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<p>Muscular as he may be, if he is truly 125 pounds he is profoundly overweight for the breed (per Wikipedia a male lab should weigh between 60 and 79 pounds). Unfortunately, weight is key health issue for labs (below). </p>
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<p>Goodness knows labs are interested in scents! But, I’d suggest that your dog hasn’t made your walks unenjoyable, you did. Any dog of any size can be trained to get with the program.</p>
<p>Our lab has had hip dysplasia since he was 6 months old. And now, at age 12, he’s a very lean lab. We don’t feed him much, per doc’s orders, and we don’t feel badly about it. And we take him for LONG walks almost every day. He’s about 72 lbs (down from a high of 90 when he was younger). And doing well. </p>
<p>On the bush sniffing…yeah, I’m actually amazed when I see owners indulge their pups that way. When I go for a walk, I want a brisk walk for exercise, so our dog is pretty well trained not to stop every two seconds. It’s good for him too…we BOTH need the exercise. </p>
<p>But I don’t think losing weight or not getting enough activity has anything to do with the Sid thing. Charly is just simply having a normal aggressive reaction to a creature he despises…kind of like the reaction I get when I see the BP CEO on TV.</p>
<p>Good to meet you, ctyankee. Thanks for your concern for our dog’s well-being. I am well aware of the health risks to Labradors as a result of obesity. I can assure you he enjoys four active walks per day as well as some serious backyard sessions off leash. We feed our dog according to our veterianarian’s recommendations. I suspect at our next vet visit he will be substantially lighter. Happily, after spending some training time, I am no longer experiencing unenjoyable walks with him as he happily trots along with me. I was simply encouraging MOWC to do the same.</p>
<p>Cesare, aka “The Dog Whisperer,” is pretty emphatic about walks being a time when you are to reinforce your position as the alpha in your home. Dogs sniff bushes when YOU allow it, they do their business only when YOU decide to give them that time. Otherwise, the dog is walking you, and you are telling him that HE is the boss. He even stresses the importance of the owner walking out of the front door AHEAD of the dog-he says this signals the dog that you are in charge at home and out in the world.</p>
<p>Once I got this concept down, walks with our lab become much more enjoyable, at least for me. I always allow her some sniff time and opportunities to deposit her scent, but I make it clear that I am the one who decides when and where.</p>
<p>I think if my dog exhibited agression toward another dog being walked on a public side walk or road, I would try to work with a trainer to solve the problem. I know it’s expensive but it might be worth a shot. This kind of behavoir can be eliminated in some dogs with proper and consistent training. I would never want my dog scaring people using a public roadway and it would be really annoying having my dog go crazy in my house everytime a certain dog walked by.</p>
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<p>Absolutely. You go in front of the dog, and the dog isn’t to cross a doorstep without a verbal ok from the master.</p>
<p>Also - never chase a dog in play. You want the dog to chase you - because then you can avoid going into the street, etc. </p>
<p>It’s also good to have a command like “settle” or “calm” that just reminds an overexcited dog that you’re in charge.</p>
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<p>Agreed, although I read other books. </p>
<p>Once trained, the chance of my dog leading me while going downstairs (for example) were zero. </p>
<p>I did not stress my dog about doing her business except where she can do it. On our property that was only the woods (not the lawn) and the same is true for walks. Fortunately, woods along the way are much more common than lawn so the stress is quite low. </p>
<p>We all ‘live and learn.’ While training my dog on walks I would give small rewards to reinforce behavior. Unfortunately I had the treats in the wrong pocket/wrong side so I was giving mix signals to the dog as to her position. Fortunately, I got with the program. ;)</p>
<p>Not a dog aggression story- but I wanted to share something that happened last night with other dog lovers.
My ancient ( turned 16) labrador sleeps all day, barely can make it down the stairs at times, and has osteoarthritis and eye disease.
Hasn’t gone around the block for several months- but still goes outside and eats ok .</p>
<p>Last night, when I had her out in front of the house, a younger spaniel type dog came by and was quite curious ( on a leash- mine wasn’t). She sniffed her a bit, especially her eyes & then the owner started taking her up the street- mine wanted to follow- so I had to run back to the house to get the leash.</p>
<p>We ended up going all the way around the block. ( although she did fall down turning a corner)
She is still resting now, but she really seemed to enjoy her walk- have to find more about that other dog- maybe she is a " dog whisperer" too!</p>
<p>Dogs can be great friends to each other, EK. That’s the kind of dog story I like to hear.</p>
<p>Personally, Cesar Milan makes me nuts. Watch carefully and you’ll see he often does what better trainers call “hanging the dog”. That is, he chokes the dog to near unconsciousness. Yes, the dog will do what you say after that, but he’ll also be scared of you. </p>
<p>Don’t Shoot the Dog provides much better advice, if you really want to watch dog training shows. </p>
<p>I have no idea why humans seem to prefer punishing their dogs to using positive and proven methods, but it makes me nuts.</p>
<p>If you want your dog to walk with you nicely, you need to control his head. The most humane way to do that is to use a halter, such as the Gentle Leader. </p>
<p>The whole idea of it being important that the human walk through the door first? Do you really think dogs care about doors? What the door thing does is it puts a little injection of regular training into the dog’s day and the human’s day. That’s great, but it doesn’t have to be at doors. You can also make the dog sit and wait nicely for its supper. You can ask the dog to sit on its mat while you eat dinner. You can practice recalls and sits and waits. </p>
<p>Or you can get really obsessive, like I do, and teach the dog to **** her head sideways when you ask “is your head on straight?”</p>
<p>Don’t Shoot the Dog? Karen Pryor has a dog training show? I don’t have cable.</p>
<p>Lol, is your head on straight?</p>
<p>On knocking before entering, we had dogs where we told our friends and the kids’ friends to just come in. Anytime someone knocked, the dogs would go into a barking fit until they saw who it was. The GSD was also very suspicious of anyone wearing a hat, including our kids. He never took his guard down until they took off their hats.</p>
<p>Charly thinks every cyclist might be my husband (he has a point- since with the helmets and everything it is hard to tell) and wants to meet them all.</p>
<p>Sorry, cottonwood and others. For good TV show, I meant “It’s me or the dog” with Victoria Stillwell. Great show.</p>
<p>Just noticed that CC bleeped my word for “move her head sideways”. It’s also used as an obscenity for a certain body part. How embarrassing!</p>
<p>Funny story:</p>
<p>I once counseled a multi generation family with a new puppy and I always ask about prior dogs. They told me this story: They had a German Shepherd Dog, long happy life, lived to be an old dog. Anyway, one time they were gathered in the kitchen, coming and going. And this well behaved dog started barking. They told him to be quiet. He wouldn’t. Kept telling him. He kept going. Well, later they found out that a burgler had got in their basement and robbed them…while they were telling the dog to shut up!</p>
<p>DMD and everyone: Don’t Shoot the Dog! is a book you might like, classic.</p>
<p>Speaking as another cyclist, if your dog “wants to meet” cyclists when we’re riding, train him to stay away. A cyclist-chaser is liable to be hit with a faceful of mace, or get smacked with a pump. I can’t tell the difference between a dog that wants to bite me and one that wants to “meet” me; either one could easily make me crash. Train your dog not to chase cars or bikes.</p>
<p>Speaking of burglars, we once lived in a neighborhood near a main drag known for drugs. We lived on the side of a hill that gave my first GSD a view of the street from the deck. When she saw someone walking up the hill, she would run down to the corner of the fence, hidden by bushes, and when the person came up, she would jump up and bark. It became a game to her and people learned to cross the street before our house and cross back after they passed. That made her a known in the neighborhood and while our neighbors were burglarized several times while we lived there, we were never bothered.</p>
<p>LOL about the bleeped word, dmd77. Figured out that your dog tilted his head… (rhymes with “rocked”)</p>
<p>Our dear departed cavalier wouldnt hurt a fly. He’d probably lick a burglar to death, though.</p>
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<p>As a cyclist and runner I completely agree … but even better … have your dog on a leash and you won’t have to train your dog not to chase cyclists or put them in danger on the roads. I guess maybe some places there aren’t leash laws, but they are firmly in place by me.<br>
Oh, pet peeves coming: </p>
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<li><p>Dog owners that think that the law doesn’t apply to them. A town park near us has great running trails. Leash signs all over the place plus these dogs owners can see all the other dogs on leashes. But nooooo, the rules don’t apply to them and their dog … they are special. I was bit as a kid and when I see a dog running up on my backside, my adrenaline goes and I’m looking for a rock to pick up. Then the owner comes up saying something ‘oh, he’s friendly, he just wanted to say hi.’ When you ask why he isn’t on a leash, they appear so shocked. As if who knew the world didn’t revolve around them. Sheesh. </p></li>
<li><p>Owners of dogs that jump up on people arriving at the door. Last I checked women don’t like dog’s paws on their nice clothes and for some kids it can be a scary situation for them. Yet, owners with their dumb smiles saying things like ‘that’s just his way of saying hello.’ No. That’s just the owner’s way of showing they are clueless as to how to train their dog.</p></li>
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<p>emeraldkity, you win the virtual award for the most beautiful and inspirational posting of today!</p>