Adopting a Labrador retriever From the Animal Shelter: Why Bad Behavior Is Actually a Good Thing!

An animal shelter is a facility that keeps lost, abandoned, and homeless animals mainly cats and dogs. If an adult Labrador is taken from the shelter or rescue group, behavior might be a problem. It can never become a puppy again so you can train it properly. But a Labrador can still behave despite being an adult.

Training a Labrador at any age is not an easy task. Those habits that it has developed over the years will not disappear overnight. Consistency and patience is the key to getting your Lab behave properly. Consistency includes, reacting the same way if you didn’t like how it behaved for a certain scenario.

You have to see the best in your Labrador even at an adolescent age. A wonderful family dog can emerge from a rambunctious adolescent. You just need to redirect it with patience and nurture those natural Lab tendencies into behaviors that will be appropriate for a life with a typical loving family.

Back To the Basics

The main thing to remember in training a shelter Lab, a Labrador from a rescue group, at any age, is to treat them like an 8-week old puppy. It is imperative to forget that they are adolescents and important to use positive training methods.

In contrast to most people believe in, that adult Labs should “know better”, “knowing” doesn’t come with age. This can set both dog and the human up for failure and disappointment. Starting from zero would work for the best for the owner, assuming your dog knows very little.

A lot of those who have adopted Labs get really disappointed with the way their shelter Labs are acting up. These Labs didn’t get the same training other Labs had and don’t understand the humans’ expectations for them. Thinking that shelter Labs are abnormal because it’s not calm, sweet, and mellow like the other Labs down the street would not help.

Knowing these facts should help you understand your Lab’s natural tendencies and should prompt you to be patient and be more considerate with your dog. The behavior of a Lab might be frustrating but it will always pay off in the end. It is actually a good thing to have a rambunctious behavior from a shelter dog. Being moved around a lot tends the dog to be insecure and overwhelmed and it would leave the dog subdued for a few weeks when placed in care of a new owner.

The Lab will not feel at home and is not sure whether it is going to stay with you. So, when the dog, starts jumping up and running around like a toddler, that means that your Lab is feeling more comfortable with you as his new master and starts acting more normal. At this point, be positive and treat it as a puppy while training it. Remember, along with this, consistency and patience is important.

Other recommendations: it would be wise to invest in quality dog beds that will last a long time, as well as buying elevated dog feeders for your new family addition so he/she can feed comfortably.