What a lucky day for both you and your lovely dog the day she followed your brother home. These x breeds are the most beautiful dogs I have come across, having had two myself, both shorthaired. My first collidor would steal rubber balls from shops she loved them but was not obsessive, my second one was into plastic bottles, she loved to remove the lids and then the little plastic ring followed by the label. My first one was to me irreplaceable, when I had to have her put to sleep at the age of 17 years I couldn’t imagine ever having a dog that would be as wonderful as her but along came my second one who was even more wonderful in different ways, she never stopped giving love and pleasure she was never miserable, and just seemed to be getting better and better giving more love as each day passed even when she fell suddenly seriously ill she still remained an angel. The hardest thing I have had to do was finally saying to the vet that she had been through enough and her time had come, it was as if I died with her that day in April this year, she was only just 11 years old. Good luck with your lovely sounding dog and I know that you will never ever regret having taken her in, may you have her for many years.

The best anyone could ever wish for!!!!

I must admit that I have always played with my dogs in dog ways, ie nipping thier ears and cheeks but not hard enough to make them yelp and my last dog Pippy absolutley loved this game, gently mouthing me back, never hurting me. But I would say that you REALLY have to know your own dog very well before playing or teaching in this way, as it may result in you getting bitten, this is not something that I could do with my collie as she would get confused and bite back. There has to have ben a great deal of boinding and trust with the dog beforehand.

I certainly would not advise trying to ‘rag’ a dog by the scruff of the neck as this does very often get misinterpretated by the dog and results in biting back or very nervous behaviour.

I have always found that nipping can be stopped at a very early age if you nip the dog back with fingers immediatley saying no or ouch, but this needs to be done in immediate response to the nip they have given you and can be done on the legs or body but do not nip too hard.

Enjoy your lab x collies they will give the greatest amount of love and loyalty and are real dog angels.

I didnt use the ignoring technique nearly enough when Nugget was a pup (13 yrs ago) Nugget was a bit nippy also, if it was an energetic over excited nip then Nugget always responded well to dominant style training combined with rewards for good behaviour. Dont reward them too often though, be sure to do it only when they have earnt it or else it will reinforce that they can do what they like (including nipping ankles). When I say dominant training I mean saying the word “no” with a sharp “I’m bigger than you and in control” voice, the tone of voice is the most important. I also trained Nugget with some dog style language, showing him my teeth whilst staring him out (which in dog language means that you are annoyed with them and might hurt them if they do not stop what they are doing), and occasionally nipping his ear (which some may think gross and/or cruel, but mother dogs do it to their puppies when they become difficult to handle however, this was 13 years ago and I cannot say whether I would have the gizzard to use this technique again, as I have become a bit of a softy in my old age).

If they are nipping out of nervousness, the only way is to use preventative measures. You need to learn to read when your dog is becoming nervous and reasure them when they are, by giving them cuddles/strokes and talking to them gently to calm them until you get to a stage where they become uninterested in what is happening and decide to go and investigate something else or just settle down.

Regarding my advise about using dog language, I think I should just stick a disclaimer in that I would not advise anyone to use these techniques with any grown dogs, especially ones that you do not know as it might confuse them and result in their attacking you.

All of this advise comes from knowledge gained from a long and diverse range of practical experience and undergraduate academic knowledge, which I am saying because I am aware that sometimes I talk as if I know more than I do. I have no qualification in animal psychology.

Despite this, I hope some of my advise might be helpful.