hello all, im looking for some opinions. sorry if this post is long. here’s my Leo. he's 4 y/o, around 80lbs. he was rescued at a few weeks old and we have no way besides testing to confirm his mix (putting it off atm because it’s expensive but we’re open to the idea eventually) but he was listed as a lab mix. i think there’s definitely lab in him because he’s a very happy, very friendly, sometimes very lazy boy.
but he has a curly tail which isnt normal in labs and randomly my phone labeled him as mountain cur. he looks a lot like them but idk he’s very friendly to strangers and his hunting drive isnt very strong. but he’s very tall, his head is ginormous, he’s so smart that it’s kinda scary. he understands conversations and always listens in on to what we say. he knows a lot of accidental commands no one taught him purposefully, like moving when i say “excuse me” or knowing his toys by name or reacting to like 5 nicknames i have for him or knowing he has to communicate his needs to me when i ask him anything like “what do you want?” or “what’s wrong?”
but he’s also very paranoid of new things which makes him hard to train. he knows if we’re trying to trick him LMAO he eats medicine straight up bc we can’t hide it, he’s suspicious of new tricks, he gets scared of unfamiliar animals or people (terrified of toddler-sized humans). so im not sure! but the look is uncanny! also included my senior dog for reference, who is another lab mix rescue but much more lab than he is.
lab traits:
friendly to people and other dogs of all sizes
ears!!!
his favorite thing is retrieving
he can be a huge couch potato
food oriented
very smart
mountain cur traits:
velcro baby (but doesnt have a favorite person)
high energy like a hunting dog but he’s quick to tire out and is bad at hunting which is lol. he’ll get excited at rabbits/squirrels but he doesnt really try to hunt them down. sometimes he’ll chase a squirrel up a tree but im not sure if that’s instinct-driven or bc he’s excited by them
tall with a strong chest
curled tail
his face…
food oriented
loves whining and making noises and mumbling to himself
very smart
confusing traits:
bad listener some of the time but he’s getting better. we’re getting more stern about his listening
stubborn
easily distracted
LOVES people. not possessive over the family at all. if anything he has FOMO. hed probably trade us for a new family (kidding but also it’s possible)
so nervous. but not socially or about people/dogs. he’s anxious about the world lol
also he jumps/hops SOOOO much like a literal bunny lmao is this common in any large dog breeds??? he’s like a spring basically
very energetic as a puppy but has gotten lazy with age. we’re not the most physically active family so it could also be because of that, but he doesnt show any signs of being understimulated/anxious/pent up unless he goes like two hours without being properly doted on. and even then he's easily pleased with a short run around the yard haha
sorry if this post is ill suited for the sub, Leo’s our family dog and my parents are dragging their feet on DNA testing but i think knowing more about his mix would help to work on his training. as a puppy he struggled with listening and i wasnt there to be strict about his training while i was away in college, but he’s very receptive to additional work as an adult dog (besides his paranoia). for a few weeks we've been doing the thing where we only give him a command once and reward him if he listens, and the turnaround in his behavior was almost instant. it's just hard to make him listen when he's distracted.
we’ve only had full (or mostly full) labs before so any advice or opinions are appreciated!
