# Disobedient Black Labrador Puppy



## Nyctophobia (Jul 31, 2010)

I have a 10 week old Black Labrador Puppy and she has some disobedience issues . They're not very serious but I'm worried they might grow stronger along with her aging .

First of all she has a bit of a biting problem . Whenever we play she bites me quite gently at first , I sometimes don't even feel anything but as our playing intensifies a bit she starts biting harder and harder until the point of skin puncturing . Whenever she does this I tell her in a loud tone to stop it , she gets it at first but after a while she goes back to biting hard . I tried holding her mouth gently but this doesn't work either .

The other issue is potty training . I have two houses , one in which me and her sleep and another in which I spend time during the day . In the on in which we sleep she poos and pees in the balcony , where I first taught her to do when I got her . In the other house no matter how often I take her outside , whenever she gets indoors she starts pooing and peeing everywhere . Whenever she does this I yell at her and point towards the door hoping she understands what I mean.

My last concern is the fact that she's very easily distracted and when she is , she won't answer my recall commands and starts growling at me when I try to pick her up to get her back inside. She usually comes whenever I call her but when I take her out in the yard , she finds a rock , she smells a scent or w/e stuff she likes and she simply ignores me . As I stated above , she growls at me whenever I try to pick her up . When this happens I confine her in the balcony for about a half an hour or so , she cries like hell , and afterwards she's very obedient for about an hour . Then the cycle repeats itself...I spoil her a lot , and she's not used to confinement and I wanted to know if what I'm doing is wrong.

I'd really appreciate any tips that might help me into making her a good little pup


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

1) Biting problem: normal.

2) Pees and poops everywhere: normal.

3) Easily distracted: normal.

Read the training "stickies" at the top of the forum and get to work. Exercise, training, games that challenge the dog's problem-solving skills, and activities that engage her natural drives are the things that'll get you through this period. Lab pups can be a real handful, but they take to training wonderfully. 

PS: a pup isn't disobedient until she has been taught to obey. About the only things lab pups do naturally are: chase movement, chew, and root through garbage. Everything else must be trained.


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## Miranda16 (Jan 17, 2010)

i dont really feel like going into all of this but this is all normal puppy behavior ... most dogs dont like getting picked up, she probably has no ida what you are saying with potty training... look up some of the other potty training threads on this forum as well as for biting ...
also i wouldnt punish her by putting her outside she probably doesnt understand that either ... for recall always make it a positive experience, dont poison the word with bad things... also let hotdogs cut up into very very tiny pieces be your friend ... they are high value rewards for doing things right
she is basically an infant ... she is only 10 weeks old ... she needs to learn these things and will not understand them inherintly


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## Nyctophobia (Jul 31, 2010)

Well , I understand this is normal pup behavior but by my previous dog experiences I find hers unusual . Before her I owned 8 other dogs : 5 stray dogs , 2 other labs and a Great Dane . None of them growled at me when I tried to pick them up and my training techniques haven't changed a bit . I understand she has a different personality but I just want to know what to do best because I seriously don't know .


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

Nyctophobia said:


> I have a 10 week old Black Labrador Puppy and she has some disobedience issues . They're not very serious but I'm worried they might grow stronger along with her aging .


You need to keep her age in mind when evaluating her behavior. She's ten weeks old, just a baby. And you've only had her what, two weeks? I'm all for high standards, but you have to keep in mind what's realistic for her to be capable of. 10 week old puppies aren't disobedient, they're ignorant. Human babies aren't disobedient when they poop in a diaper, they physically aren't capable of managing those muscles. It's very similar in baby puppies. A rule of thumb is that a pup can hold it for an hour for every month of age. For a ten week old, that means she needs to be taken outside every two hours.



> First of all she has a bit of a biting problem . Whenever we play she bites me quite gently at first , I sometimes don't even feel anything but as our playing intensifies a bit she starts biting harder and harder until the point of skin puncturing . Whenever she does this I tell her in a loud tone to stop it , she gets it at first but after a while she goes back to biting hard . I tried holding her mouth gently but this doesn't work either .


I've found yelping like a wounded puppy to work even on my adult dog. Yelp in a hurt tone and stop all play. This stickie has more info: http://www.dogforums.com/19-first-time-dog-owner/8377-bite-stops-here.html



> The other issue is potty training . I have two houses , one in which me and her sleep and another in which I spend time during the day . In the on in which we sleep she poos and pees in the balcony , where I first taught her to do when I got her . In the other house no matter how often I take her outside , whenever she gets indoors she starts pooing and peeing everywhere . Whenever she does this I yell at her and point towards the door hoping she understands what I mean.


Hoping she understands isn't really a failproof plan. Here is one plan that does work well: http://www.dogforums.com/19-first-time-dog-owner/3048-housetraining-how.html I also like Ian Dunbar's Errorless Housetraining: http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/errorless-housetraining which is along the same principle. Prevent mistakes, don't correct them.



> My last concern is the fact that she's very easily distracted and when she is , she won't answer my recall commands and starts growling at me when I try to pick her up to get her back inside. She usually comes whenever I call her but when I take her out in the yard , she finds a rock , she smells a scent or w/e stuff she likes and she simply ignores me . As I stated above , she growls at me whenever I try to pick her up . When this happens I confine her in the balcony for about a half an hour or so , she cries like hell , and afterwards she's very obedient for about an hour . Then the cycle repeats itself...I spoil her a lot , and she's not used to confinement and I wanted to know if what I'm doing is wrong.


Distractedness is normal. The only advice I have is to give her time. Read up on crate training, you should be able to translate that to the balcony (which I'm assuming doesn't have wide placed slats that she can slip through. If they are, you might think about running chicken wire or something around the perimeter to close them off).

I'd really appreciate any tips that might help me into making her a good little pup [/QUOTE]


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## Nyctophobia (Jul 31, 2010)

Thanks a lot . I'll start her training immediately .
Have a nice day


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Nyctophobia said:


> Thanks a lot . I'll start her training immediately .
> Have a nice day


The people above have covered everything, so I only have one thought "Pups Can Do No Wrong" Good luck with the rascal and have fun.


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## JiveDadson (Feb 22, 2010)

Puncturing skin is definitely not good. I suspect the pup missed playing with her mom during the critical bite-inhibition period of 5 to 8 weeks of age. The biting could become a big problem when the dog gets big. You need to train the dog ASAP not to do it. Closing her muzzle "gently" could be rewarding the dog's behavior. (My dogs like that.) I googled around looking for a good video about nipping that's based on positive re-enforcement. I have come up empty so far.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

JiveDadson said:


> Puncturing skin is definitely not good. I suspect the pup missed playing with her mom during the critical bite-inhibition period of 5 to 8 weeks of age. The biting could become a big problem when the dog gets big. You need to train the dog ASAP not to do it. Closing her muzzle "gently" could be rewarding the dog's behavior. (My dogs like that.) I googled around looking for a good video about nipping that's based on positive re-enforcement. I have come up empty so far.


I suspect the same thing with Tag, he was in a rescue when he was 8 weeks old and was trucked from a mill (so who knows how old he was when he was removed from his mother/litter mates). Even at 15 months old he still mouths, but his mouthing is much softer and he has excellent jaw control. He learned when he was a puppy that if he mouthed too hard, he found himself playing alone, and it was much more fun to mouth appropriate objects. Even cramming toys in his mouth didn't always help; simply getting up and leaving seemed easier for him to understand. 
Hopefully the OP has provided good, puppy-friendly chew objects.


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## Nyctophobia (Jul 31, 2010)

JiveDadson said:


> Puncturing skin is definitely not good. I suspect the pup missed playing with her mom during the critical bite-inhibition period of 5 to 8 weeks of age.


She was separated from her mom when she was about 8 and a half weeks old . However , I followed RaeganW's advice regarding yelping whenever she bites too hard and it seems to be going pretty well .


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## Nyctophobia (Jul 31, 2010)

Yelping is going really well ... Just a few minutes ago we were out in the garden and she started tearing a rose bush . Considering the force of habit and my quite severe sleep depravation I started yelping and she started licking the roses . I hope that gives an idea on how good the biting training is going . Yet again , thanks for the suggestions .


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## JiveDadson (Feb 22, 2010)

Nyctophobia said:


> She was separated from her mom when she was about 8 and a half weeks old . However , I followed RaeganW's advice regarding yelping whenever she bites too hard and it seems to be going pretty well .


Any tooth contact with human skin is "too hard."


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