Labrador...Help!

[kirkton]

I have 2 springers and a lurcher, they are never more than 20 feet away from me. We live on a farm, have horses and I never loose them. They are happy to play whilst I muck out or they sleep in the hay etc. They always come to the field when I bring in and come out for hacks and are always within whistling distance.

I also have a labrador, who has one mission in life, to give me the slip and b*gger off! One min he's there, next he's vanished. He can be away for up to 8 hours.

He's 4 years old. Is he hell because...
a) It's just him
b) He's a labrador
c) He still has his balls on
d) He hates me

If you think it's c), is it too late at 4 years old to have them taken off? If he's away rabbiting and not away Sh*gging would it help?

Help!

 

[junglediva]

well.. i have the same problem with mine! when he goes does he take another dog with him? if not it could be because he is that kind of breed that like to use their nose and probably like my dogs go of hunting for the day. it could be just him and he is a wondering dog or curious but he defo does not hate u!

 

[Skhosu]

My lab is fantastically behaved as are all the labs I know except for one pair, but their not well trained.
I would take the balls off and have a securely fenced garden, I suspect its just him but I know once they get into the habit of doing it its a bugged to stop.
Does he recall well?

 

[Selkie]

C. Although my bitch will disappear if there's a better offer - like the lady half a mile away who always has a supply of biscuits

 

[piebaldsparkle]

I'm going with C combined with a lack of training.

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

C and no its not to late and yes his behaviour will improve with time.

 

[Aru]

We had a lab like this an unneutered male who liked to wander off occasionally during summer time(most of the time he was a grand outside dog an lived by the back door)...

we would spend hours looking for him as kids and would follow a trail of sightings and we'd usually find him as he was headin hme tail between his legs because he knew he was in trouble and hed spend the next few weeks tied...

but unforunately he tried his wandering one to many times and our neighbour shot him as he crossed their field because he thought he was going to bother his sheep......next dog we got was a bitch who we trained not to leave the front gate without permission....
Id say neuter him(it might take a few months to get effects but should help especiallyif like most male dogs hes gone looking for a bitch in heat(seeminly they can smell the from miles away)
also work on recall and getting him intrested in sticking close to you (seemingly clicker training can be a big help)

 

[CAYLA]

Agree, neuter and revert back to long line, with reward based treats for recall

 

[millimoo]

Hope I don't get shot down for this suggestion, it was years ago when my parents lived in Essex, but was very effective.
They had an invisible fence system called freedom fence - basically because the grounds were too big to fence. You lay a wire in your perimeter which links to a control box. The dog then wears a collar with a battery pack, and if they go over the wire they get a zap - they get a beep as they get closer and the tone changes if they're too close to warn them they'll get zapped. It's sounds cruel, but there is a training plan with flags etc so the dog learns where the boundary is etc.....
It was very effective for our dogs, and everyone was very impressed that the dogs wouldn't leave the garden and ran up and down an imaginary line.

 

[kirkton]

Thanks, 10am Friday and he's at the vet getting his balls off!

Vet said there was not gaurantee it would work but no downside either.

As for training, he's a fully trained field trials dog with excellent recall when you can see him, but he's sly, he waits until your back is turned or you are distracted by a phone call etc and slopes off. He's smart and sly, but ....soon to be castrated!

 

[sloulou]

Hi Poopies - would be really interested to hear how this affects him and his wandering behaviour. I have a 2.5 yr old entire black lab (working bred) and he has recently started leaving the garden to greet any strange dog that goes by if I don't spot it first. he listens if I say leave quickly enough - but once he started running out I have no hope. Ordinarily i have recall too. He just started it in the last few weeks and am wondering about balls off as a solution. TBH am bit desperate!