Pure bred- Brat

Question
I have a pure bred(with papers) Labrador she is 1 year and 5 months old. Her Grandfather is a ESPN Hunting dog and she happens to be the runt of the litter. With all that said My dog Denver will not calm down- all she wants to do is play and retrieve with her toys- aka ball! She will play for hours on end. I try to dedicate at least 1hr to playing with her- however once you start she wont stop. I would take her to the dog park play for 3 hrs and we would come back and she would be rearing to go We actually have to house all her toys in a Rubbermaid bin.  I took her on a three mile run she came back to the house and grabbed her ball- she still even had her leash on. She is not over weight by all means she is lean and full of muscle- she weighs 45 pds. She talks back if you tell her no she will bark at you. She jumps on you if you have a toy or when you enter in the house. I brought her to obedience school and she passed- she knows all tricks and when she wants to she can listen and obey. It's like she's disobedient because she knows she can get away with it. My roommate has a Standard poodle and she will pull on his ears and mat them. She and the poodle-toby will ruff house all the time. They sound and act like lions.
I'm a lost on what to do.
Also she drinks water all the time and urinates frequently
She has had two yeast infections and maybe that has something to do with it?
Thanks!

Answer
Hi Nicole!


Well... welcome to the world of labs. Have you seen Marley and me? You have a Marley!

There are two types of labs: "soft" labs (Calm, sedate, gentle labs used for seeing eye dogs and working  dogs) and "field" labs. Field labs have been bred to have more energy, higher drive, and a higher retriever drive. This is so they will excell in the field and run all day long while hunting. While neither is bad, field labs certainly require more activity!! And you certainly have a field lab.

There is not much you can do to decrease activity except to continue working her as much as possible. I suggest training to help stimulate her mentally. Continue obedience, or maybe look into agility. Get toys for her that are mentally challenging, like a kong with hidden treats, or a ball that she has to turn certain ways to get the kibble out. The more you stimulate her mind, the better off you will be. Give her a job, and she will be happy. Contact a local trainer that does agility or flyball. Look into frisbee jumping, dock diving, and cross country tracking. A working lab is a happy lab.

Otherwise, you will have to just be patient. We have a saying in rescue: Labs are puppies forever!

As for the yeast infections, I dont believe those are related. Are these yeast infections in her bladder/kidneys, or ears and skin? Let me know and I can offer some advice. Thanks!