They must be trained with positive reinforcement
not to mouth and bite at people's limbs. A fitting analogy
is to look at a Labrador puppy the same as a piranha,
but with fur. They run around with their mouths open
literally hunting down anything to put in it, something,
anything, whatever they can find!
When these puppies get older they have a tendency to
start grabbing onto your arms and clothing. Such behavior
should be considered inappropriate and completely stopped
before it develops into an act of dominance. But as
you may have heard before, training a Labrador not to
grab onto your arms and clothes with its mouth needs
to be carefully instituted. You can never totally stop
your Lab from putting things in its mouth but you can
certainly teach him to make better choices.
Health Problems Due To Mouthing Stuff
Another fitting analogy to describe the oral fixation
of a Labrador Retriever is to consider them like vacuum
cleaners. Many times they accidentally suck up and swallow
objects which can lead to health problems, especially
if they get a hold of products that have poisons in
them.
Labradors have been known to swallow toys, balls, rocks,
socks, rawhide, bicycle seats, and even knives! Basically
anything that can fit in their mouth and down its throat
is fair game to the motivated Labrador Retriever. It
is good advice to de-fluff your pillows, remove sofa
cushions, and discard any loose toys or items around
your house that could cause harm if swallowed.
I once came home to find one of my wooden dresser drawers
completely removed from the entire unit. The front panel
was torn off and I had clothes everywhere. As I was
cleaning up the mess I noticed that there was small
pieces of wood chips all over the room and the front
panel was nowhere to be found. As you can probably guess,
my lab chewed up and ate the entire front panel, even
the metallic handle was gone! Luckily he did not suffer
any internal damages and the handle passed through his
system without harm.
The answer to raising a lab while minimizing personal
damages to both your home and your dog is to doggie-proof
anything and everything you can find. Supervision also
plays a huge role in training your dog not to chew up
certain items. You must have plenty of time to invest
into your Lab which will prove to be time well spent
as you watch your dog grow into a well-mannered adult.
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