Why your Labrador is crazy

If your Labrador acts crazy then you’re probably wondering why and what you can do to stop it. This post will give you many reasons why your Labrador might act crazy and will show you what you can do to stop it.

So, why does your Labrador act crazy? You’ll often find that it is because it is not getting enough exercise and it is causing it to act a bit crazy. Other possible reasons include a lack of training, seeking attention, boredom, being in a new location, encouraging the behavior with attention when it is crazy, separation anxiety or illness or injury. 

And, what can you do about it? The first step would be to give it more exercise that you are at the moment. Teaching it to play fetch would be recommended since it will wear it out quickly. You should also spend lots of time giving it training on a variety of tasks. You can also try ignoring the behavior, giving it distractions and crate training. 

Your Labrador might be acting crazy for several reasons and it could be due to a combination of reasons. However, there are also many things you can do about it depending on the most likely cause.

Why your Labrador is crazy

Below, I will show you multiple reasons why your Labrador might be being crazy and what would make them more likely and what you can do about it.

Insufficient exercise

Labradors are meant to get exercise daily. When they do not get enough exercise it can cause them to become hyperactive. A lack of exercise would be more likely to be the cause if your Labrador becomes crazier when it has not gotten much of it.

Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise per day as healthy adults. If yours is not getting that much it would help to make sure that it does.

Attention seeking

The cause could be that it is trying to get extra attention from you. If it tends to be crazy when you have not given it much attention or if you tend to give it extra attention when it does it then it would be more likely to be the cause.

It would help to give it attention throughout the day by training it, playing with it and exercising it. However, it would also help to avoid rewarding it with attention when it becomes crazy.

Boredom

The cause of the craziness could be that it is getting bored. To prevent this it’s important to give your Labrador lots of exercise, training, attention, and toys to play with daily.

The behavior is being encouraged

It could be the case that you have been inadvertently encouraging it by giving it things that it wants when it becomes crazy. If you tend to give it things such as extra attention, rewards or treats when it starts being crazy then it will likely do it more to get more rewards.

Instead, it would help to reward it when it is being well behaved, to avoid rewarding it when it is being crazy and to follow the other tips below.

Separation anxiety

The reason why your Labrador acts crazy at times could be due to separation anxiety. This is where your Labrador does not like being left alone and it causes it to behave in a crazy way when you are about to leave, when you are gone and when you have recently returned.

Illness or injury

The cause could be that it has gotten an illness or injury. This would be more likely if it has started acting crazy suddenly and if it has been showing other signs of being ill or injured such as limping or vomiting. If it does seem like it might be ill or injured, the best option would be to take it to a vet.

Nature

It could simply be that your Labrador is genetically predisposed to act crazily. Even if this is the case, you can still get your Labrador to behave more calmly by giving it lots of training, exercise and ensuring that it is getting the right diet.

Diet

The cause could be that there is an issue with its diet. This would be more likely if it has started acting that way since a change in its diet or if it does it when you feed it certain foods. 

It would help to consult with your vet on its diet and to make sure that no one else has been feeding without you knowing. 

How to stop it from being crazy

Below are some options you have when getting your Labrador to be calmer. 

Training

It would help to give your Labrador lots of training to get it to calm down.

The training method that I would recommend is positive reinforcement training. This is where you encourage certain behaviors by rewarding your Labrador when it displays them and avoid rewarding it when it does not.

To use it to get it to be less crazy, you would reward it when it is acting calmly and stop rewarding it when it starts being crazy.

Exercise

As mentioned above, it is important to make sure that your Labrador gets daily exercise. Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise per day as healthy adults. 

If it is already getting daily exercise but it is still acting crazy, you could try to get it to calm down more by getting it to play things such as fetch. 

You can watch the video below for some tips on how you can train it to learn to play fetch. 

Don’t reward it

It would also help to avoid rewarding it when it misbehaves. Instead, it would help to reward it when it is behaving the way you want it to and to give it positive reinforcement training so that it learns how it is meant to behave. 

Calming chews

In addition to the above, you could also give it things such as calming chews that are designed to get dogs to calm down. However, it would be important to take measures such as to make sure that its diet is correct, that it is getting enough exercise and that you are training it correctly as well.

Distractions

It would also help to give it things to be distracted with. Things you could give it would include toys, puzzle games, and bones. 

Crate training

If your Labrador is misbehaving while you are away then you might want to consider crate training. When done correctly it will give your Labrador a place where it can go that will make it feel calmer.

Things to consider

Its age

It would help to consider the age of your Labrador since it will have an impact on the most likely reason why it is being crazy.

If your Labrador is still young then it is likely that it will be less crazy when it gets older. Despite that, it’s still important to give it lots of training while it is still young since it will make it easy to manage as an adult.

Be patient

When training your Labrador, it is important to be patient. It is not likely that you will be able to get it to drastically change its behavior with just one training session. But, if you train it consistently, for weeks and months, you can get it to become much better behaved.