I would ask your vet about his weight first. They can tell you what he should weigh or if he's overweight. Then I would look at the label of the dog food you buy and feed for that recommended weight (on the lower end). Any treats you give your dog also adds calories-even raw hides. Something to keep in mind.

As far as correcting behavior, having a leash on him and a pincher collar to use for corrections inside the house might not be a bad idea. You have to be able to control what he's doing even inside the house and correct him WHEN he's doing the behavior you don't want. I think you said something before also about buying an e-collar.

When he's behaving the way you want him to you also need to give the dog positive reinforcement. Just something to think about and I'm obviously NO expert.

I have just started going to a trainer with my GSD close to the age of your lab and one thing he made clear was a dog making contact with skin is a big no-no. Even when playing and if that happens you should give a clear message that it isn't okay. You need to find the best way to handle it and you've gotten a lot of suggestions I suspect.

Edited by Lisa Simms (04/15/2007 03:42 PM)
Edit reason: One more thing!

No I didn't mean exercise him for one hour and crate him for 23 hours. Your dog would go stir crazy

I mean give him tons of exercise, then, have him either on leash or in the crate when he's in the house.

If he were on a leash with a prong collar, and you were petting him and he nipped at you, you would be in a position to give him a good correction and let him know this behaviour will not be tolerated. Also, being on leash, he can't suddenly take off and start running around (I belive Ed calls it "acting stupid"). Make sure you remove his prong before crating him, so it doesn't get caught on anything.

As for assessing your dog's condition, you should be able to easily feel his ribs, (you shouldn't have to dig for them) and there should be a noticeable waist after his ribcage and before his hips. If his ribs go straight back to his rump, he's fat.

Hello, Claudene.

I see others have the same concern over the weight ov your lab?? 96lbs is very large for a lab?? Got any pics??

"A tired puppy is a good Puppy" I heard this here when I first started to read the posts and there is nothing more true on this green earth?!?!?!?

I have a six month-old puppy that can't get enough outside fun and exercise. Between getting up at about 6:00am and doing a litle training before eating (my dog is very responsive to food reward, so she is very very "trainable" when hungry), my G.F. takes her on a run in the morning (off and on for about three miles) and then throughout the day? I would say that four or five hours are spent with exercise and games with here during a single day?

I took the dogs to the LAke the other day and talk about tired dogs?? Try some swiming if available.

Sounds like you have a dog with some pent-up energy to me?? Others might see it as a dominance issue but I'm not experienced in behavioral problems enough to comment?

We just run, play, fetch, swim until she doesn't want to do anymore...

Works for us

Hope it helps a bit coming from somebody with the same type of dog?

 Quote: claudene hensler

My Lab is just being petted when he decides to become agressive towards the person touching him. He then starts running frantically through the house and nipping!


Also, I have a crate that he is in right now, but the xlarge crate seems to small. It is a pvc crate with metal sides for air. What type of indoor crate should we use?

Hi Claudene,

First: Crate, do you mean this is a Vari-Kennel or Pet-Porter crate with wire slots on the sides and a wire door? If so, an XL should be fine. My 90# Bloodhound fits in his just fine while we travel. He does have an XL wire collapsing crate for house. But he is usually outside in his kennel run.
Your dog should be able to stand up, turn around and lie down comfortably while in the crate.

Second: What do you mean by aggressive? Is he growling and snapping OR is he so wound up that he just cannot sit still to be petted and then goes "stupid" running around? Is he actually nipping or just wound up and grabbing at whatever is available?

If he is being aggressive, use a prong and correct him for that. Make sure to put yourself in the correct position to get a good POP on that collar. No little aggravating pops, when you pet him and the instant he even looks like he is going to be aggressive he gets corrected......do you know what his body language looks like right before he does it? Make sure you are not correcting him for nothing. Research this site, read the articles on utilizing how to use this collar, order and watch the video if you can. If you are not familiar with this collar, please learn about it first. This way the corrections are fair for the dog.

If it is just a case of the "stupids" then I would say he needs more structured exercise. Mental exercise is great also. Hold his lead or collar and throw his ball out into some taller grass and then let him off lead and have him hunt for it.
Work on obedience everyday and end it with a good game of fetch. Running in the house should be a NO NO, keep him in a prong collar and a lead and keep him attached to you. MAKE him mind you.
My Lab is the spokesdog for a "case of the stupids", he is young also and just is really pushy when it comes to play time. He will put his mouth on me (not so much anymore) but it is always with the ball in his mouth and he is being pushy for me to throw it. He knows, but sometimes "forgets" and he corrects himself now. By this I mean, when I would correct him for it I would put him into a sit, now if he "forgets" and touches me with his mouth he will back up, spit his ball and sit and look at me with "OOOOPS" written all across his face. My Lab ALWAYS has a tough ball (bigger than what he could possibly swallow) or a kong in his mouth......unless I make him "give" it. His decoys we use for training are put up and out of site.

You could always have the dog evaluated if you are worried that he is truly aggressive and not just full of pent up energy, which in itself could be a cause and with proper exercise and mental stimulation it may very well go away.

Ditto to everything Carole says - I couldn't say it better.

And my own reaction/advice: There's this thing... called a leash! The entire situation can be avoided.

I say no prong collar. Last thing you want to do with a worked-up dog is stimulate it with a prong (IMHO). Try a narrow nylon (not chain!) choke style collar. Leerburg sells two really nice kinds.

I cinch up my lab mix's collar and leash tight and walk quickly and directly through the house, he sits and waits at doorways. We almost get to the front door in one piece. This and OB training time are the only times he is in the house. (Psycho-crazy dog!)

Treadmills are wonderful things. So are weighted vests (10% of dog's body weight). Chuck-it tennis ball thrower or the hyperdog tennis ball launcher are great too!

No matter how much phyiscal exercise you provide, if your don't exercise his brain, he's still going to be crazy.

 Quote: claudene hensler

....he does get daily exercise from walks and playing in the house...ball.

Well, unfortunately you've taught him to run in the house if you've been playing ball in the house since he was a young puppy.

So he's learned, through you, that running through the house is OK, and lots of fun. So that's what he's doing, and since there's no house that's big enough to provide adequate exercise, he started adding nipping merely out of excitement and frustration. I see this nipping as the next logical step in a dog's behavior who has been allowed to play inside as if it were outside.

Excitement of playing in a small area = unconscious frustration = "playful" nipping.

Now he has to be retrained to be calm in the house, with the suggestions posted.

I used the words "playful nipping" because you said nipping in your first post, then later added "aggressive" and I've noticed that that term is used differently by different people. Be careful you don't misread what he's doing. To me he just sounds frustrated and used to playing in the house, not aggressive. I could be wrong. You have to read him yourself.

I had a question about my girl german shepherd who likes to jump all the time because she is so excited to see you and has alot of energy, does anyone have any idea how I can stop this fast?
thanks a bunch in advance for your help.
Maggie

I had a question about my girl german shepherd who likes to jump all the time because she is so excited to see you and has alot of energy, does anyone have any idea how I can stop this fast?
thanks a bunch in advance for your help.
Maggie

The video I watched from leerburg.
Said
To try to make them sit. Then pet them after they sit not while they are jumping. And also to try to pet them before they jump it has worked well with my pup.
and also long walks might help also

Maggie,

Welcome to the forum.

You may want to start a new thread with your question. This is a fairly old thread about a biting lab and people may not see it.

You could put it under the "Basic Dog Obedience" topic, which is in the "Dogs as House Companions" section.

You just click on Forum List in the bar at the top of the screen and then scroll down until you find it.