Big Paws Only Dog Forums

I'm really active on a Lab board and have lots of friends with Labs. I would NOT recommend a Lab as an apartment dog for a single person with a busy life.  Besides being high energy, Labs take a lot of training commitment in their first three years, a lot more than people realize.  You see service dogs and think "yeah, that's the kind of dog I want"- but you have no idea the intense amount of training it takes to get there.
 
I got involved with this Lab thing because my Earnest is Lab and Dane, and at 7 months old he was such a handful I thought he had some serious problems.  He was so awful I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep him, and I have 20 years experience in the animal business, including rehabbing rescues with behavioral problems.  I started asking around and when people started telling me that eating everything in sight, including a mattress, and insane hyperactivity were "typical Lab" I started doing more research and discovered they were right.

Don't get me wrong, Labs are great dogs, but they are NOT easy.
Labs also are very dependent as a general rule. They don't do well home alone all day, they tend to be destructive or develop other problems like separation anxiety.

http://www.lab-retriever.net/board (hope it's okay to post this link) this is a really great helpful group of people, you will find a wealth of information about the breed, enough to make the right decision for you and a dog.

 I agree, Danes, although big, are really low energy. I've had Danes in an apartment and with two good walks a day and a lot of attention when I was home they do fine.   Thank heaven as Earnest matured he got more of the mellow Dane characteristic s!

Many years ago I lived in a rural part of Florida on a 23 acre abandoned orange grove. I had a 10 ft. chain link fence with barbed wire around the top. On the gate a large red and white sign said "BAD DOGS- KEEP GATE CLOSED". 
I worked for Animal Regulation and rescued Danes (and pit bulls that had hunting potential) I had 5 permanent residents, all Danes, and various fosters.  2 of the permanents had never been off a chain until they came to live with me- one was mellow and had joint issues, one was pretty neurotic. The best thing mentally and physically for those guys was to get out and run. Another of the 5 was a trained bodyguard.
I told the electric company guy more than once that if there were cars around the trailer to stay in his van and honk, that if the cars were there, someone was home, and if someone was home then the dogs might be loose.  "Drive up and honk" is just simple farm etiquette anyway, as far as I'm concerned. When anyone else did it the dogs would come up to the house and mill around, wagging their tails to greet the visitor.  I tried to explain that while normally reliable, if they'd been out running and getting "packed up" 5 dogs with a combined weight of about 850 lbs could be VERY dangerous.
Several times I heard his van pull in and his car door, and raced out to find him already halfway around the house.  I'd warn him, and he'd shine me on.

One day I was taking a shower, and didn't hear him pull in.  I heard the dogs going crazy, though.  I threw a robe on and ran out, to see the man in his van, with the most terrified look on his paste white face I had ever seen. The dogs were trying to chew his windows out, I could hear their teeth clicking on the glass.  Snarling, slobbering beasts with whale eyes surrounded him.  I called them off one at a time and put them away, but kept the bodyguard dog at heel beside me.  He slowly rolled down the window, and puked down the side of his van.
He said he had barely made it around to the side of the house when he saw all of them stand up out of the grass at the edge of the trees (about 7 acres away) He turned and ran, and barely made it to his van in time.
I really shudder to think what would have happened if he hadn't seen them until he was too far from the van.   
After that, I put a double lock on the gate, and everyone called from the gas station up on the highway (this was before cell phones) before they came over. 

I work at a kennel and it is very possible that the stay at the kennel is what triggered this. You can try and find out if there were any incidents there, but they may not be aware of any, or be reluctant to admit to any.  What's the set up at the kennel? Chain link runs? Does the fence go to the ground or is there a solid barrier? Some dogs develop territory aggression from having to see and hear and interact with the dog on the other side of the fence 24/7 maybe having a similar dog for a neighbor at the kennel set your Rottie off.  Some obnoxious little white thing may have tortured her during her stay.
It's also possible that the little dog set off a prey response. One of my big dogs does not always recognize little ones as dogs, he sees them as similar to rabbits, especially if they squeal, he'll back off when I call him, but he definitely approaches them with murderous intent. I've had quite a few big dogs with this issue, it's not at all uncommon. More than trying to eradicate the prey drive it's important to work on Lucy's recall, so she'll break off no matter what. (If your dad had been there and called her off would she have stopped?) Pack instinct is a powerful thing, and prey drive is a primary motivator. My other dog will join in when Phyfe kicks in to prey mode, Earnest doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body, he's just responding to the hunting instinct triggers, I'm sure that's all your St. was doing.
I wouldn't label either one "vicious" or "aggressive".

Ok, here's the deal. Because Earnest is half Lab, I participate on a Lab board and have a lot of friends with Labradors.  They have certain viewpoints on behavior that don't always match mine, but I'm beginning to think it's the difference in breeds that causes the varying ideas.  I'd like to compare their view with the "big dog people".

Here's the scenario, on our camping trip a few weeks ago, it started to rain and we decided to pack up. As we were packing a family came and decided to wait for us so they could have our site.  Both dogs were staked out near the picnic table, and I was loading stuff into bags and packs to be taken to the car. The Dad (a friendly stranger) offered to help us bring things to the car. When I agreed, he first took the two tents, which I handed to him. When he came back he reached for MY big backpack, which contained all the cooking stuff and first aid stuff, as well as my personal stuff and extra boots.
Phyfe, who is Mastiff and St. Bernard, jumped up from where he was laying, gave the guy a big "WOOF" and a throaty growl (no teeth).
When I said "It's ok, I told him he could carry it" Phyfe backed down, but kept an eye on the guy and what he was carrying from then on.

Here's the question- was Phyfe being a bad, aggressive, alpha dog or a good, protective watchdog doing his job?

What kind of food does he eat? Things like sugar, dye, and preservatives can cause hyperactivity in some dogs.  Does he do this if he eats at another time or only in the evenings?

A friend of mine desensitized her dog to thunderstorms by buying one of those nature tapes.  She played the tape of the thunderstorm at first at very low volume, every day for hours at a time.  VERY gradually she turned the sound up until she could finally play it at full volume- it seemed to work, her dog doesn't even notice the thunder anymore.

Several years ago I had a 9 year old Dane who hadn't had any shots in 2 1/2 years, I was going to do them all when her rabies came due. I worked at a shelter then, and brought home the most beautiful little brindle Dane pup you ever saw. She and the pup were together for two days when the pup developed a horrible case of the fast-acting parvo, and died within 24 hours.
I was so worried about the older dog being exposed, but the best advice/explanation I got was from a vet who told me that adult dogs who were vaccinated as pups and then go lots of places (my dog went everywhere except work) are the least at risk, and probably don't need anymore shots, the reason being that they are probably exposed to distemper and parvo at least once a month in their travels, and that exposure acts just like the shot does, keeps the antibody levels up.
She never did get sick at all, even though she was licking and playing with the pup right up until the time it got sick.

For swimming in places that are not off leash, I use a harness and a long line. I bought a 30' lunge line, it's basically a long leash for horses. Our Petsmart has a Stateline Tack store in it, but any horse supply will have them. I got a cotton one (easier on the hands than nylon). 
You could use the long line on the dog that runs off, or take them on different days (two long lines would probably be hard to handle).
Swimming is great excersize for hot days, and will go a long way to wearing them out.