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I have a 5 month old lab puppy that has been to puppy socialisation and training since he was 8 weeks old. He has most of the basic commands down pat but the more challenging ones he is still learning – in particular the ‘down’ command when his is some distance from me and doing something else.

I was visiting a holiday home today that I look after – a large property that my lab knows well as he always comes with me on my rounds and loves checking out all the interesting places. Today he found a dead rat… I saw that he had it from a distance and immediately shouted for him to ‘down’ and ran toward him. Bad mistake as my pup immediately thought ‘game on’. After a few minutes he did go down, I got to him and told him to ‘leave’ which he then did.

What worries me about a dead rat in a well to do area, is that there is a good chance that it had been poisoned. I felt sick at the thought of: “What if he had eaten it?” Or even just got a good bite into it? Labs have little discretion when it comes to food, so that scenario is not beyond possible.

I have watched him like a hawk all day for any signs of poisoning – nothing, thank goodness.

Never under-estimate the need for good training and for your dog to understand that you mean what you mean when you mean it for his safety too! Thank you Julie and Lynda (and everyone else) at the club for your fantastic training!

I would suggest the following:

Get Benny involved in some kind of formal training. He would probably love agility or flyball and some obedience training would give you more control over him and keep him mentally stimulated. Both the Yellow Lab and the Australian Shepherd are working breeds, so without an outlet for the working side of his personality, you will get to see some out-of-control, demanding, obsessive behaviour. Teach Benny some lower energy thinking games at home like how to indicate which hand hides the treat or searching for hidden toys.

You mention that he gets 45 minutes of exercise twice a day. Is that just free running in the park or does it include leash walking? If he is only going to the park for exercise, his only outlet away from home is a high energy one. If you could manage a half hour of lead walking twice a day, using a head collar (you don’t mention if he is also hyper on the lead) in addition to his visits to the park, that would be a good idea.

To address his out of control behaviour when visitors arrive and his separation anxiety when a family member leaves the house, I would start crate training. You’ll find lots of references on the web of how to get started. Introduce the crate in a positive way so that Benny regards it as his safe haven. Don’t make the crate feel like punishment by giving Benny something delicious to chew whenever you put him in the crate. If all chews are only given in the crate, he will come to love it. Once he is settled in the crate, send him to lie in his crate when someone needs to go outside or when visitors come. This needs to be done gradually, calmly and firmly. Once he is calm he can be allowed out.

Get everyone to agree to interact with Benny in a calm and relaxed manner. He needs to see everyone around him leading by example. Only give him attention when he is quiet and, even if that means only petting him when is half asleep. Make sure no one is playing rough or excitedly with Benny (including kids).It is also important that you not feel bad for Benny about his being a rescue dog. Dog’s become very insecure when we fuss or give too much attention. You can also help Benny by teaching him that certain “good” behaviours are vey rewarding. Sitting in front of the door calmly makes it open, sitting and watching you makes you feed him, sitting and waiting to have your lead attached makes the walk start, lying down in the car makes the car door open etc. Benny sounds like a bright dog who has found ways to entertain himself. He needs to learn some new alternatives.

The way he plays with other dogs at home sounds fine to me. As long as the other dog is enjoying the wrestling, there is no harm at all. Dogs need to have a chance to interact with other dogs and each dog will do this in their own way.

I think with a daily routine of walking and training plus the opportunity to participate in some form of dog sport, you should see a great improvement in Benny’s behaviour.

I look forward to hearing how it goes. Benny is a lucky dog to have chosen such a committed owner!

Julie