We have a 10 month old lab pup who is really a great dog, but quite a handful right now - she's about 75 lbs and really, really strong. She's most of the time calm around the house, and quite well behaved, but we have a couple of problems that I'm not sure how to handle.
She is generally calm, like I said, but when she's excited, wow, is she excited! She's barrelled right through a latched (attached to the wall with hardware) baby gate, gone through the screen of our back door (she was out on our enclosed deck and came in), etc. when she "needs" to come and see people who are visiting (our best friends are her favorite people - she *freaks out* when they arrive to visit, or go to leave - they also have a dog who is her best friend). So twice now, she's gotten really excited and jumped in the face of my friend, hitting her in the mouth each time with her open mouth - ie. with her teeth. One time it caused my friend's mouth to swell considerably and it was still sore much later. In general, I'd say she'd never do this to one of us - she does sometimes lift her feet off to start to put her face in mine, but I respond so quickly that she never even gets started (I just stand straight and look at her until she's sitting and calm before I interact again). Tonight, though, she jumped in my 3 yr old's face when he was being excited and running around with dh - she just licked him, but it could easily have been similar to what happened with my friend (and ds was really upset - I think it scared him and she hates when she gets "in his face"). To clarify, she's not "jumping up" as in putting her paws on the person, she's sort of jumping/standing to get her face in theirs. I know how to handle it with me, and dh does the same, but how can we teach her that she can't do it with others? (my friend is pretty calm and was not winding her up or anything when she did this).
Our other biggest issue right now is her barking and general obsession with other dogs! She will stand at the window when we're inside and just bark her head off when a she sees a dog go by. The same when she's outside. I don't mind her "commenting" like she does with people or things that seem "odd" to her, but the full on barking is too much, especially when she's inside! We've encouraged her when she's not barking, or when she makes a soft "comment" noise, and brought her away from the window and sometimes put her in her crate when she barks (to separate her from her barking "trigger"), but that's often hard to manage if we're in another part of the house or tied up with ds doing something. She is reasonably well socialized to other dogs - she was with the breeder until about 12 weeks and lived with many other dogs there, and we've brought her to the dog park and she plays with our friend's dog regularly - it almost seems that that is the problem, somehow - she really wants to meet and play with other dogs, no matter what. If she's leashed, inside, or tied, she freaks out and/or barks like mad when she sees another dog, but when she's off leash with other dogs, she'll either play or just meet them and then leave them be. I have no idea how to change this behaviour (and her "comment" barking is getting worse, these days, too...)
Anyone have some helpful hints?
TIA!
She is generally calm, like I said, but when she's excited, wow, is she excited! She's barrelled right through a latched (attached to the wall with hardware) baby gate, gone through the screen of our back door (she was out on our enclosed deck and came in), etc. when she "needs" to come and see people who are visiting (our best friends are her favorite people - she *freaks out* when they arrive to visit, or go to leave - they also have a dog who is her best friend). So twice now, she's gotten really excited and jumped in the face of my friend, hitting her in the mouth each time with her open mouth - ie. with her teeth. One time it caused my friend's mouth to swell considerably and it was still sore much later. In general, I'd say she'd never do this to one of us - she does sometimes lift her feet off to start to put her face in mine, but I respond so quickly that she never even gets started (I just stand straight and look at her until she's sitting and calm before I interact again). Tonight, though, she jumped in my 3 yr old's face when he was being excited and running around with dh - she just licked him, but it could easily have been similar to what happened with my friend (and ds was really upset - I think it scared him and she hates when she gets "in his face"). To clarify, she's not "jumping up" as in putting her paws on the person, she's sort of jumping/standing to get her face in theirs. I know how to handle it with me, and dh does the same, but how can we teach her that she can't do it with others? (my friend is pretty calm and was not winding her up or anything when she did this).
Our other biggest issue right now is her barking and general obsession with other dogs! She will stand at the window when we're inside and just bark her head off when a she sees a dog go by. The same when she's outside. I don't mind her "commenting" like she does with people or things that seem "odd" to her, but the full on barking is too much, especially when she's inside! We've encouraged her when she's not barking, or when she makes a soft "comment" noise, and brought her away from the window and sometimes put her in her crate when she barks (to separate her from her barking "trigger"), but that's often hard to manage if we're in another part of the house or tied up with ds doing something. She is reasonably well socialized to other dogs - she was with the breeder until about 12 weeks and lived with many other dogs there, and we've brought her to the dog park and she plays with our friend's dog regularly - it almost seems that that is the problem, somehow - she really wants to meet and play with other dogs, no matter what. If she's leashed, inside, or tied, she freaks out and/or barks like mad when she sees another dog, but when she's off leash with other dogs, she'll either play or just meet them and then leave them be. I have no idea how to change this behaviour (and her "comment" barking is getting worse, these days, too...)
Anyone have some helpful hints?
TIA!
