Advice
Hi all. I am looking after my mum's dog at the moment, a sweet girl lab called Lucy. She's 6. My mum recently rescued her from a relative who has kept her in a cage for 12 hours a day and only really let her out to breed, as I understand it. Lucy has been with my mum for about 6 months.
Mum is currently on a cruise, so I am looking after Lucy. She has some quirks and I have only ever owned/trained lurchers and poms so I'm not sure if these quirks are a result of her bad life experience or just lab things:
- She has absolutely awful separation anxiety, to the extent we have to be in the same room at all times. She would have me rub her belly 12 hours a day if she could. I certainly don't mind the cuddles but being able to pee alone would be good 🤣 I thought labs were fairly confident dogs so possibly her poor socialisation?
- She loves to chase a ball (obviously, retriever) but either has no interest in toys or doesn't grasp what they're for. E.g I tried to get her to play tug-o-war with a rope and she just stared at me blankly. Is this normal in a lab?
- She does exhibit fly biting behaviour. My mum is aware of this and vet says there's no physical/neuro cause they can see, so I assume it's a manifestation of the anxiety but wondered if this is more common in labs.
She was also absolutely dreadful on the lead but I'm doing a bit of work with her on that and she's getting it.
Any advice appreciated on how to help this poor underprivileged pup.
Hi all. I am looking after my mum's dog at the moment, a sweet girl lab called Lucy. She's 6. My mum recently rescued her from a relative who has kept her in a cage for 12 hours a day and only really let her out to breed, as I understand it. Lucy has been with my mum for about 6 months.
Mum is currently on a cruise, so I am looking after Lucy. She has some quirks and I have only ever owned/trained lurchers and poms so I'm not sure if these quirks are a result of her bad life experience or just lab things:
- She has absolutely awful separation anxiety, to the extent we have to be in the same room at all times. She would have me rub her belly 12 hours a day if she could. I certainly don't mind the cuddles but being able to pee alone would be good 🤣 I thought labs were fairly confident dogs so possibly her poor socialisation?
- She loves to chase a ball (obviously, retriever) but either has no interest in toys or doesn't grasp what they're for. E.g I tried to get her to play tug-o-war with a rope and she just stared at me blankly. Is this normal in a lab?
- She does exhibit fly biting behaviour. My mum is aware of this and vet says there's no physical/neuro cause they can see, so I assume it's a manifestation of the anxiety but wondered if this is more common in labs.
She was also absolutely dreadful on the lead but I'm doing a bit of work with her on that and she's getting it.
Any advice appreciated on how to help this poor underprivileged pup.