Getting a lab puppy can be an exciting time. You have a new furry friend to play with and show to your family and friends, but some puppies want to jump and bite for attention or to say hello. This trait can lead to poor behavior down the road, so it’s essential you know how to train that habit out of your pup.
If you want to stop your lab puppy from jumping and biting, you should provide him or her with something they can chew as their teeth continue to grow. Proper training includes snapping, redirection, and lots of treats. Teaching the dog not to jump and reinforcing good behavior can help.
Whether this is your first labrador puppy or you’ve had one before, you need to know how to stop it from jumping and biting.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to help. Read on to learn how to get rid of these bad habits.
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How To Stop a Lab Puppy From Jumping
Stopping a lab puppy from jumping can be challenging, but it’s essential to keep them calm when you have visitors over or come home. Puppies like to jump out of excitement or for attention.
Some dogs enjoy jumping to get out their energy, so ignoring them won’t always work.
It’s also important to consider that you can’t always control the situation. You need to be able to keep your dog from jumping on a walk when you pass another dog.
That way, you can protect everyone involved. Luckily, you can try a few things to help stop your lab puppy from jumping.
Consider these options:
Use a Leash
Whenever you take your dog on a walk to a dog park or pet store, you should use a high-quality leash. A top-notch leash puts you in control of your dog, preventing them from running around and jumping.
You can start with a leash on your dog’s collar and see how they react. When you’re out, try to be alert so that you can notice other people and dogs before your puppy does;
That way, you can use the leash to keep your dog from jumping before they start.
If a leash isn’t enough to stop your puppy, you can use a body harness. The harness can give you extra leverage without hurting your dog.
Use a House-Line
When you’re at home, you should use a house-line as your puppy grows. A house-line is a small lead that your dog can drag behind them when you attach it to their collar.
If you have a visitor or someone in your family comes home, you can grab the lead.
You can use the lead to hold your dog back and stop the jumping. You can also keep the puppy away from the visitor or use the lead like a normal leash.
As you walk toward the guest, you can go slow and maintain control over your dog. With this method, your dog can learn it’s okay to approach people without jumping.
Train Them To Sit and Stay
You could teach your lab puppy a few common commands to stop the excess biting and jumping. If your dog can sit and stay, you can keep them from running after and jumping on people. You can use these commands at home and in public.
To teach your dog to sit:
- Use a treat to get their attention.
- Put the treat near their nose and move your hand up so that they naturally lower their bottom.
- As your dog sits, tell them “sit” and give the treat.
After your dog sits, open your palm and ask your dog to “stay.” Step away from your dog and reward them with a treat or affection if they stay. Over time, start moving farther away to get your dog to stay and reward them for their good behavior.
Give Rewards
When you train your lab puppy to stop jumping, give them rewards. Whether they’re on a leash or you’re training them to sit and stay, you can use treats or toys. You can also pet your dog to show that they did what you wanted.
Rewards can reinforce your dog that they’re learning. You can use rewards at home and in public, so you can continuously tell your dog they’re getting better.
Make sure you don’t use rewards when your dog doesn’t do what you want. You don’t want to teach your dog that jumping is okay accidentally. If possible, ignore your dog so that they don’t associate jumping with attention.
How To Stop a Lab Puppy From Biting
If your puppy keeps biting, it might be as annoying as jumping. The most significant difference is that biting is a bit more normal. As your puppy gets bigger, their baby teeth will fall out, and their adult teeth will come in.
When this process happens, your dog needs to lose its youthful teeth to progress its oral health; That way, they can have a healthy bite.
You can do a few things to temper the biting so that your puppy bites treats and toys rather than you and your family.
Move Away
When your dog bites you, and it hurts, move away and focus on something else. Do your best to ignore your puppy until your puppy calms down. It would be best to teach your dog that biting you isn’t good. Ignoring your puppy can be effective.
If your dog continues to bite your legs as you walk away, go somewhere your dog can’t. You can separate yourself from the dog even more.
Make sure that you don’t leave any young children or other pets near your dog. Your puppy won’t be tempted to bite them if they’re not around.
Calm Your Puppy
Once your dog starts to calm down, keep soothing them. Give your pupply a toy or treat to focus on so that your puppy can bite it instead of you.
Kongs are great toys, especially for tough chewers. You can find other chew toys at your local pet store. Try to keep toys throughout the house, so one is always within reach when your dog starts to bite.
Stick to calmer forms of play with your dog. While it can be tempting to engage in rough play, it can make your dog more likely to bite. Instead, play tug of war with a rope or pet your dog to spend time with them.
Give a Teething Toy
Your lab puppy will need to work on teething, so you should get a chewable toy to keep them satisfied. You can find teething toys at a pet store. The toy can help your dog wear down its teeth.
Toys can be a distraction from biting you and other people. Your dog will lose its puppy teeth at about three or four months old. They should lose all of their teeth by six months old.
Keep Up With the Training
As you start to see results, it can be easy to think you don’t need to do more training. It would help if you continued with it until your dog doesn’t bite or jump. It would be best to get everyone in your family on board with how to train your lab puppy.
With proper techniques, you can ensure the dog receives the same treatment from everyone. If you have mixed signals, your dog may not know which is right. Giving the same training will help your dog learn quicker.
Final Thoughts
Stopping a lab puppy from jumping and biting can be challenging. However, it’s necessary for you, your family, and your dog. Whether you want to use treats and toys or ignore your dog, you have a few options. Try a couple of techniques found throughout this article to see which works best for your puppy.
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