Edward is in love...

[Patricia]

Edward has developed an obsession with all black, and especially chocolate, labradors. Whether they are male or female appears to be irrelevant! A couple of months ago we met a chocolate lab in the woods, I think she was very close to her heat as he just went nuts for her and tried (in a very uncoordinated way - wrong end etc) to have a little 'love' time with her. Ever since then whenever we see one he becomes completely deaf and very very focused on getting to the lab, preferably knocking it over and trying to hump it. This morning he was a very naughty boy! He fell for an old black female, I managed to get him back, put him on the leash, and we walked in the other direction for five minutes before I let him off again. He then did his hugely annoying U turn trick, jogging in front of me for a few paces, turning his head to check where I am, and then galloping as fast as he can in the other direction. I had to run for a long time before I finally could see him, three women trying to pull him off their aged lab, which was absolutely covered in snow from him rolling her around! Little git! I was very strict with him all the way home!
He only does this for labs (it had to be one of the most common dogs right?!), any other time he comes back to me straight away and listens really well. Can I stop the love????

Tricia

 

[padkins]

No advice since my males are 15-months (neutered) and 11 weeks. It's too bad that they don't have rehab for that type of addiction. :fce32f95:

 

[2Paws]

Is Edward intact or neutered and how old is he? I also would not let him off lead until you can train him to stop this kind of behavior. You are very fortunate he didn't injure these other dogs. It could have become a very bad situation.

Henry is an intact boy and I've taught him the command "Leave it" when it comes to his romantic interests in other dogs. My biggest fear is him jumping on another dog and unintentionally injuring them. I do not let him off-lead around other dogs unless I know that he is going to behave himself.

Benson, my first newfie was neutered but "loved" boxers for some reason. I had the same rules with him as far as keeping him on leash at all times around other dogs outside our backyard. He also learned "leave it".

Our dogs are very large and can seriously injure a smaller dog. It's so important to be a responsible guardian to this breed. Behavior like this can give them a bad name. Good luck with your boy!!!

 

[JaimeW]

Rowdy loves my brother's chocolate lab too! When he first met her he was young and not neutered yet. It was actually on Christmas, and we had to leave early because he wouldn't leave her alone. I didn't allow him to jump on her, but he kept following her around and licking her ears. Lol. Ever time since that he's seen her, he still tries to hump her. He doesn't get to spend time with her anymore because he's so annoying around her. The 'leave it' command works well with other dogs, but for whatever reason doesn't make a difference around the chocolate lab!

 

[Cascadians]

Good to read other Newfs get 'fixated' on another dog. Orka can become obsessed with a dog, any breed, sex or size, that shows interest in him first. He'll latch like a hairy leech to the dog and just not let up. Have to leash him and take him away.

 

[Sheila B.]

Maybe you need to get Edward a lab of his own. Perhaps if he had his own lab he'd leave the others alone. At least a lab stuffie from Santa.

 

[Cascadians]

You're suggesting Edward have a stuffed doll? :!rolling:

Anybody know what these boys are thinking when they get their obsessions?

 

[Sheila B.]

Just thinking that if Santa can't bring the real thing . . . :banghead:

 

[Ginny]

Ditto to what 2Paws said and I suspect he's going to generalize this behavior to all breeds...

 

[2newfs4now]

Max prefers blondes...golden retrievers Seriously, I cannot let him off leash around a golden of any gender. He responds great to "leave it" except when there's a GR around. Max was altered at 7 months (before I knew better).

 

[dumainedogs]

Get this.. Obie's breed of obsessive choice.. lhasa apso!

 

[ardeagold]

Cole is in love with anything black and white. Molly (Landseer) was his BFF when he first got here, and now, when she's not around, if he sees anything black and white, he becomes obsessed with checking it out. Even cats. However, he's gotten much better about not trying to mount them, especially cats.

We have two black and white (Tuxedo) cats that he gets along well with ... they cuddle and will taunt him, but he still does a double take when we're out and he sees one.

I always keep him on lead around other animals until I know how he'll react to them. He does know "leave it" but sometimes he's so obsessed, he doesn't listen. He's 3.5 and intact.

I have discovered (via my spayed females) that if there's a dog (female) here with a UTI or a cut/skin injury/hotspot, etc. he'll obsess over them. It's the odor of the blood/infection, I suppose. He's my first indication that something isn't right with one of my girls. The older girls are the ones that get a fair number of UTI's. It seems to come with them aging.

 

[Kathryn]

he's gotten much better about not trying to mount them, especially cats.

:!rolling:

I have nothing to offer in this discussion except that I found this quite funny. I don't imagine cats take too well to this behavior.

 

[new_2_newf]

Sulley is intact and 16 months old. He does get humpy on occasion but I dislike it greatly, so it is usually dealt with quite promptly and quite harshly (for lack of a better term). As soon as I see sign of mounting, he gets re-directed and told to 'leave it' in regards to the other dog. Same if he is being very licky in the genital region. Should he actually mount, I take him by the scruff of his neck and make him lay down on his side and stay there until I feel he has relaxed to the point he will listen to my commands (sometimes this is 10-15 min). Sometimes the dog he was trying to mount will come sniff him, step on him a bit, stand over him, etc, and I allow this.

We have a wonderful bull mastiff named Nikki that comes to the park...she is a wonderful dog, but still intact. Her mom is extremely cautious of her when she is nearing, in, or recently out of a heat, but Sulley still finds her interesting for quite a while after her heat has ended. Nikki is large enough to make her own corrections quite effectively, but it also gives us a forum to practice this. If he is still showing an annoying amount of interest in a dog after two corrections, we leash up and walk away if we have to, but normally I try to stay around as long as my patience will let me so we have the chance to work through the hormones and he learns to listen to the mama, not the penis.

 

[R Taft]

you obviously have very tolerant lab owners around........because i know some from around here, that would go off the planet if it happened to their dog. It really requires intervention. he needs to learn to focus on you and not other dogs. So i would go back on leash until he is reliable and i would teach him a command to "leave it" and "come". Initially it might have to be on long leash( not those retractable things) and make him come, if he ignores you. Preferably with a reward system, but if he is bad it might have to be a correction,, but this has to be away from you and not once he comes. Once he comes, even if slow, reward, sound happy.
Katy is clicker trained and the clicker now means an automatic return. She does not even go through the thinking process. It has been conditioned and she just comes. She knows it is good to come and usually there is the promised reward, but not always. She also does the same for the word "Yes". Sounds kinda funny when you yell "yes" and the dog come running
Clicker training ( I combine it with yes) is very good for that. there are many different ways to use it.
Annabelle who was the people/dog aggressive is "leave it" trained (compulsion). And once that is used she comes by my side. because we had to do a lot of intervention training, she does it more out of fear of what could happen. Which is not preferred, but was the only way we could make her social.
Tessa has an awesome recall.....All trained with positive reinforcement training as has Tobias now, he is soooo smart, even at nine.
So what I am saying there are a few methods you can use to get him out of this. Find what suits. No method is for every dog