
I find letting him chew is therapeutic, he wasn't interested atall in the antlerwhich cost £16
His favourite is a pigs ear or an ostrich bone I got from pets at home. it was £8 but doesn't splinter and smells less than a normal bone. He also loves an ice cube.
I didn't know about the ball throwing. we have a lake nearby and he loves a swim and I throw the ball into the water.
I would say he has a 15 min pavement walk in the morning and a 20 min mooch around the lake in the evening (he doesn't swim every day)

Just thought I'd update after nearly a week of implementing some of the advice on here.

It's been a godsend!! He will now settle for a good 40 mins at my feet (chewing a peanut butter filled kong).

Have also been walking him around the house on his lead to help keep him calm and under control.
The jumping up is slowing too as I've just been totally ignoring him until he sits nicely.
Thanks for all the advice!

That’s a great update, well done!

that's good news!
I've just invested in a coffee wood stick, he loves it, doesn't splinter and looks like it might last!

Well done. It’s a learning curve isn’t it?

My lab is now four and a lovely dog, although he still likes to lunge at every person and dog we meet so that’s still tricky.

I second the antler and also suggest buffalo horn. I got some at our local garden centre pet department. It’s even tougher than antler.

The best chew toy I ever got is a rope toy. It's lasted since she was a puppy (now 2).

And yes, teaching an active young dog to settle is a really useful thing to do.

Good luck!