We all knew this already....

Charlie

Charlie

Location
Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Really are you kidding! Here are just a chosen few of Charlie's misdemeanors:

1. Running through not one but two french windows :facepalm:
2. Running onto a stick in the woods and surviving death my a few milimeters :facepalm:
3. Only a few weeks ago being attacked by a bloody Badger :facepalm:

I swear that boy has wiped 10 years off my life not added them!! :facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm: xx :giggl:
 
Lab_adore

Lab_adore

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Sydney, Australia
Sooooo - we had visitors last night, my dear friend Sue and her hubby. Sue has cystic fibrosis but is a lucky survivor due to wonderful leaps and bounds in research. If you ever think giving the medical research is a waste she is living, breathing proof it isn't

Anyway. Maxx has always had a 'thing' for Sue. We think he likes her laboured breathing or maybe he just knows she is a totally awesome person. We haven't had them over since NYE so of course he. went. nuts. OTT nutso biscoso. 3 hours of jumping up, running under the table to appear next to her trying to put her arm in his mouth, nibbling her fingers and basically being a great big pain in the @rse. I finally put him outside I was so fed up but then of course we got 'bark bark bark'...pause....'bark bark bark'...intertwined with yelping howls that sounded like we were removing limbs with a blunt knife (I would have happily done it by this stage). Finally, after three hours he calmed down and she was able to pat him. GAH.

I made two authentic curries with all the side dishes and poor Sue took one mouthful then stopped eating. God. It turns out that she has terrible reflux and has to avoid spicy food. I had told her what I was cooking and she didn't say anything because she is on new medication for it and she thought she would be ok and was really looking forward to my curries as she loves spicy food. But the spice immediately brought on a terrible dose and in the end she could only have the cucumber raita and some rice. By now I was losing the will to live. Thank God for wine. On top of this, we spent the whole day cleaning madly and by the time we had dinner there was a snowfield of fur everywhere (he is still losing his winter coat).

This morning he leapt on her as she came out of the spare bedroom but that was it thankfully. He then sat quietly (I think he was still exhausted from the previous night). Sue and hubby absolutely adored our previous lab Benson. They dog-sat him all the time and I think they are as bewildered as we are that two dogs that look the same could be completely different.

So @Charlie I will join you in the removal of 10 years off my life! Not through accidents but just pure frustration and embarrasment
 
HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
Now @Lab_adore , I feel your pain; I really do. It sounds like frustration piled on frustration with a spoonful of embarrassment and a topping of disappointment. But - Maxx is happy, confident and exuberant, and knows that everyone loves him. What a wonderful thing! He’s not nervous, or scared, or worried. Far better to be trying to contain that love of life, which will calm over time as he gets older. I can imagine it’s tough that your friends had such a close relationship with Benson that hasn’t - yet - developed with Maxx, but given time I’m sure it’ll blossom. They’re clearly dog lovers and good friends. Is it worth trying some meet ups with Sue in outdoor spaces where Maxx can run off the excitement a bit? Or get her to do some simple training with Maxx to chill his beans? I don’t know if Maxx is the same, but Kipper tends to gets his training face on when asked to do simple things like twos up and it often cuts through overexcitement. But I am sorry last night was such a hassle- you’d clearly made a lot of effort and free time must be so precious at the moment :hug:
 
Emily

Emily

Location
Melbourne, Australia
Lab_adore said:
Sooooo - we had visitors last night, my dear friend Sue and her hubby. Sue has cystic fibrosis but is a lucky survivor due to wonderful leaps and bounds in research. If you ever think giving the medical research is a waste she is living, breathing proof it isn't

Anyway. Maxx has always had a 'thing' for Sue. We think he likes her laboured breathing or maybe he just knows she is a totally awesome person. We haven't had them over since NYE so of course he. went. nuts. OTT nutso biscoso. 3 hours of jumping up, running under the table to appear next to her trying to put her arm in his mouth, nibbling her fingers and basically being a great big pain in the @rse. I finally put him outside I was so fed up but then of course we got 'bark bark bark'...pause....'bark bark bark'...intertwined with yelping howls that sounded like we were removing limbs with a blunt knife (I would have happily done it by this stage). Finally, after three hours he calmed down and she was able to pat him. GAH.

I made two authentic curries with all the side dishes and poor Sue took one mouthful then stopped eating. God. It turns out that she has terrible reflux and has to avoid spicy food. I had told her what I was cooking and she didn't say anything because she is on new medication for it and she thought she would be ok and was really looking forward to my curries as she loves spicy food. But the spice immediately brought on a terrible dose and in the end she could only have the cucumber raita and some rice. By now I was losing the will to live. Thank God for wine. On top of this, we spent the whole day cleaning madly and by the time we had dinner there was a snowfield of fur everywhere (he is still losing his winter coat).

This morning he leapt on her as she came out of the spare bedroom but that was it thankfully. He then sat quietly (I think he was still exhausted from the previous night). Sue and hubby absolutely adored our previous lab Benson. They dog-sat him all the time and I think they are as bewildered as we are that two dogs that look the same could be completely different.

So @Charlie I will join you in the removal of 10 years off my life! Not through accidents but just pure frustration and embarrasment
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I lost track of how many times Ella had to stay in her crate or behind a gate when people came over. At times, I could bring her out on lead for about two minutes at a time before it all became too much for her 🙄.

Last week we had four adults and four boys (aged 2, 3, 4 and 6) in the house and it was crazy! Ella didn't go in her crate once. She trotted around, cleaning up the scraps (of course 🙄), played with boys outside, snoozed on the couch inside etc.

I didn't write this to show off about Ella, but to hopefully reassure that it can and will happen!
 
Selina27

Selina27

Location
Herefordshire, UK
@Lab_adore , I've been thinking, have you done any boundary games training with Maxx? Using that, you can teach them to go to their beds and settle down. Like Maxx, Cassie has been the archetypal life loving energetic young Labrador, wanting to be involved in everything! I don't have anywhere to shut her away, but I have found that the boundary teaching meant that she now, at 3 and a half, makes that choice herself, to go to her bed. Various things cue her to do it now -- veg being drained, food being plated up etc.
I agree with others that as they mature they settle down and take things in their stride more, and like @Emily I'm not trying to show off, and heaven knows my dog training leaves plenty to be desired, but I've found boundary games helpful.
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
@Lab_adore I really do empathise , Reuben is fine when he meets people outside the home , unless it is @Emily_Babbelhund and then he cant contain himself :facepalm: But when we have visitors , its a different kettle of fish altogether , he does so love to meet and greet but it just goes on and on and on ! He is slowly getting better ( I think ) and is pretty good at going to his bed, but for a nano second x Its tough with a very enthusiastic dog , I smiled and had a giggle reading your post about your poor friend , then thought, hang on a minute , Reuben is Maxx !! The going to bed thing is improving , he is less likely to mug people these days, unless its poor Emily , who has sausages hidden about her person xxx
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
So my friend here who is a dog trainer who uses different methods to me. I assumed that, because of the way she trains, her dogs would be perfect. When Squidge first met her and jumped up on her, I cringed a bit. But, you know what, her pet dogs are just the same! Katie the boxer is nine, I think, and still very bouncy. Her pit mix, Twiggy, jumped all over me yesterday morning. Her GSD puppy is just as bad. The IPO-trained Malis aren't, but that's a breed trait to be a bit more standoffish, yet one of them still came and fussed all around me when I was sat on the floor, trying to get into my lap.

Labradors might be really good at it, but it's not just Labs, and it's not just us force-free trainers who have this. Dogs are generally social and can act what we consider to be inappropriately, no matter their breed and how well they are trained. I think it's just lovely to have a happy, friendly dog :)
 
Jen

Jen

I just warn people I have a bonkers dog and there are no limits to what crazy things he might do before they come over.

Then if they still choose to come over it’s their own fault 🙈 usually after a minute or two of frantically saying hello and bouncing around like tigger he’ll try and steal something out of their pockets or bag, then steal something like the tea towel instead and parade round with it.

Then he settles down and pays no interest to them for the rest of the time they’re there.
 
Boogie

Boogie

Moderator
Location
Manchester UK
Emily said:
I blame the visitor :nod:
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Well, there is something to that, I think.

I find some visitors exude an excitement that winds the dogs up. One couple, the bloke gets them all excited. His wife says ‘it’s you, you wind them up’ - and he does, but it’s not obvious that he’s any different with them than she is - but there is something about him which just does it.

🤔🤔
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
kateincornwall said:
he is less likely to mug people these days, unless its poor Emily , who has sausages hidden about her person xxx
Click to expand...
(1) If I have sausages stuck to my chest, I expect/deserve to be mugged and (2) we haven't seen Reuben for five months now which means he was really just a baby the last time and (3) he didn't really 'mug' anyway, it's more just bouncy Labrador happiness.

While I know you are trying to calm his more exuberant greetings (I get it as I'm working on the same with Carbon), I have to admit I'll be a little sad if I don't get such a happy-pants hello the next time we see you.
 
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