[boop21197]

Both my husband and me are 54, we have always had labs, when our 2 black labs passed away, we got a choc. Lab, his name is PJ, born feb.11,2007, we had him fixed.
I know that all this may be my fault, cause I have treated him like a child, and very over proteced of him, but I think that was a bad move and I have created a monster.
He does not listen, when he get something that he is not to have we have to case him around the table to get it from him, when my husband and I hug, he goes nuts, when we don't show him any attention he goes and gets clothes, shoes, or what ever, he has eaten 2 remote controls, he does not like going out side to the fence, when we leave.
When we are out side together, and he sees another dog, cat, deer, bird, person, he takes off, gone. Will not come when you call him. When something does not go his way he pulls things off the table or counter top and will not give them back, he will not sit or stay, the onlt time he is outside is when we go somewere, other then that he is inside with us.
And we have tired EVERYTHING to get him to listen, but this dog has a mind of his own.
Our other labs were not like this, they listen to everything we said, and they didn't brother anything that was not they're, what are we to do, I love this dog so very much, and I don't want anything to happen to him, but I'm scared that one day when we are outside with us that he is going to take off and get hurt, or lost. We can't afford to take him to a doggie school, and when we get very demaning with him, he just goes crazy, barking, running around, I think he thinks that we are playing, but he is so smart, I have never seen anything like it, it's like he is a person in a dogie suit. He even sucks on the corner of an old pillow that I gave him. What do we need to do to get this baby under control?

[RubyPitbull]

Boop, you are right. You have created a monster. LOL! I pretty much equate a dog's mental level with that of a 2 year old child. They don't understand the difference between right and wrong. They live in a world in which they are only cognizant of themselves and it is "me, me, me" on an endless loop. If you are afraid he will run away one day when you are outside, he needs to be on a leash at all times when he is outdoors. Unfortunately, there are too many issues for me to help you with in detail here at this time. You need to start asserting yourselves as the leaders. If you can't afford to hire a trainer, you need to start reading training books and/or buy a training DVD. You are going to have to start from scratch. The first step is to stop babying this guy and start laying out some ground rules. Here are a couple of things to help you get started. Please review this link: Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position, Letting your dog know you are the boss It is one that both labman and I use when talking about showing your dog who is the leader of the pack. Labman recommends the Monks of New Skete. They have written books and have a DVD that I think will be of help to you. Here is their link: The Monks of New Skete Labman also has a list of recommended reading on his "sticky" at the top of the dog forum. Before joining this web site, I had read most of them and that is one of the best compilation of reading lists I have come across. Here is the link:https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post251804 I highly recommend the first book on that list, The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. She explains the differences in how a dog views his world as opposed to the way we view it. Once you have a good understanding of that, you will find training will become much easier for you and your husband. You should be able to find many of the books on that list at your library but if you have a small library in your area, check online for availability.