First-time Labrador owner

Yes, I think dogs should be able to be left if necessary, although we never leave ours completely alone - they ahve t least one other dog for company.
What I mean by constant training is that you, for instance will need to train the dog not to launch into its food dish when you feed it - so teach it to 'wait' or 'sit', as part of its normal routine. You won't want an adult Labrador jumping up you, so teach it 'down' or 'off', in the moment that it happens. A Lab pup will pick up and attempt to chew all sorts of things around the house, electrical leads seem to be a favourite, so you will need to train the dog to 'Leave' or 'drop' it. You won't need to set those situations up and you can't wait until you have set something up, you will have to respond to the pup as it explores its surroundings. Training is constant because if you ignore any behaviour the pup will think that it's acceptable and expect to be able to continue to behave that way
 
I thought about hand-feeding a puppy initially just so I can slow down how quickly she eats and close my hand over the food if shes getting overzealous and biting/chomping at it to much (maybe wear gloves for this if I try it) and only release my hand to the food when the dog understands the calmer the better. I'm not going to purposely set things up I'd rather have situations occur organically rather than manipulating them like you suggested.

The more suggestions the better!
 
We hand fed Luna. A couple of weeks after bringing her home, we noticed if we walked too close to her whilst she was eating, she would get quite aggressive. We would be just be walking past to get to somewhere. A couple of weeks of hand feeding, and now she takes no notice.
 
Sukhpreet Aujla said:
I thought about hand-feeding a puppy initially just so I can slow down how quickly she eats and close my hand over the food if shes getting overzealous and biting/chomping at it to much (maybe wear gloves for this if I try it) and only release my hand to the food when the dog understands the calmer the better. I'm not going to purposely set things up I'd rather have situations occur organically rather than manipulating them like you suggested.

The more suggestions the better!
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I wouldn't do that, I tend not to treat (although not as vehemently as Levrier!) but I think every meal time will become a fight and it will be hard to stay calm while a hungry lab pup tries to eat your hand. If you asre worried about them eating too fast get a bowl designed to slow it. We just let them get on with it.
I also don't agree with PAS saying a dog should never be left completely alone, it does them no harm, although for a young pup an hour is quite long enough. As pups, as we only ever have one pup at a time, when the older dogs are walked the pup just sleeps in her cage. Overnight the pup is caged in the kitchen and the others sleep in other rooms.
 
Sukhpreet Aujla said:
I thought about hand-feeding a puppy initially just so I can slow down how quickly she eats and close my hand over the food if shes getting overzealous and biting/chomping at it to much (maybe wear gloves for this if I try it) and only release my hand to the food when the dog understands the calmer the better. I'm not going to purposely set things up I'd rather have situations occur organically rather than manipulating them like you suggested.

The more suggestions the better!
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I wouldn't, they don't normally guzzle food down in an unhealthy way and you could be causing frustration behaviour. You won't be feeding a young pup very much at each meal - they need 4 meals per day.

Incidentally , Clodagh, I didn't say dogs shouldn't be left alone. this is what I said;

Yes, I think dogs should be able to be left if necessary, although we never leave ours completely alone - they have at least one other dog for company.
Read more at https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/...rador-owner.779957/page-7#KT1Bp630WcV8kVVm.99


Each to their own.
 
To elaborate, when I talk about 'hand feeding' I would deliver the dog's nornal meal allowance (not treats) through training sessions. It's good for shaping behaviours. Like I said, not for everyone but it is good for certain breeds and disciplines.
 
This is all very interesting, hand-feeding was something I read in a book but its good to hear what people think, its certainly not something I'm looking at doing long term, no longer than a week really after getting the pup.

For those who don't give treats did you still use treats for toilet-training initially? For those who do give treats how do you substitute the calories from the treats from their main meals to ensure you don't overfeed? There are many differing opinions but Labradors being super eager to eat is the one everyone agrees on
 
As I said I don't use treats, I use the dog's daily allowance of food. Weigh it out and keep one meal allowance in a container for example so you know what the dog is getting every day. Once one meal allowance is gone (through sit....down...stay...etc) ten minutes and you've trained your dog and fed it the food it needs to be able to grow. Hot dogs aren't good nutrition for a growing dog.
Then later, if you hit a training problem, you can upgrade to the good stuff.

When I got my second dog, he was a mature adult and he knew me from a pup, but I still fed him from my pockets out on a walk for the first few months for things like coming back quickly, checking in/paying attention etc. It can be the same with a puppy.
So, food is life, Sukhpreet is food! If you want to go that route. Toilet = bit of kibble from the allowance.

It just means foregoing an extra coffee or missing ten minutes of your favourite show, but for me it's worth it.

Buuut again, for some people it's a bit too much of a faff and I totally understand that.
 
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Sukhpreet Aujla said:
This is all very interesting, hand-feeding was something I read in a book but its good to hear what people think, its certainly not something I'm looking at doing long term, no longer than a week really after getting the pup.

For those who don't give treats did you still use treats for toilet-training initially? For those who do give treats how do you substitute the calories from the treats from their main meals to ensure you don't overfeed? There are many differing opinions but Labradors being super eager to eat is the one everyone agrees on
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We use treats as rewards, we feed tinned meat, I am not prepared to put that in my pocket! We simply don't give as much food at mealtimes, as we would if we didn't feed treats. Monitor the dog's weight, either by weighing or by eye and adjust the food accordingly. I don't understand CC's point about missing 10 minutes of your favourite show. I take time to feed my dogs and to take them on walks/play with them etc and give treats during that time for doing as asked.
I will say though, that every dog is different and you will find what works for you and your dog.
 
Well, obviously hand feeding only really works with kibble ;)
My point was when puppies can't go for walks yet, need regular feeds and don't have a huge concentration span, you can get all their food allowance into them and some training done in a few short sessions per day. You'd be surprised how many people think that dogs train themselves or that they 'don't have time to train'.
It may or may not be a road the OP wants to go down, I just wanted to clarify my own definition of hand feeding, as it appears there are several interpretations on this thread.
 
CorvusCorax said:
Well, obviously hand feeding only really works with kibble ;)
My point was when puppies can't go for walks yet, need regular feeds and don't have a huge concentration span, you can get all their food allowance into them and some training done in a few short sessions per day. You'd be surprised how many people think that dogs train themselves or that they 'don't have time to train'.
It may or may not be a road the OP wants to go down, I just wanted to clarify my own definition of hand feeding, as it appears there are several interpretations on this thread.
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The thing that often astounds me is that some people seem to think that training takes place in 'sessions', rather than as an integral part of a puppy's life. We teach ours to 'sit' while waiting for their food dishes to be put down, to 'sit' while waiting for the others to finish eating, to come to us when called, to co-operate with having a harness put on, etc, etc. There is a lot for a small pup to learn in order to become a pleasant member of the family. You can't teach that in a few 10 minute sessions, so training happens all the time, every time the pup is awake.

CC, I know you are training for a particular purpose, so, of course, your training is done in sessions, interspersed with life.
 
All of my dogs are rescues so it has been quite a few years since I had a puppy, but since they have come from a kennel environment they do also need to be house trained/toilet trained using the same techniques.

No, I’ve never used treats for this 😊 Their ‘reward’ is effusive praise, this has always worked fine for me 😊
 
Levrier said:
No, I’ve never used treats for this 😊 Their ‘reward’ is effusive praise, this has always worked fine for me 😊
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I've never used treats for toilet training especially, labradors soon learn to ask to go out so they can get a biscuit. They can even bob their bum down if it they think it helps the cause! I use them a bit with recall as it does give that more instant response, rather than 'Yeah, yeah, I'll be there when I've finished what I'm doing'. Trouble is, overdo it and they just glue themselves to your side so you can't teach recall as they won't go away to start with.
 
We are currently using treats to teach walking to heel. We find that Labs are usually easy to house-train, as were the Rotters without treats.

Clodagh which part of 'I think dogs should be able to be left alone if necessary' is ambiguous? I didn't say that they should be alone all the time and ours aren't left alone as a matter of course but they can be if necessary. I hope that makes my post clearer for you.
 
As for using food rewards, I always have small treats and a portion of my pup’s kibble on me and reward for all the behaviour I want to reinforce as I see it happen. This is as well as short, fun sessions where we concentrate on a particular cue throughout the day.
 
Ffee can be a bit headstrong on her walk, and has a lovely time self rewarding (just eatinbg rubbish and going too far ahead, she doesn't do anything too awful). I just took a pocket full of kibble and she was a lot better, she didn't cling but every time she checked in I gave her a biscuit. The other three all walked to heel the whole way though, so not ideal. I do train her on her own but day to day stuff tends to be done in a group. Now the pheasants are here I have less time to do too much apart.
 
paisley said:
As training a dog tends to rely on tnhe dog connecting a wanted behaviour to its personal high value reward, here's wishing someone could bottle 'chasing a rabbit' to persuade skinny dogs to park their bony little bums for more than a nanosecond! :D
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You could try dangling a squirrel in front of him? That always transfixes my lot, they stand underneath the tree with their mouths open just WILLING the squirrel to fall out..... it never has :)

I was thinking on my drive home from work today and I remembered that the reason I don't give my dogs treats goes back to the days of taking them to street collections for greyhound charities where inevitably everyone wants to give them a treat.... and Amy used to helpfully vomit all over the back of the car on the way home every single time.... I knew there was a reason, it kind of put me off the idea of treats altogether :)
 
Levrier said:
You could try dangling a squirrel in front of him? That always transfixes my lot, they stand underneath the tree with their mouths open just WILLING the squirrel to fall out..... it never has :)

I was thinking on my drive home from work today and I remembered that the reason I don't give my dogs treats goes back to the days of taking them to street collections for greyhound charities where inevitably everyone wants to give them a treat.... and Amy used to helpfully vomit all over the back of the car on the way home every single time.... I knew there was a reason, it kind of put me off the idea of treats altogether :)
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Everyone knows squirrels fall out of trees if you stare at them for long enough ;).
Food rewards just never worked for the whippet, not even raw liver held his interest for more than a day. And I quite like the cuddles he gives knowing its not working towards scrounging for a biscuit
 
Sukhpreet Aujla said:
I thought about hand-feeding a puppy initially just so I can slow down how quickly she eats and close my hand over the food if shes getting overzealous and biting/chomping at it to much (maybe wear gloves for this if I try it) and only release my hand to the food when the dog understands the calmer the better. I'm not going to purposely set things up I'd rather have situations occur organically rather than manipulating them like you suggested.

The more suggestions the better!
Click to expand...
Hi, I have just done an online dog trainer course (not to be a trainer but just to say I have had the training when talking to new dog walking clients lol), the first few modules probably aren't that relevant to the average dog owner but the last 2 had some really good ideas about how to bring up a confident well adjusted dog and a problem solving section for how to handle things if it goes wrong. It was the calm dog training organisation but if you want the details and password for the modules just pm me and I will pass them on.
 
Levrier said:
You could try dangling a squirrel in front of him? That always transfixes my lot, they stand underneath the tree with their mouths open just WILLING the squirrel to fall out..... it never has :)
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Ted has a tale to give them hope...One fell out of a tree (either already dead, or on impact :oops:) straight into his waiting paws!
 
I mentioned in earlier posts about being a vegetarian and having a dog on a vegetarian diet, I've decided not to do this. Regarding kibble or grain-free which is best? I have asked at two different pet stores and they said grain free is better, I know some people feed a raw diet but I think I'd prefer not to feed raw. If I feed grain free can it be dry or wet? I want to feed a dry diet with water separately.
 
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