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Barking, Running, and Nipping
My one-year-old Lab barks at me whenever he gets mad at something. If he gets excited, especially outside, he will start running around, and then lunge and nip at me. I walk away from him, but I don't think he understands that he’s doing wrong. What can I do?
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This is not terribly uncommon behavior from an untrained adolescent Lab. Have you taken him to obedience classes? Once he knows how to sit, down, stay and come on command, you'll find you have tools to ask him to do something other than bark and nip.
When dogs demand-bark, you can pretend your doggy translator got scrambled, and give them the opposite of what they want. "Oh, barking at me while I'm eating? That means you want to go sit in the bathroom by yourself." Then you can march the dog to the bathroom for a 30-second time-out. If they do it again, the time-out will be a few minutes. If they do it a third time, they're going to their crate for a nap. (Hey, no one should bark at you while you’re eating!)
For the lunging and nipping, why not channel all that energy into a useful pursuit? A young Lab like yours should get at least an hour of aerobic exercise each day. Playing fetch using two balls (don't throw the second one until he drops the first one) is usually something Labs love. Swimming is great if the weather suits. Other options include getting an attachment for your bike and teaching the dog to run beside the bike, or taking him to the dog park.
If he still has the energy to grab you, do the "scrambled doggy translator" thing with this as well. Keep a leash or long line on him in the yard. If he nips at you, say "Too bad!" (on the first one) and march him to a time-out area. Three strikes, you're out—same as the barking.
But get that dog some training, too!
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