Labrador jumping up
Discussion
Hi all
We have a 15 month-old male black Labrador. He's intact and we'd ideally like to keep him that way.
He's, for the most part, a calm, obedient dog and he is pretty quick on the uptake. His recall is excellent (people comment on it), he's walking to heal well, he's beginning to get the rudiments of basic retrieving and he is very calm and well-socialised around other dogs.
The only issue we have is that, if he is out with us and we stop to talk to other people, he almost immediately starts jumping up, whining and generally getting agitated and aggressive. The aggression is always towards us, never the other person/people and he. Doesn't actually any harm; he just makes a nuisance of himself.
Whether he's on or off the lead doesn't seem to make a difference although he is worse with my wife than with me (which is odd in itself, as she has done most of his training)
Before we throw in the towel and send him off to boot-camp, have any of you guys got any top tips for how we could train him out of this?
We have a 15 month-old male black Labrador. He's intact and we'd ideally like to keep him that way.
He's, for the most part, a calm, obedient dog and he is pretty quick on the uptake. His recall is excellent (people comment on it), he's walking to heal well, he's beginning to get the rudiments of basic retrieving and he is very calm and well-socialised around other dogs.
The only issue we have is that, if he is out with us and we stop to talk to other people, he almost immediately starts jumping up, whining and generally getting agitated and aggressive. The aggression is always towards us, never the other person/people and he. Doesn't actually any harm; he just makes a nuisance of himself.
Whether he's on or off the lead doesn't seem to make a difference although he is worse with my wife than with me (which is odd in itself, as she has done most of his training)
Before we throw in the towel and send him off to boot-camp, have any of you guys got any top tips for how we could train him out of this?
When you say he gets 'aggressive', what do you mean?
It sounds to me (though I'm no expert) that he is simply getting bored because you've stopped to speak to other people. The behaviour sounds like attention-seeking.
It sounds as though he's pretty biddable/trainable - has he been trained to sit/lie down and stay? That may help, or you could find something to distract him when you stop (a toy, treats thrown on the ground?)
I don't know how serious your comment about 'Boot Camp' is, but I would never send a dog away for training - partly because I'd want to know about any techniques used on my dog and partly because training is for both dog and owner
It sounds to me (though I'm no expert) that he is simply getting bored because you've stopped to speak to other people. The behaviour sounds like attention-seeking.
It sounds as though he's pretty biddable/trainable - has he been trained to sit/lie down and stay? That may help, or you could find something to distract him when you stop (a toy, treats thrown on the ground?)
I don't know how serious your comment about 'Boot Camp' is, but I would never send a dog away for training - partly because I'd want to know about any techniques used on my dog and partly because training is for both dog and owner
Edited by moorx on Tuesday 8th March 10:28
IMO you (and your family) should definitely be the ones training him.
I'd only consider 'sending away to bootcamp' as a very last resort.
You say he's 15mths - what formal/structured training classes have you been taking him to thus far.
And finally - you indicate you want to keep him 'entire'. Why? are you intending to breed from him?
I'd only consider 'sending away to bootcamp' as a very last resort.
You say he's 15mths - what formal/structured training classes have you been taking him to thus far.
And finally
- you indicate you want to keep him 'entire'. Why? are you intending to breed from him?Is he trained to sit and wait?
This is what I'd try.
Make it a game. Train him to sit whenever you stop. Stand around with no-one there. Very short periods, getting longer. Praise when he gets it right. Get him to wait. Praise him. See if you can walk away. Call him in and lots of fuss.
If you are teaching him to retrieve, always get him to sit and wait before he retrieves. Then he knows that sitting patiently will lead to a game and/or praise. Sitting becomes fun rather than an inconvenience that interrupts the fun of his walk.
This is what I'd try.
Make it a game. Train him to sit whenever you stop. Stand around with no-one there. Very short periods, getting longer. Praise when he gets it right. Get him to wait. Praise him. See if you can walk away. Call him in and lots of fuss.
If you are teaching him to retrieve, always get him to sit and wait before he retrieves. Then he knows that sitting patiently will lead to a game and/or praise. Sitting becomes fun rather than an inconvenience that interrupts the fun of his walk.
AstonZagato said:
Is he trained to sit and wait?
This is what I'd try.
Make it a game. Train him to sit whenever you stop. Stand around with no-one there. Very short periods, getting longer. Praise when he gets it right. Get him to wait. Praise him. See if you can walk away. Call him in and lots of fuss.
If you are teaching him to retrieve, always get him to sit and wait before he retrieves. Then he knows that sitting patiently will lead to a game and/or praise. Sitting becomes fun rather than an inconvenience that interrupts the fun of his walk.
That will certainly help.This is what I'd try.
Make it a game. Train him to sit whenever you stop. Stand around with no-one there. Very short periods, getting longer. Praise when he gets it right. Get him to wait. Praise him. See if you can walk away. Call him in and lots of fuss.
If you are teaching him to retrieve, always get him to sit and wait before he retrieves. Then he knows that sitting patiently will lead to a game and/or praise. Sitting becomes fun rather than an inconvenience that interrupts the fun of his walk.
You can also "interupt him" when he jumps up, either a loud audible that he hasn't heard before or bang a 2 litre soda bottle on your leg. The response will be WTF was that, with a puzzled look. immediately praise the stopping of the jumping. Three goes should do it.
He is still a puppy at heart, he currently doesn't realise what he is doing is wrong, he is communicating with you (come on lets go) you need to communicate with him.
He sounds a great dog, should be an easy fix.
Our Golden used to jump up, ignoring him fixed that, he still likes to go up to people to say hi and hopefully get a tickle behind his ears, but holds off unless they show him interest. If stopping to talk to someone he sits, if usually lies down and sits patiently.
One of his playmates was stopped from jumping by use of a pet corrector aerosol, the short sharp noise tactic, as mentioned by an earlier poster. Now he just has to be shown the tube if he's getting boisterous. If our Golden has an equivalent of the corrector it's being shown the shampoo bottle, he likes to get filthy.
One of his playmates was stopped from jumping by use of a pet corrector aerosol, the short sharp noise tactic, as mentioned by an earlier poster. Now he just has to be shown the tube if he's getting boisterous. If our Golden has an equivalent of the corrector it's being shown the shampoo bottle, he likes to get filthy.
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