Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello. I am a first time dog owner. We adopted 'Pepsi' from the Humane Society 6 months ago. He is a black lab mix approximately 2 yrs old. He gets plenty of attention, exercise, and has lots of chew toys. However, he constantly wants to 'rough house'. Whenever I sit down on the couch he pounces on me and wants to play-aggressively. Most of the time I end up having to take him outside because he won't settle down. Other than this problem he is a sweet dog. I know he was neglected by his previous owner, I dont know if that is of any importance. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and can offer any suggestions, thanks!

>>Hello. I am a first time dog owner. We adopted 'Pepsi' from the Humane Society 6 months ago. He is a black lab mix approximately 2 yrs old. He gets plenty of attention, exercise, and has lots of chew toys. However, he constantly wants to 'rough house'. Whenever I sit down on the couch he pounces on me and wants to play-aggressively. Most of the time I end up having to take him outside because he won't settle down. Other than this problem he is a sweet dog. I know he was neglected by his previous owner, I dont know if that is of any importance. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and can offer any suggestions, thanks!

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I have several articles about dealing with rowdy behavior at the link below my signature. A good place to start is with the one titled "Wild Behavior."
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

By defintion a 2 year old lab is obnoxious in general. The breed has a ton of energy and loves attention from anyone willing to give it.

Good job on providing the basics and continue to do so. One suggestion though is when your dog is acting obnoxious, don't cave in and take him out and do things with him. If all his needs are met, then he needs to learn patience. There are a few ways to go about teaching this, but by far the easiest is just ignoring the bahavior you don't like. Even eye contact is a reward so close your eyes when he's getting nuts. My guess is while you are doing this, you will see the obnoxious behavior escalate a bit in attempts to "up the ante" and get you to pay attention, but if you are patient, it will get better.

One of my favorite things to do is teach my dogs a long sit or down stay. I put them on command and do what I need to do. When I am done, I release the dogs from their stay and reward lavishly with attention, games, etc. I can watch a 30 minute TV show and not get bothered by them. You'd be surprised how effective this is and how useful. The play sessions are fun enough so they are very willing to be patient and let me do what I need to do.

Sometimes though if they haven't gotten their evening walk and are wild (and I'm trying to get kids in bed), I have to tell them to "go lay down" and that's their cue to settle and leave me alone. It's not as formal as a "stay" command. They are more reluctant to do it to, but it's effective. Typically after they comply we have a good rough house session when I'm able.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

you didn't mention if your pup is crate trained. am assuming not, but

this is one good reason for a crate, you can teach a dog to feel good about or even enjoy 'relaxing' by crating him with a treat filled kong or a RAW beef rib.

I'm sure you can find info on how to crate train, doing it step by step with lots of positive reinforcement. For a dog that hasn't been crated, I'd not just put him in one, but maybe have one with the door open (off) & casually toss treats inside for several brief sessions, for several days, then close the door just for brief time (with the kong/raw bone).

Start feeding him in the crate too.

This is just one method, that might suit you both & will have lots of long- term benefits, too.