Are they all this bad!?

rowan666

rowan666

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I'm currently two days into puppy sitting my friends 9 month lab for a week and so far he's chewed my living room curtains, brand new hunters, daughters umbrella, numerous toys, peed everywhere, stolen food, scavs for food while we are eating, wines and barks constantly when I leave the room or someone knocks at the door and has totally worn out my poor 5 year old mastiff who usually prefers to sleep for 90% of the day! He's a lovely dog but my god I'd totally forgotten how much hard work pups are! Makes me appreciate just how well behaved my boy is! :D on the plus side I was told he doesn't come to call and pulls on the lead but we had that sorted in the first few hours
 
Don't know what it is but Labs are getting an increasingly bad rep nowadays but they're a doddle. I don't get it.

Is it that they're a safe choice for novice / first time owners that don't realise they still need training or what? Serious question as well I'm not having a pop I just keep noticing loads of bolshy, badly behaved Labs and I can't weigh up why.

I love Labs though they're great dogs. Take little Junior for lots of playouts and swims at the river and knacker him good style so when you're back he'll be flat out all zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :)
 
Parly said:
And yeah puppies in general are arsework and annoying as hell.
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We have a 6 month old cockerpoo staying at the moment. She is a complete and utter delight. Great recall, sit and stay. Doesn't beg or clammer for tid bits. And generally is one of the most delightful dogs I've ever met. Even Daisy loves her, and she doesn't do puppies 😃
 
Parly said:
Don't know what it is but Labs are getting an increasingly bad rep nowadays but they're a doddle. I don't get it.

Is it that they're a safe choice for novice / first time owners that don't realise they still need training or what? Serious question as well I'm not having a pop I just keep noticing loads of bolshy, badly behaved Labs and I can't weigh up why.

I love Labs though they're great dogs. Take little Junior for lots of playouts and swims at the river and knacker him good style so when you're back he'll be flat out all zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :)
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I'm inclined to agree with you tbh, we always had labs and lab mixes growing up and all of them were well behaved and exceptionally easy to train, this one's put me right off though, give me an oldie any day!
 
amymay said:
We have a 6 month old cockerpoo staying at the moment. She is a complete and utter delight. Great recall, sit and stay. Doesn't beg or clammer for tid bits. And generally is one of the most delightful dogs I've ever met. Even Daisy loves her, and she doesn't do puppies ��
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Naww.. To be fair you probably have heaps more patience than I which is running on empty even on a good day. I've no patience for little kids or little dogs they frustrate me no end. I like them but they irritate me.
 
my trainer, a very experienced dog trainer well used to working cockers and springers, had a labrador for a year before he went off to be a medical detection dog. she said never again simply due to what the dog would eat or try and eat etc. maybe some lines of labs are worse than others for this.

otherwise, no. I have a retriever who wasn't a big chewer and has always been brilliant to have around and likewise the smooth collie-who was kennelled until 7 months of age. the setter at 9 months was hard work as was the beardie-border cross I had (rescue).
 
I have seen Labradors described as 'a life support system for a stomach'.

Sound about right :D ?
 
My daughter stayed with a friend of hers that has a young Lab and she couldn't get over how well-behaved and easy this little 6-month old was because she's used to nutjob Springers and collies and sheepdogs so it fascinated her to see this youngster plodding along happy beside them just sniffing and not getting into trouble.

"I was standing there like this :eek: because he bumbled along nicely no bouts of zoomies or chasing carrier bags or causing untold chaos he was just super chill not like our mental gits at that age"
 
my trainer, a very experienced dog trainer well used to working cockers and springers, had a labrador for a year before he went off to be a medical detection dog. she said never again simply due to what the dog would eat or try and eat etc. maybe some lines of labs are worse than others for this.

otherwise, no. I have a retriever who wasn't a big chewer and has always been brilliant to have around and likewise the smooth collie-who was kennelled until 7 months of age. the setter at 9 months was hard work as was the beardie-border cross I had (rescue).
 
Actually the youngest BC we only re-homed in March this year is the worst for eating anything and everything to a point of him picking up and chewing / crunching rocks and stones and pretty much anything to be honest. Never had or known a BC do that before but guess it's fallout from his time spent locked in kennels with nothing else to do.

He dragged egg shells out the bin and crunched them and ate kitchen roll...plastic wrapper he was murder.

It's improving but drove me insane for a while.
 
Working labs are just that, high energy dogs who need a job. People think they make lovely pets but they are really so full of drive.
Our pup is now 6 months and is on the go with us from 5am untul she crashes at 5pm after her supper. She comes with us to the pheasant pens 5 times a day (just walking the young poults in, mainly sitting and staying). She obviously can't do excessive walking but on a day where shes doesn't get a lot of company and things to do she is irritatiing. They calm down at about 4.
She no longer needs a crate, lies down when told and wouldn't dream of stealing or scavenging.
I wonder, OP, if the owners of your lab are first timers?
 
I know of a Labrador that ate its way through an interior wall, into the kitchen of its home and then devoured an entire raw turkey that had been left out ready to go into the oven, whilst the hapless humans of the household were out at church. To add to the fun, it was Christmas morning. Lovely dog aside from that though!
 
I would certainly expect a 9 month old pup of any breed to have learnt some boundaries. When it comes to labs the local pet lab owners have put me off them for life. I am not blaming the dogs though.
 
I don't think any breed can be stereotyped as easy. I don't know why labs are seen as ideal first dogs? The only ones I've known have eaten everything, a mate's had several ops to remove socks. Another was incredibly dog aggressive.

Out of 4 springers, 2 working, we have one that is 'hard' who was a bit of a sod as a pup. The rest definitely explode the myth, although big dog escaped at the yard today and went for a springer sprint. They're definitely busy dogs and that's all the springers I've ever met, so maybe I can stereotype that breed!
 
Going back to the initial post, puppy is in a new place and perhaps finding it difficult to adjust. We have had our daughter's young vizla to stay on a number of occasions, initially tbh he was bloody hard work, couldn't/wouldnt settle, seemed to need lots of attention and stimulation, always a bit too much in your face but each time he visited he got better. He got to know us, he got to know what we expected (which was not that different from home)but he also grew up. We spent a week with him on holiday and he was a delight and he stayed with us last weekend and he was fab. I've stayed at my daughter's on a number of occasions when he was a pup and he was completely different to when he was away from home, so much more relaxed!
 
Labs are probably a victim of their own success, people who don't worry about health tests probably don't worry about temperament either.
They are good first dogs as they are so trainable, albeit very high energy. They do need training though, it doesn't just happen by osmosis.
CT - where I think spaniels are harder is their constant hunting style while walking, you can't just potter with a spanner.
 
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