From: whitaker@verdi.cs.unc.edu (Ross Whitaker)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: troublesome puppy
Keywords: puppy, behavior, problems
Date: 5 Oct 92 19:13:01 GMT

I own 6 1/2 month old chocolate labrador retriever.  My wife picked him 
(a male) from a litter of about 5 based on his smaller size and least
aggresive attitude.  This is our first dog, and he has number of
behavioral problems that I need to correct.  I have read one book
on dog training, called "Dog Obedience Training" by Pearsall.  I am
not interested in competing, but would like to develop in this dog
a basic number of skills that will make him easy and fun to live with.

When he was very young (less than five months) he was very well behaved
and easy to train.  He now does the following (unless he is very excited
/distracted) on command:  sit, down, cage (go in his cage), fetch, stay
(no more than a couple of minutes), heeling on lead (under ideal conditions),
and sit from heel.  Dispite these good results we seem
to have developed a number of very undesirable habits which we are unable 
to correct.  I am particularly interested to know if some of these
problems are typical 'puppy' things that we can expect to improve as
he gets older.  Any help that people can offer with any of these would be
appreciate.  E-mail or post at your convenience.

1) Biting.  We have discouraged this since we have owned him and have
seen very little improvement (except his teeth aren't as deadly).  We 
have used a strong "NO!" to discourage him.  Currently he will put his 
teeth on a limb and apply minimal pressure, but he will as do very rapid,
painful, "nips" with his front teeth.  
Recently, we have resorted to administering
short smacks under the snout for biting, with only a little improvement.

2) Stealing things.  When he was young he seemed to very quickly develop a 
sense for which things were his and which were not.  We could leave things 
lying around and he would not bother them.  Or he might try them, but
would respond to a short reprimand.  But as he gets older he seems to be
fighting back more.  A typical example.  He goes into our room, find the 
hamper, and comes running out with a pair of underwear.  It seems to 
me that he knows he shouldn't have them, because he comes running out of the
room, when he would otherwise walk.  With a reprimand ("No" and a growl)
he usually drops them,
but if he is in a fiesty mood, he will attempt to evade you and wait until
you catch him before he drops them.  It seems to me that he might be 
doing it to get attention, or because it's a fun game.  I don't know.
He has 2-3 toys to chew on, and he picks fetches them and carrys them
around freely.

3) Come.  In the house, he generally comes when called.  He knows his
name quite well, and mentioning his name will often bring him prancing
into the room to see you.  Outside is a different story.  If he is
distracted, he ignores you.  Sometimes he knows you are calling, he will
defy you.  He will run around if you come after him, making a game out
of it.  He will run toward like a fullback carrying the ball over the goal
line, and then dart away as you reach out grap him.  Other times, he
will obey.

4) Tantrums.  He seems to get into moods where he is purposely defiant.  For
instance, while on lead, he may start grabing the lead, trearing at it and
pulling at it.  Or while at home, he starts running around the house, grabbing
or biting everything in site, barking.  These usually last some minutes, and
then he slowly calms down and returns to his normal, more mellow, self.  
During these moods, I used to ignore him, but as they become more prevelant
I have taken to correcting him, by turning him over on his back and
holding him there until he calms down.  This has had very limited 
success.  These tantrums can be dangerous, because he sometimes bites
if you attampt to touch or pet him when he is in one of these moods.

Finally, if someone could recommend a good book on such things I would
be thankful.  

	Ross