They're gonna be the death of me...

[Skittles1101]

Let me start out by saying I am not exactly a dog person. I mean...I love dogs! But I definitely prefer low maintenance, scaley kind of critters. Anyways, we got a black lab-mix about a year ago. She was 3, real quiet...kinda kept to herself, didn't require a whole lot of attention and definitely didn't get into trouble. Fast forward to about 5 months ago...

We got a puppy. She was about 4 months old when we got her...a yellow lab mix. After 2 vet visits later and plenty of antibiotics and probiotics she was housetrained fairly quickly. However, both dogs are absolutely crazy now. Both are so desperate for attention, constantly under our feet, they now decided it's fun to dig holes in our back yard (we tried sprinkling chili powder...doesn't work). The puppy also follows around the other one, stalking her until she poops and then eats it! It's so gross. They also jump on anyone who comes in the door, competing for attention. They're impossible to take for walks because they both pull trying to be the alpha in front. Do you think dog training would be needed? Like I said I'm not really a dog person, I just get mad and don't really know what to do with it, or how to turn my crazy dogs into well behaved mammals with manners?

[sho220]

It's the Lab in them. They're great for bird hunting, but other than that they're a royal PITA...

[Skittles1101]

It's the Lab in them. They're great for bird hunting, but other than that they're a royal PITA...

Great lol I grew up with boxers that basically just play and sleep and that's about it...so this is a whole new experience...

[sho220]

Great lol I grew up with boxers that basically just play and sleep and that's about it...so this is a whole new experience...

My Mom has always had Labs...I don't know why. It's like some form of self-punishment or something...

[PitOnTheProwl]

Welcome back girly girl

You two need to start with training yourselves first to be on the same page with those two.
Yes, in short training is whats needed.
Our little ones are good about listening but the pibble gets so excited at first its hard for her to listen to me. After people are here for a couple of minutes she gets better.

[ViperSRT3g]

It's one of those things where you and anyone who comes to your house need to know how to act as a human around dogs. A friend of mine has told me that the first thing you do if you're new to a person's home, is to completely ignore their dog(s). This establishes the role that the dog isn't going to get attention automatically from anyone in the house. After that, you have to base your behavior on how you are trying to train your dog.

As for the whole training process, I can't really help you there.

[Chkadii]

Some behaviors you can change (jumping on people when they come through the door) and some you probably can't (desiring poop).

For the door jumping, keep treats in your pocket or in a bowl next to the door. When the dog(s) run over to you, drop the treat on the ground just before they jump. They'll start to get used to looking around o the ground when they get to your feet, rather than bowling you over.

Another option is to train them to go to a specific place like a mat or dog bed, to wait until the newcomers call them. It's tough to manage this with friends coming over, because it's hard to get everyone to behave consistently. Some people are afraid to correct someone else's dog, and some don't mind (and therefore encourage) bad behavior. Worst case scenario, put a sign up on your door with instructions and keep the dogs on a leash until guests get inside. Kikopup on YouTube has some great training videos for all sorts of problems like these!

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

[PitOnTheProwl]

Some behaviors you can change (jumping on people when they come through the door) and some you probably can't (desiring poop).

Actually you can, what are you feeding them? The pup is missing something in her diet.

[TheSnakeGuy]

The door jumping is easily fixed through negative reinforcement, which means removing something from the situation. When the dogs jump up on you, you need to turn your back to them and ignore them. This will essentially take the positive enforcement away. The positive being you interacting by talking to and/or putting your hands on them. That's what they want so you have to take that away. When they get no attention for the behavior it will eventually stop, and if they come around and jump again then you turn around again. For the digging, there are sprays and powders available at PETsMART to discourage that behavior. There are also a couple different tablets you can give the dogs to make their poo not smell/taste good. It's remaining protein in the poo that makes it appealing to the puppy who is in its growth phase and needs lots of protein. For that you need "Coprophagia Deterrent" tabs OR a change in diet to a more digestible protein so less of it is being passed through the animal. Hope this helps you. And a dog training and classical conditioning class can definitely help.

🐍🐍🐍Sent from Herp Central in Houston, TX 🐍🐍🐍

[Skittles1101]

Actually you can, what are you feeding them? The pup is missing something in her diet.

They both eat Purina healthy blend or something along those lines. The pup also gets probiotic powder in her food because she has some stomach issues.