Domandal

Will definitely give that a go.

Thank You, I thought that must be the case that the average owner does not train as often as we have as lot of people gush over her when she responds to our commands when in public, pet stores and animal exercise areas. Even the sit and drop commands people seemed to impress people.

I would hope a Vet visit is one of those "tools" mention in the full tool-box talk. The OP mentions she has had the pup since 7 weeks..this to me means a less than careful breeder and breeding. At two years of age she may amongst also having dominence and obedience issues also have physical problems beginning to manifest, such as sore hips, she may have been pushed (whilston the bed) in a manner that is very uncomfortable to her and add this too an already dominent bitch, not sure if she is entire or desexed but IN MY OPIBION, an entire bitch can sometimes be quite full on...they are the only kind of bitches I have ever owned in 51 years. So yes, don't completely discount a physical trigger without checking first. Yes Layla has been desexed. In regards to the release of the puppy at 7 weeks it was almost 8 weeks, the breeder apprehensively let us take her a few days earlier as I was keen to have a full 2 weeks with her prior to me flying out for work. Oh and I'm a man everybody lol.

Layla is going for a vet checkup today, over the weekend I picked up Think Dog on my iPad, it was a worthy purchase, Layla would of been level 3 on most of the puppy test scores. It definitely took me back all the way to purchase time. The breeder we bought from donates a few of their litter to the guide dog society and we were able to purchase the pup left over. We were initially after a black lab in the litter but they were selected by the guide dog society, I remember Layla though, she was better looking of the two golden lab pups and we were happy she was the pup not taken. I also remember her during our initial visit she was the pup not overly interested in us, more happy to explore the breeders backyard. The breeder thought Layla was the pup who had begun digging in the backyard however I noticed the the male golden lab pup digging during our visit. Layla has never been much of digger besides at the beach so we had a win there! Training Layla is a rewarding experience for us and despite what some posters here have assumed that we are completely inept we feel despite the bite we have done a reasonable job so far, here are some of the things Layla does well. Layla will sit and stay whilst we pour her biscuits and will not move for the food until the OK command is given. Layla will sit on command and drop on command. Layla will go to her bed on command. Layla was completely house trained within a week or two of arriving home. Layla will come when called whilst off lead in exercise areas and at home. I have mentioned in my original post that Layla will not complete the task unless she can see the reward lately, I admit this may be due to our training, we may of been a little to comfortable where we were at once she would follow those initial commands. We will be stepping up the obedience training once the vet gives her the all clear. We are also guilty of "luring" with rewards and in fact Layla is training us now. So there is definitely improvement required on our behalf. The only issue other than the biting we will be speaking to a behaviour expert about will be over excitement when we have guests at home, Layla needs to be isolated when we have guests as she seems to put the ear muffs on and ignores commands during visits and won't leave our guests alone. When we persevere she will eventually settle but this takes a long time. Thanks again to all those who have offered assistance/advice

You can't discount the theory totally, but to rely on it 100% as being the root of all problems is not believable either. I'm inclined to agree though, on spoiled, no consequence labrador flexing her now adult muscle at an owner that has shown little consistency or leadership in the dogs eyes, and shes fighting fire with fire. You are assuming a lot from the little I've told about our dog.

Don't let her cute looks fool you, she has a hell of a bite, I always laugh when I think back to a Dogs 101 vid suggesting one of the traits of labs is a soft gummy mouth. Layla destroys everything she puts in her mouth. Anyway I'm off to the doctor to get my wound checked out. Vets on Monday for Layla to get a checkup. The main reason for my original post is that I was confused in the situation where you should not let your dog get away with behaviour like that otherwise it will become pattern behaviour. So faced with choice I avoided being fearful of her escalation and it resulted in a nasty bite. I had no intention of seeking medical attention but after advice from you guys I will. We will be speaking to a behaviour expert next week.

Why not? With some dogs it is a very relevant issue. For most dogs it isn't an issue and sticking to all the old rules are a waste of time but in some situations re-establishing the family pack has to be done for everyone's safety. The issue I see here with the frequently absent female owner is that the dog has become "daddy's girl" and resents being pushed from that position. Just as male dogs frequently bond like this with female owners, female dogs do it with male owners. Some dogs are also one person dogs, refuse to take orders from anyone else and can get quite stroppy about it if you push them. To the OP. Definitely try to get hold of the book "Think Dog" by John Fisher to understand what has gone wrong here but in the mean time get a good professional in to help you and get the dog off the bed permanently. Do not physically challenge this dog or things could really escalate. Lol unfortunately I'm the bloke in this saga, although reading my previous posts I guess that wasn't established, and I get a bit sentimental when it comes to my puppy mate. I'm sure a lot of the problem is that I'm away so often and Layla is more than happy to be buddies but when it comes to territory it's each for their own between us at the momment. She obeys my commands as per previous posts, but if she is naughty she responds better to a telling off from the Mrs. Which is what happened after she bit me this morning. She knew Mum was very angry and took off.

Layla The offender apprehended and behind bars. Lol

No. She will have no idea why things have changed. pls make that phone call this morning .... :) Will do, thanks again

She hasn't shown any signs of pain and moves freely during swimming and running at the beach yesterday, but I will get her checked out.

Thanks for the responses will definitely seek out some help, it's funny before this morning I thought we had done a reasonable job training Layla, she wasn't perfect but she was manageable. Looks like I have to get a doctors appointment too, that wasn't on my list of things to do today! I'm also wondering as Layla is giving us the morning yelp from the laundry to let her out for a pee, this is routine, should I change my behaviour towards her this morning to let her know I'm disappointed or is that a waste of time.

I'm in Northern suburbs of Perth, mixeduppup.

Layla our adored Lab almost 2 years old bit me this morning and I'm not sure what do. First ill tell you a bit about our situation, Layla was bought from a breeder as a pup of 7 weeks. She is reasonably obedient after I used clicker training to train her, these days though unless she can see the treat or the reward she won't complete the order. Ok so realise I have more work to do there. I work a 2 week on 2 week off roster fly in fly out, so my fiancé is more of the boss for Layla then I am and I understand that. Layla is walked every day and most days I am home I take her to the local animal exercise beach. She does not exhibit any aggressive behaviour to any other dogs or humans. Layla and I have on occasion had disagreements though where she will have grizzle, an example is jumping in the back of our 4wd after a walk or beach session, if I happen to be without a treat she will not jump in the car. In this situation I have to pick her up to avoid a lengthy wait. In that scenario occasionally she will growl when I go to pick her up. I ignore this and tell her off once she is in the back of the car, but she wouldn't bite. The other grizzle situation is the situation where we let her sleep on our bed and is the situation where I was bit this morning. Layla's regular bed is in our laundry which she enjoys very much and is trained with the command on your bed. My fiancé when I'm away from work occasionally let's her sleep on our bed and also sometimes when I'm home we let her sleep on the bed. The issue is she jumps in my spot not leaving me room to get in and most occasions I give her a shove to move her over and she will move without protest, other times she will growl then move, this morning she nipped and growled the first time I shoved, not wanting to allow her to consider that an acceptable behaviour I told her off and shoved again almost immediately she escalated it to a firm bite on the arm not painful for me. So now I wanted to punish her by removing her from the room and onto her bed, when I attempted to gently push her off the bed she bit very hard on my hand puncturing my ring finger. Layla has never been mistreated but I am certain she sees me as a on level terms with her, not the leader and I feel it has something to do with the way she was trained as there were no consequences for bad behaviour other then being put outside. Outside of this incident Layla has been a fantastic companion, and we both love her but I'm not sure what to do about this other than not allowing her on our bed anymore. I felt more hurt that she felt the need to bite me that hard then the pain of the bite.