My wife and I have a 6.5 month old chocolate lab. We wanted this dog as a family pet and not a retriever. I would love to have a retriever to hunt ducks with but all we have locally are wood ducks and a retriever is not necessary.

Anyway, our puppy is not behaving well at all. He bites a lot, barks a lot, harasses house guests, pitches raging fits when we are trying to eat, and generally won't obey any commands to calm down. We have been through the entire obedience training sequence at PetSmart but even the trainer there is flabbergasted by this dog. We are considering sending him to full time obedience camp at Mossy Pond Retrievers but it is a long way away and we don't want to be separated from the puppy for 3 months.

I would be grateful for any advice or information that can help us get our lives in order with this puppy. My wife has done a lot of searching and says there is no place in this area (NW FL / South Alabama) that offers camp-style obedience training. I find that difficult to believe but I don't know of any either. We need help because we are in distress at our house.

Has he been fixed? If not that will do wonders for his aggressive behavior. However it may take a month or two to see much difference. I have a soon to be 3 year old Chocolate male and he was rowdy and chewed my wife up before we had him neutered. He still barks a good bit but he is a well behaved young man now!

Thanks for the reply. He was fixed less than two weeks ago. I have seen a slight reduction in the angriness of his behavior but he is still aggressive. That is encouraging to hear though.

I've had similar issues with my field bred English Springer Spaniel Charlie. We have done the obedience training thing and that helped us understand better how to train him.

His problem may be that he isn't getting enough work in. Whether you want a retrieve or not, he is a retriever and he is going to require that you work him a lot. He's just wired that way ...

Charlie is a bred retriever and he wants to be working hard every danged day. If I do not work him 15 minutes in the AM and 15 minutes in the PM when I get home from work he gets really antsy and downright crazy at times. Some days we send him to a 'dog enrichment program' at a local vet. Only on those days can I get away with not working him.

There is a direct correlation between his craziness and how much I work him

I try to break up his work activities ... Mental work is just as taxing on him as physical work, maybe even more. Here are some things I do with him, they all help :

- Retrieving in the front yard
- Retrieving in a nearby pond
- Frisbee toss/catch/retrieve
- Exercising his mind in the front yard with all those exercises they taught us in the obedience school
- Brisk walks, up to a mile on the streets
- Brisk hikes on trails up to 3 miles
- Deer tracking training

Anyway, if you are already working him a lot like this then I can't help. Good luck ...

We were working him a lot until he broke my wife's ankle by plowing into her on a dead run. I have to work away from home so I can't be there all day. She hasn't been able to work him because of her cast. My wife also thinks we are not exercising him enough.

I'm willing to bet that is the problem. He may not be a good fit for your family ...

I think he needs more socializing too but I don't know where to take him to begin that process. Right now we can't take him for a walk because he wants to act up with every human or animal we encounter. We can't have family or guests over because he goes ballistic and won't stop. This is the first dog we have had together as you might have guessed.

I should mention that my wife loves this dog and we can't consider finding another home for him. He is part of our family now and we just have to find out how to get there from here.

This 'enrichment program' we take Charlie to is done by a local vet (Whitesburg Animal Hospital in Huntsville). This has had a HUGE effect on him in that respect. Before this he wouldn't get within a hundred yards of another dog without freaking out. Now he does pretty danged good ... 2 months into the program and my step daughter has left her dog with us for a week. It's working very well at the house with both dogs.

Maybe call around and see if there is a vet with a similar program near you?

That would be great if we could find a program like that. Thanks for the tip...we will be checking to see if we can find that nearby.

Then I would also suggest that you make a little more time in your schedule so that you can work him before you leave the house and when you get home.

Buy some bumpers and teach him to retrieve them. Use them in the front yard, heck he doesn't even have to run far, 20 yards per retrieve is plenty. Buy a couple thin frisbees at PetSmart and get him to retrieve them too. Get a pronged collar for walking him. I call BS on those that say don't use them. As long as you don't get aggressive with him they are fine. Get him a swim vest and let him swim a bunch, this will wear him out more than anything.

Just a note of encouragement ... Yes I have to spend a lot of time with him and yes he has been somewhat expensive with the enrichment program and toys we use with him ... But ... He has come a long long way since 6.5 months (he is 11 months old now) and he is a joy to have in our home. He still gets a little crazy at times but we discipline him and carry on ...

Fortunately, we do have a pool. He jumped in when he was tiny and went straight to the bottom. He has refused to go in since then but the swim vest may help get him over that.

Good to hear the encouragement and to hear that you overcame a lot of the same difficulties. Thank you.

Sure thing bud, PM me if you need any more help. I'm not an expert but I've learned a lot with him

Maybe. Sometimes castration will help simmer them down, sometimes it won't. Many people fall into the trap of getting them neutered to solve behavioral issues and are upset when it doesn't work. No way am I saying to not neuter him, as I am a strong supporter of spaying/neutering, but don't expect it to be a magic cure.

Has he lost his baby teeth? I never start training until that happens. Their gums are sore and they do not feel too good. If you want him to retrieve let it be something soft. Give him a little more time and if he does not turn out to be what you want. Sorry to say but some are not worth fooling with. Like people.

We have a fixed 3-4 yr. old at my moms place up in Lincoln.
Got him as a puppy, always been psycho. When we ride 4 wheelers, he constantly circles the four wheelers barking incessantly with a shrill irritating bark. Other times, he just whines constantly, cant be still, wants to be petted but wont let you touch him. Doesnt trust anybody. Paranoid to the max.

You need to talk to Mr Jim on here. His handle is laidback

I have a chocolate, and she was crazy until I found the right amount of exercise for her. She needs 20 minutes of exercise twice a day at least. She will then calm down and behave. I prefer to throw the frisbee with her, because it doesn't require me to move. She will catch it in the air and bring it back to me. Take him for a mile walk twice a day, or something, but he needs exercise to obey before he gets a little older.