questions about some behavioral changes i've noticed

[xkill911]

hello my family has a wonderful 10 month old black lab who is considered an inside dog, crate trained and house broken.

I've got the feeling from him the last few weeks that his behavioral ways are slightly changing, which i assume is normal while growing up

for example, I saw him trying to hump my 6 girl daughter one time and I corrected him and that hasn't happened again but it made me start wondering about some other issue's

potty time ---- normally he will go outside with me and potty and then follow me right back inside. lately he's been going and then laying down in the middle of the yard and refusing to come back inside unless I really beg or go get a treat.

last night at 11 pm I took him out for his bedtime potty and he did that laying down and refusing to come back inside thing again

I hope this isn't going to be an all the time thing cause I don't want to have to use the leash every time he goes to potty


whining to go outside during the day ---- during the daylight hours he want's to be outside for some of the day, usually around 10am-12pm and 2pm to 4pm if he's not outside he goes to the door and whines. my wife and kids can't always go outside during those times so I have no choice but to attach him to a 15 foot cable but he seems fine and happy to come back in once that urge is gone

I think alot of this is him not getting the same amount of exercise he did during the summer, but we do the best we can and I stand out in the freezing cold and rain to play fetch every day when i get home from work and my wife and 13 year old do that a few times during the day but he's got so much energy its hard to keep while tired during the winter months

or could it be that he's going into heat? he's still got his male parts

anything else I should prepare for with the 1 yr old milestone just around the corner?

[bett]

I don't think intact males "go into heat" but they can smell a female in heat, a long ways away.
I'm not a real fan of tie outs....is your yard fenced and secure?

[xkill911]

....is your yard fenced and secure?

unfortunately its not fully fenced in. I do however live on a quite dead end road and in the city limits where leash law is in effect

[Tanya]

no, it's called coming into maturity, the testosterone is coming in. Results in teenage phase - lots of fun.

I would up the training. big time, dogs need not only physical exercise but their brain needs to be challenged as well. and stop begging, you are the leader and the one that pays the bills. If he doesn't come the first time go get him. He's learning that if he holds out he gets treats.

[Sophiesmama]

He sounds like he's bored and isn't getting enough excercise. A tired puppy is a good puppy. Our Sophie likes to go outside. Thankfully our yard is fenced. Sometimes, like your boy, she will just go out in the yard and lay there. Is there some way you can fence the areas in your yard that aren't completely fenced? Cold weather or not, your dog needs walked. He needs it at least twice a day. Labs require a lot of excercise. It is the type of breed they are. They need to run! We have members on here that have often commented that they just bundle up and still take their dogs outside for walks and play time because they know how necessary it is to the breed. Good luck.

[bett]

Could you fence in a safe, secure area for him?

[xkill911]

no I can't afford to fence in the rest of the back yard but that isn't the point of my post. I have family home all day to keep a good eye on him.

my post was more to ask about his desire to go outside and recall issues I described in detail above

[Tanya]

and you got answers. you can't pick and choose what people will say. on boards you'll get a wide variety of answers.

recall is a training issue - train him to come when called. They don't naturally do this. Yes as puppies they are more likely to naturally come at times but as they grow up they become more independent and if you haven't trained a formal recall then you get what you get. you also have to keep up exercising - labs at that age need a ton of running and playing each day, rain or shine, warm or cold.

[deidra]

How much exercise is he getting? How much training does he get DAILY? It was -1 here today and i made sure all my dogs got at-least 2 hrs of some kind of exercise. A quick off-leash run,a walk and some time Obed. training. With him and his recall. My dog Bentley does not have the best recall either and I have to watch him and when he gets the "crazy" look I call him back to me because if I don't good luck catching him,lol. I used a 6ft. leash to start off the training then I got a long line and kept working on going further and further away. Then I would take him to the ball-diamond let him off and practiced a little there.(I got these tips from some great people on here)

Also when he was off-leash if he would come to me without being called I would re-ward him. I NEVER made comming to me a bad thing. It was always a good thing. I would take him out on a leash to do his buisness and when you get in the door re-ward him with a treat.

[bett]

Even if he has good recall, leaving a dog outside, hours at a time, is asking for trouble, in my opinion.