4 month old yellow lab full of energy!!!!?

Question

I've had our 4 month old yellow lab since she was 6 1/2 weeks old!! I live in a apartment and I wonder if we have made a mistake??? First off I have researched a lot on the lab breed!! I know they are high energy dogs!! How old will she be before she calms down some??
Lakota will be spayed in a couple a months! Will this help some?? I do know that puppies are full of energy. We take her on walks at least 3-4 walks a day!! We will go as far as 2 miles at one time! I worry at times that we will go to far with her?? But when we do come home she will start her running around the house. She demands our attention all the time!!
I am home all day and I spoil her rotten!! I wonder if I have done a bad thing?? Have I paid to much attention to her??? Can you do that???Has she learn not to play by herself???
She demands for us to play with her until it is time to go to bed!! She sleeps with us as well! She has lots of toys to play with!! Where did we go wrong???

Answer 1

This is normal puppy behavior - and she'll grow out of it with time - and obedience training.

It takes about 2 1/2 - 3 years for a lab to fully mature into a good dog. Up until then, it's bounce, bounce, bounce. AND you're just getting into the chewy stage - so puppy-proof your home right now - lock up your leather shoes, be careful with electrical cords, lock your garbage in a closet etc.

What you need to do is obedience training. No, she's not too young - in fact, she's just the right age. I cannot stress obedience enough. Just as a polite child is a joy to be around, so is a well-trained dog. And just as an unruly child is a pain in the neck, so is an unruly dog. I cannot stress obedience training from a qualified teacher enough. Absolutely the best thing you can do with and for your dog.

Obedience is a great sport, too. AND the basis for every other activity - hunting, agility, fly ball, search/rescue, therapy dog - all start with obedience.

Again, other than spay/neuter - obedience is THE best thing you can ever do with and for your dog.

Start now.

Answer 2

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RE:
4 month old yellow lab full of energy!!!!?
I've had our 4 month old yellow lab since she was 6 1/2 weeks old!! I live in a apartment and I wonder if we have made a mistake??? First off I have researched a lot on the lab breed!! I know they are high energy dogs!! How old will she be before she calms down some??
Lakota will be spayed in...

Answer 3

First, calm down. If you live in a small home, you shouldn't have gotten a large dog, especially a lab. Second, don't spoil her rotten. If you get another dog, she'll become jealous and possibly pick fights with the newcomer. Third, if you did do research you would know that labradors don't do well in small places. They need room to run during the day.

Last, I have 2 lab puppies who are a year and a half and they still have a lot of energy. They've been spayed for a year now and that hasn't stopped them.

But 3-4 walks... that's a lot of exercise for a puppy, even a lab puppy. We don't take our dogs out for more than 2 walks and they get zonked after a few minutes of being in the house after a 2nd walk. But to each dog their own.

Answer 4

She's 2 years of age when she finally calms down, so said the lady at the pet shop when I got my dog, he was a yellow lab too. If you live in an apartment than that's not really fair for your dog. I had to give my dog away because he was so full of energy and needed someone to be by his side every minute to play. If you spoil her then that's another problem, I did that with my dog too and it just makes the dog think she can do anything and you wouldn't get mad at her. The best thing to do is play with her until she gets tired that's what i did with my dog. Good luck.

Answer 5

It sounds like you are doing a pretty good job for such a high-energy Lab puppy. Do not be afraid to throw in a few more walks whenever possible, as well as some basic playtime/fetch. Also consider finding somewhere she can go swimming, like a beach.


I suggest you get a crate and crate her after your 2-mile walks. This will reinforce that she needs to rest now. Give her a bully stick and a Kong to gnaw on, and let her relax. If she begs for your attention, ignore her and do not give in to the whines.
DO NOT let her sleep with you!! This is not good for reinforcing the alpha role which you must insure.
Have her sleep in her crate, and do not be afraid to use that crate as a time-out area for her when you just need her out from under your feet.

I suggest you enroll her in some puppy obedience classes and get her socialized. Also consider doggie day care once or twice a week once she is completely vaccinated and spayed. This will be a dream come true for her to play and interact with other dogs for a day or two each week. Does wonders with the training and socialization aspect, and then YOU get that short amount of time for a break from her...haha...JK:)

Answer 6

She sounds spoiled but I have a 2 1/2 year old male lab that was the same way and I treated him the same way. I blame myself for his unrulyness at times but he has started to calm way down. When he was your dog's age all I could do was exercise him and TRAIN him. The more I worked on his training the better he was. Labs LOVE to be with you and they crave your attention constantly. I do not mind and I know mymonster is the monster I made. Like your dog he had no idea he was a dog. I would recommend obedience classes and maybe consider Agility training and possibly competeting. It really occupies, disciplines them and tames their energy. It is also a great deal of fun and goof exercise for you and the dog. Hang in there they really are great dogs, very loving and devoted.My got a whole lot quieter at 2.

Answer 7

I agree that Labs are full of energy. I understand that when you come home from work, you're tired. They do demand quite a bit of attention maybe a much as a baby. Get a tennis ball and teach her to play fetch/catch. Walk to a park and toss the ball for about 10-15 minutes and she'll get tired. When we play catch with ours, that's all she concentrates on when we're outside. Obedience training at an early age should help too. Dog's aren't like kids, where you can plunk them in front of the TV. They don't keep themselves occupied, they sleep all day until there's someone home.

Answer 8

I have a 2 year old lab and he's just about 100 lbs. he's a big boy even the vet feels he's a healthy weight for his size. First of all.....don't worry too much about your lab puppy sleeping TOO much when he gets older, you'll be wishing he sleeps more! lol Second, yeah, 15 lbs. does sound a little under weight but he might just be a runt or a "late" bloomer. Call your vet so you don't have to pay for a visit unless they want to see him if they haven't already. It might just be as simple as increasing the amount of food you are giving him or changing his food to something that might have more nutrients. Whatever you do, do not give him anything with alot of corn stick to the chicken, or lamb and rice foods.

Answer 9

First up labbies love the great out doors and they love a big yard, they are a fairly big dog, and require walks every day, not just 3 or 4 times a week.
Take your dog out at least once a week for the whole day, This will calm her down, but you will have a lively bouncy dog anyway, till you get her desexed.
So think about moving out of the appartment and getting a house with a yard.

Answer 10

Haha I know that I have a silky terrier, which is a rather high energy dog himself, and the vet told me that it is completely normal for him to have high burst of energy when he just runs around the house, he will be 2 years old in a month and he is slightly calming down, yet he is still very hiper, it is funny because i thought something was wrong with my dog, but he is just very playful, and he was neutered when he was pretty young.