My dog, Hunter

Question
Hi I have a 1 year old lab mix named Hunter that my boyfriend and I rescued when he was 6 weeks old. He has some odd behaviors that we are confused about. First of all- he LOVES other dogs (which is great right?) except he loves them a little too much! He WILL NOT stop playing with them and running around whenever another dog is near him, he will just never stop! He was neutered in April and we thought that a few months after the surgery he would calm down but the only thing we have noticed is that he has stopped humping other dogs and occasionally will squat when he urinates instead of lifting his leg- is that all we can expect from being neutered? I understand he's only a year old, and hes a lab so hes going to be full of energey for a while, but I wish there was a way to make him relax when he's around other dogs. My boyfriends roommate just got a siberian husky puppy and whenever the two of them are together they run and run and run all over the house!! The puppy (who is about 3-4 months old)eventually wants to stop, but not Hunter! How can we make them more comfortable together? Is this something to be concerned about or do you think it will just go away over time? Also, just one small other thing...Hunter likes to eat grass and long leaves..is that bad? I know dogs eat grass sometimes if they're not feeing well and are trying to induce vomiting, but he does it all the time. He was found in the woods as a very young puppy where he ate god-knows-what, could that be why he's doing it now? And should we be stopping him? Haha he really seems to enjoy it! Thanks so much for your help!

Answer
Neutering will take away that testosterone edge, and may modify sexually driven behaviors (like marking, and sometimes humping - humping can also be a social activity.) But that is about it. It doesn't change who the dog is, and may not make him calmer. What will really allow you to see a difference in Hunter's behavior is getting involved in a good positive obedience class, and teaching him some behaviors and some self control. Teach him HOW to come interact with you instead of the other dog, how to do something incompatible with running around and chasing (like settling on a dog bed). Additionally, learning new behaviors will kick in the "thinking" part of his brain, which it doesn't sound like he's using very much. I would look for a class that uses positive methods - especially the clicker which teaches a dog how to solve problems and think. www.clickertraining.com  Mental exercise can be just as exhausting as physical exercise (without the side effect of just making your dog more fit to run longer) The grass eating is probably not harmful (as long as you don't have any poisonous plants he can get to) but I'm guessing that like most pica activities, it (and the wild fooling around play - not an uncommon coping skill in Labs) may be a symptom of generalized anxiety and stress. Many nice, well loved dogs are anxious because they don't know what to do with themselves (because they haven't been taught)and they don't know what the "rules" are. Training will help this, as well as creating a good routine and rules about how things are done (for instance, he would give you a behavior like sit or down before getting to go out, have to wait while you prepare his dinner, etc.) And soon you will see a different dog. (And of course, growing up will help. At a year, Hunter is still very much a puppy. But like neutering, age will only do so much. Training can do the rest! Sandy Case MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com