So this is going to be a novel as I have questions about both my pups. lol

Sierra

So she went into heat last week the same day I got really sick. So while I shoulld have been resting I was chasing her around to keep her diaper on her. Our house is all tile but I still don't want it all over my floors. So the question here is, what have you done to deal with an indoor female being in heat?

*note: Before it is said I know most people will say to spay her and be done but we don't want to spay her. She is an amazingly smart and beautiful purebred Lab and we would like to breed her at least once to keep one of her sons.

Kaiser

He is currently almost 2 and a half months old and goes to everything teeth first. I know this is how puppies learn but he is very mean about it, biting us and Sierra all the time. WE call him a land shark. I do not want him to grow up with this "I'm going to bite everything while playing" attitude cause it will not be good for him or us when he is 100 lbs. So how did you put excessive bting to a stop?

I know one of the things to do with puppies that are really mouthy is to completely stop and tug-of-war type game. They can't tell the difference between the toy and everything else. It can take awhile and it's got to be all or nothing kind of training. If someone else in the house plays those kinds of game, all your work won't matter. Of course, giving him plenty of chew things is a must to keep him busy.

I don't have any advice on the female since I've never personally owned one. I do know quite a bit about the breeding aspect of it though as I recently had to research a ton of testing requested by a client of ours in order for him to breed his female. Most lab breeders want the dogs to be OFA certified, CERF certified, EIC tested and CNM tested. We did all this stuff for him and backed with how awesome his female is to begin with some of her puppies went to a guy that trains them to work with autistic children and search and rescue. The three he got are his top three by far, I guess, and if bred again he said he'd buy every pup for $1000 a pop if not more. No that you can really make money off puppies but with a quality breeding and the testing to back it up you can have some very happy new owners. So yea, just some food for thought if it's not something you'd heard of yet. :) /completely off topic rambling

Wow that is insane! We have to do some DNA testing and what not to get her certified as a purebred cause the last owner didn't bother to get papers when she bought her.

I'm not sure about the mouthy puppy because mine have all been good about learning not to bite. It didn't take them long to figure out that the fun stopped when they bit too hard lol.

As for Sierra, i'd keep her in a confined space while she's in heat. When Chloe is in heat, she is rotated between the laundry and the kitchen, both rooms have hard floors that I mop & disinfect several times a day while she's in there.

We try to keep Sierra in the kennel or outside as much as possible but it is still a pain. 

The joys of having an intact female I guess lol

unless she has competed and has been health tested for all genetic issues (dna doesnt really mean anything sorry) I wouldnt be breeding. breeding anything is and should be about improving the breed you have. the male also needs to have been screened for any genetic issues. 
you also have to take into consideration on how many puppies she will have. do you have screened homes lined up for at least 6-10pups already? Do you care who gets a pup or where it ends up. 
basically the world already has enough good dogs out there, no point adding to it unless the above mentioned is done. 
i am not a crazy anti breeder person either, I just know how many unwanted dogs are in my area that are put down every month and the ones that roam the streets where i live.
I do have ethical breeding friends and most of them have a year wait list for a pup, if not longer depending on marking/color choices.

and as for the pup, more chew toys or the old saying "just bite back"
but in all seriousness, he is a mouthy breed
but remove the fun when he does start getting mouthy. get up walk away that sort of deal.
have you tried clicker training and positive reinforment?

im not really sure with sierra since i have never had a female dog let alone one in heat lol but my oldest dog used to be extremely mouthy and would bite all the time! for him everything he bit hard he would be put in his kennel with no toys and left alone to know if he does it know one will play with him. to stop him from bitting anything in the house he should not bite, we also sprayed a sour spray they make for dogs that is supposed to keep them from chewing. Tons of chew toys help, but just show him who is boss and that biting will only lead to punishment and not play.

It's actually really interesting to read about for anyone who loves labs out is interesting in the breeding. The abbreviations can make things a little confusing so I'll list a few things out for anyone interested in the subject.

OFA = Orthopedic Foundation for Animals; radiography of hips, elbows, ect are sent off to be evaluated/graded and then they are listed in a national registry with their site.

CERF = Canine Eye Registration Foundation; pretty self explanatory, eyes are evaluated by certified canine optometrist for heritable eye defects like retinal atrophy, cataracts, retinal dysplasia, etc.  They actually link this with the OFA results in the registry.

EIC = Exercise Intolerance and Collapse or Exercise Induced Collapse; genetic disorder found in labs, curly coats, Chesapeake bays, and a few other breeds that causes lots of muscle control after strenuous exercise. The collapse can be life threatening in some cases. Dogs can be carriers but asymptomatic.

CNN = Centronuclear Myopathy; affects just labs if I remember correctly. Defect in the muscle cells that cause weakness, awkward gait, loss of coordination. This as also one that did can be carriers and show no signs.

So yeah, very interesting stuff to research. :)

The whole breeding thing is not happening anytime soon as breeding without the right papers is illegal in italy. We know all this breeding stuff as we have other breeding dogs. 2 AKC and CKC registered Shih Tzus who both have champion lines and are well bred. The female is show room worthy but we don't know anything about dog showing. So trust us when we say we know all of this.

Ooooh that's right. I keep forgetting you're staying in Italy.

I've heard over in Europe it's not NEARLY as widespread as it is here that all animals are fixed. It sounds absolutely bizarre to me since I've met intact adult animals excluding strays/ferals all of like... twice. In my whole life. But I think it was England specifically that got brought up this widespread fix everything and fix it now mindset isn't as... present.

Link Tree

When puppies are with their littermates and mothers still, they are constantly learning the ropes from each other as far as what's too rough, what's just right, etc. When puppies are playing too rough with mama or another puppies, they usually let out a loud yelp, which is telling the biter "that's too rough!". When Sasha was a puppy, she wasn't overly mouthy, but when she did do something like try and chew on our hands, we would yell "OUCH!". She would immediately stop what she was doing, and then she would get praise. Basically, we were doing the same thing that the littermates and mother would do with the puppy.

Hope that helps! :)

Shlee - What you said made me think how they watched their dad and grandma demonstrate their protection dog training so maybe that is where his biting came from.

That is a very real possibility! It's truly amazing what they can pick up!

I'm with Shlee on this one!  We used that coupled with curling her lip up into her teeth.  So she knew ouch ment pain and it stopped the issue almost immediately.

Aw, geez, sorry for the book I just wrote. xD

I've never had an unspayed female dog in the house, ours were all spayed when I was growing up, so I can't offer any advice on that.

As for the puppy woes, I absolutely can help with that! It really depends on what you want to do with him. If his job is going to just be a pet, then yes you want to stop any and all rough games, give him a couple rubbery chews to keep his teething progress healthy (the Kong Binky and the Kong squeaking tennis ball are my boy's fav teeth/jaw soothers) do plenty of fetch and return games, lots of "drop it" and "leave it" to discourage him from using his mouth. If he starts being rough, tell him to settle down, put/hold him in a sit, and don't play for a moment. Look above(not to the side of) him, no eye contact or talking to him, for about five seconds or until he settles down. When he settles down, say good, don't touch him at this time or it will get him excited again, and resume a low-key game. This will discourage his prey drive so that there's less to redirect onto the toys from you in the first place.

If you're doing anything with him aside from just being a pet (any type of competition, large or just in your own backyard like me), then tug games are THE most important thing to do. This will build his prey drive so that you can use his favorite toy to tug as a reward instead of being a treat machine, and so he stays more focused on his work and for longer. If he bites you, correct him only as firmly as he bit you, never harder or in anger. If it was an accident and he meant to bite the toy, pause the game briefly and tell him to be gentle. What worked with my boy without killing his drive or making him mouth-shy was to quickly but calmly press my finger into the middle of his tongue or the inside of his lower front gum line while saying Bad Bite and then put a toy in his mouth and say Good Bite and continue the game. It only took me three days to stop his land-sharking using this method. This applies to hands, arms, feet, knees, hair, whatever he latches on to. Using Bad/Good Bite will also teach him that Bite means his mouth so it makes it easier to teach him to pick things up on command. I use the word No calmly to tell him that he needs to stop doing that and do something else. I use Bad as a correction word to let him know to never do something. Also remember, exercise BEFORE you play! As a puppy, play isn't just play. It's learning! Get his crazy energy out so you can reach the calm energy to make learning (and teaching) much easier.

The first day I got my boy, I didn't realize how high his prey drive is. He bit my hand in play, I screeched in fake pain, and then he bit with all his tiny force and shook it hard, enough to draw a little blood. Needless to say, the squealing and yelping only works on some. For others, it's gasoline on the fire.

As for the biting of random things, restrain him (gently scruff him if he's really stubborn like mine), remove the object from his mouth, and do the previously mentioned Bad Bite/toy/Good Bite thing, but firmly say Bad Bite as you're taking the object out of his mouth. It takes a lot of repetitions but eventually he'll get bored with constantly having his naughty little games interrupted and he'll move on to new ones. Of course, never let a puppy or young dog have free roam of the house. You can, however, tempt him by playing on-leash near the objects of his fascination so that the opportunity can arise to teach him. You should always set your dog up for success when you can, but also teach him how to succeed when he's been set up for failure. When he's not in a kennel, in a small pen nearby, or in a closed room with you, have him tethered to you with just enough room to walk with you and lay down by you. This will let him have some freedom, let you be near him to see his potty signs, and also help him learn to walk correctly next to you without wandering/pulling/getting underfoot. This also reinforces that you're in charge; pack members follow the leader, not the other way 'round.

I know some people are 3000 percent "All Positive" when training dogs and so will boo my suggestion to correct a puppy, but that simply doesn't work with most dogs because there is no leadership. Some dogs are so soft that they will accept a bucket as their leader and respect the hell out of that bucket, but most dogs aren't that soft. People mean well but they're doing what's best for their own sweet hearts and trying not to hurt the dog's feelings, not what is actually best for the dog. With no pack structure, you're on equal terms with the dog which means that the dog recognizes that it can choose between you and your empty hands or the stranger with the hotdog, and not recieve any negative consequences if it chooses the hotdog guy. Dogs LOVE hotdogs, if you get my drift. Dogs NEED boundaries, they NEED to know exactly what they can and cannot do and where they fit into their pack (your family) and with other packs(respectful avoidence is best). Without boundaries and order, your dog's mind will literally be chaos because it feels completely lost and alone without a pack to meet it's needs. At that point, it makes it's own rules/boundaries for you and appoints itself leader over you because in his mind somebody HAS to be the leader and you weren't doing it so you unwittingly put that huge stress on your poor dog who would, given half a chance, have you lead. I am absolutely certain that when my adult dog is off leash and I need to call her back to me immediately, she will come running because she knows that there will be a consequence for not coming back. Since she's a very soft dog(think half-set-jello), it will be the loss of freedom; she'll be leashed and the fun time will be over. She's not interested in a treat I might or might not have, she's interested in my leadership and the safety and predictability of the boundaries that I provide for her. While other dogs pull and bark and carry on like heathens, dragging their bleeding-heart owners around like toys, my dog is sitting politely and waiting for our next move. Strangers fawn over her "obedience" and it amuses me to no end. It's not obedience, she's not my slave, it's just respect. Every dog is different, every dog needs a different level of praise and a different level of correction, but EVERY dog needs structure and EVERY dog respects a fair leader.

By the way, I'm almost 24, I grew up with high-drive medium-to-hard-temperament Boxers (and one VERY spunky mini poodle) and I started my lifelong affair in dog training with our 5 y/o german working-line girl (our very first Boxer) when I was 6, so I've been learning on-the-job for over 17 years which makes me feel really REALLY old now that I've done the math. xD

^ VERY interesting read Brinwood! What you described with the whole 'dog is looking for your leadership not for treats' is how I aspire to be with my dog. We're not perfect, but getting better every day :p And I totally can tell the difference between how my dog reacts to me when I tell her to do something vs. when someone like my mom ASKS her to do something! If she's off-leash at the park and I call her, she knows she better get moving before I have to call her a second time.. whereas with my mom, who is a total push over (love ya mom :p), she won't even turn her head. I specifically chose the breed of my dog BECAUSE they were breed to be a family pet and house dog.. so she doesn't have extremely high prey drive or a CONSTANT need for stimulation or a 'job' like some high energy, working breeds and I chose that because I know I'm not an expert and I don't want to be one of /those/ owners with a dog they absolutely can not handle :p Like this girl that comes into the store I work in... She has a 4 month old husky puppy and she wants to use a prong collar on it because it pulls and won't 'listen' to her... -____-