[Putin]

Hi Everyone, me(Hugo) and my wife (Svetlana) are from Australia and have picked up the most beautiful black labrador a week and a half ago, he's name is Putin...

Here's some photos...

Also... I've been reading abit, but it's my first labrador and we really need help...

The issues at the moment are: (He's 9 and a half weeks):

1- Even though we walk him almost every hour he seems to sometimes not do anything outside even when we walk him for a fair bit and then as soon as he walks inside he does his business....

2- Sometimes he seems quite obedient and responds to his name, sits, comes etc.... other times he just ignores us completely and stubbornly insists on doing what he wants...

3- He seems to have acquired a habit very recently of biting people....even though he's little and it's in a playing way...it hurts...

Are these just normal things related to age or are there specific things we can do to fix it...

We have been training him regularly with constant praise and treats whenever he does something right etc.... but he seems to only want to do something right when he feels like it....

PLEASE HELP....

Thanks in advance and looking forward to chatting with you guys and learning more and more about these wonderful

 

[kaznalf]

What a cute pup!

The housetraining when you say your walking him do you mean more than out of your backyard? When housetraining my dogs i put them on a lead and took them to 1 spot and stood there..no walking, and waited until they did something. I did this every half an hour for young puppies. When they went praise to high heaven and give a treat and go back inside..repeat in half hour. If the dog goes inside just clean it up, if you catch him doing it say NO and take him to "the spot"

2. Typical puppy I wouldnt expect too much of him just yet. TRAINING CLASSES WHEN HE IS A FEW WEEKS OLDER ARE A GOD SEND! (oops sorry about the caps locks!)

3. The biting is normal too I never had this but im sure someone else on here can advise

 

[Taz*]

Hi, congrats on your new addition, he is beautiful!

When you say walk him, are you just taking him into the back garden to try and encourage him to go? As taking him on long walks to young could damage his little joints. They say a general rule for walking is 5 minutes for every month. So probably no more than 10 minutes at a time for the little guy at the moment.

I wouldn't worry about him not being 'obedient' at the moment, he is still very young and just wants to explore everything. Just keep with training him regularly and keep it fun, little and often is the key & he will soon pick it up. :happy:

As for the biting, yep it really does hurt! I heard someone on here describe lab pups as 'little land sharks' which i think fits them to a 'T'! :laugh:
There are loads of posts on here with advice on how to stop them biting, so have a dig around and i'm sure you'll find something to help. We tried lots with our little girl Bailey as she was a fully fledged 'land shark' at the same age, everything from: turning our backs; walking away (often with her still hanging on); yelping; shouting; biting back (not too hard) and holding our hands over her mouth - none of this worked and only got her more excited.
But we found 30 second timeouts in the kitchen did the trick, as soon as she started getting over excited & trying to bite we popped her in the kitchen for 30 seconds, and 9 times out of 10 she would come back out & carry on playing with toys, occassionally she would try again so she went back in for another 30 seconds - we never had to put her in more than twice! She soon learnt that biting meant no more play and that wasn't fun. And after about a week & a bit of this she didn't do it again. They do learn very quick.

Anyway hope this helps and good luck. :happy:

 

[sarah]

agree with everything in the two posts above!! patience and consistency is the key to success! Never scold your puppy for going in the house though, you do not want him to develop a fear of eliminating in front of you. If you do catch him going inside, take him outside and praise outside.

When a puppy is on leash outside without walks they learn that on leash outside no walks means you want them to eliminate. Being consistent and taking him to a consistent area will also assist as kaznalf advised

Good Luck!

 

[YukonsMom]

What a sweet face! He makes me miss my old black lab Gunner. Enjoy!

 

[Tedsta]

He is lovely!

Consistency is the key like everyone else has said. They are all individual Teddy is 2 years old and his way of learning is to watch and digest, then suddenly he gets it - sometimes I can stand in the middle of a training class for a good 10 minutes whilst he does his own thing before completing the task. My trainer is brilliant.

Enjoy his puppiness whilst it's there and try not to stress.