On the verge of rehoming, please advise - Experienced lab owners especially 🙏

[LabHelpPlease]

As title...

Lab is a gorgeous 10 month old dog. There are many practical reasons for rehoming and the main reason not to is simply that I love him.

Won't go into all the ins and outs, the general gist is that our 6yo dd is profoundly autistic and based on experience with a therapy dog at school we thought it would be a potentially huge benefit. Reality is they are mostly kept apart as dog is just too bouncy and boisterous. Have sought advice from a trainer and behaviourist who both say dog is normal for his age, vet slightly disagreed and said he is very excitable and boisterous - too excited to listen.

We are first time dog owners and ultimately think we have bitten off more than we can chew. If I'm really honest not sure we are completely meeting the dogs needs, though not for lack of trying.

Yes, we have been terribly naive and no doubt made many mistakes. I suppose my question to experienced lab owners is - is it normal for a lab of this age to jump up and snap near your face in excitement? Do tthey actually become less excitable? Or should we accept that we are not the right family for this dog?

I know how these threads normally go but I couldn't feel worse than I already do 😭

At 10 months he is still a puppy, seems like puppy behavior more than general naughtiness

He will definitely calm down hang in there and you will end up with a lovely dog .

No experience, but I love labs and researched them in great detail when I was looking at getting one.

12 months is when a lab is most likely to be rehomed. From all the forums I was on about labs, they’re a pain in the arse until about 2, then they’re brilliant dogs.

you’re at the teenage stage now at 10 months and they’re at their most difficult

You've sought advice from a trainer and behaviourist, but have you actually used them to help train the dog?

Is it a working line lab or a show line lab?

10 months is still very much puppy but in an almost adult sized dog.

The hardest dog I ever owned was a working lab. (I now have Springer spaniels) She had cancer of the windpipe at the age of 7 and just a week before she was put to sleep she was jumping on my worktop eating a loaf of bread I'd forgotten to put away.

I'd say it was excitement and normal. Just needs regular re-enforcement of training.

Don't blame yourself - Labs are sold as the image of the perfect family dog but they can be really difficult. I don't think they're suited for first time dog owners. I tried a Collie as my first dog! He was beautiful but I underestimated it all and I had to rehome.
They are high energy dogs and realistically things will settle when they hit about 2. Things are probably going to get worse before they get better as he hits the adolescent stage. Labs are greedy and can eat from the kitchen side due to their size. They can be very boisterous. I think that you've come this far though and if you hang on, you should have a wonderful dog.
Don't guilt yourself if you need to separate your child and the dog for a short time. Do what works for you. You can only do your best! You'll know better than any of us if it's possible to work in your household for the next decade. Good luck!

Thanks all.

@Aquamarine1029 yes, and there have been small improvements. The main issue is keeping him separated from dd otherwise he leaps up and licks her face and nibbles her ears. This is frightening for her. We are following advice to have them in the garden with dog under control but tbh we've not been able to do it as regularly as advised. I do think we were unprepared for how much work goes into raising a well behaved puppy and it has coincided with dd being more challenging too so it feels difficult to meet both their needs.

Training, training, training. It costs money and takes time and effort.
There are many demands on your time I’m sure. Could you devote time and effort to getting one to one and group training for your dog throughout the next year? This would probably bring many rewards for your family.
if not, let your dog be rehomed to someone who hopefully will train him well. Please don’t get another dog to try to help your child.

I'm sitting next to my pain in the ass 13 month old Labrador. She is improving slowly, still goes crackers around the grandchildren and visitors.

You could put her on a lead when your child arrives home and say no very firmly and make her sit and wait. Reward with treat. We give half a gravy bone treat as a reward.

They're as bouncy as Tigger in Winnie the pooh aren't they.

Be consistent with training.

You can put on a lead in the house. Holding the dog back.

Rehome the dog.

it is behaving as a happy playful large puppy does / should

do not get another dog for your child

That's what I was inclined to think, but the vet expressed concern which has given me pause for thought.

The dog was not bought for ddbur we thought it would benefit her along with the rest of the family and that's not how it is, at least not so far ☹️

There's puppy though and there's 10 month old, adult size 25 kg dog jumping up and snapping at faces . That's not appropriate behaviour and I would listen to your vet.
If you can put the work in though, it's probably a redeemable situation.
Exercise and good training input from a trainer that's used to labs plus you constantly reinforcing boundaries at home .
But it will take work and won't happen overnight

it reads as tho you got the dog because of your child ' our 6yo dd is profoundly autistic and based on experience with a therapy dog at school we thought it would be a potentially huge benefit. '

and both the trainer and behaviourist have told you - ' Have sought advice from a trainer and behaviourist who both say dog is normal for his age, '

Vets are for medical issues etc. for pets, only a few of them are qualified in behaviour.

Golden retrievers are much more placid and easy to train.

btw there is a huge difference between ' snap near your face in excitement? ' and ' licks her face and nibbles her ears. '

which is it ?

@OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon this was based on him jumping at the vet on his recent visit, not based on anything we said to her.

With dd it tends to be licking/nibbling, but he has jumped at snapped at virtually everyone else, including the trainer and behaviourist. I really don't want him doing this to dd in particular.

I said about dd in my op as dds disability and the behaviour of the dog are the most relevant facts? The rest of the family wanted a dog and we were excited to get him. The reality isn't what we imagined however.

Rehome him

remove the word ' snapping ' from your vocabulary or you could be signing his death warrant.

We had the the most wonderful GR ,best ever dog . I will miss him forever . We lost him when he was 13. He was a mischievous energetic nightmare of a puppy, very bouncy until he was about 6 but never ‘nibbled’ any living thing and certainly not humans. He ripped up a fair amount of other stuff however!! He was totally worth it though.

I think he probably needs alot of walking and presence ( plus training) . If you can’t give him this which is understandable with a young child and he is ‘nibbling ‘ her and she is afraid of him it’s probably fairest to him and to you to rehome while he is still young .

The nibbling and snapping I would say is a concern. I’ve re homed two labs at this age and never experienced this behaviour. Has a vet checked him over? If he’s doing this with the behaviourist what have they said?

They do have a teenage stage, it’s a pain in the arse, but they do come through it and by two they calm down so much.

i believe there’s a Labrador rescue charity, if anyone is an expert on the breed the will know, and could probably advise or offer to re home him for you.

this sounds like typical 10mth old lab behavior.
they grow to be heavy set, strong, large dogs and most have this level of energy till 2yrs if not longer.
they really really are not appropriate dogs for a first time pet owner.
if you wanted a therapy type dog for your family a small tibetan spaniel, japanese chin, havernese, would have been a much better call (or realistically any of a dozen other light weight docile breeds).
i would rehome asap as it takes at least 2 years of hard work at the very least with most dogs of this breed.
my son had to rehome his lab, rehomed to an experience family who have owned labs for the past 40 years. the dog is now 3 years and remains overly eager to greet people, greets people with an open mouth. after 1 full year with this experienced family will sit and stay however vibrates, pants and is so overexcited at the idea of greeting guest it could easily be scary to someone not experienced with dogs.

Experienced lab owner here. I have never encountered snapping, they do chew when they are teething and puppies do include arms and legs in that, but that (the arms and legs) should stop by 6 months. You need to be firm and consistent, a lab that jumps up at people is dangerous and could easily hurt someone.

How much off lead exercise is he getting every day? We have a a. 1 year old lab who has an hour off lead walk per day and she spends 80% of the rest of her day asleep while I wfh.

@Meadowtrees all the lab pup's i've encountered are very mouthy, very sensory seeking with their mouth open, wanting to inhale your fingers hands cuffs, face and honestly anything that smells of food.
in labs the teething and mouthy period can last beyond the usual 6 months to nearly 10 months and beyond.
nipping behavior till 18months common.
Labrador Behavior Help and Understanding (thelabradorsite.com)