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I have just recently, maybe six months now, gotten a dog. She is somewhere between 1 and 2 years old, I am not exactly sure because we got her from Save-A-Pet (animal rescue place) and they could not tell me her exact age; they only had her for about a week. Also I cannot be sure of her exact breed, but she defiantly is part Labidor (not sure if that’s spelled right) and I am almost positive she is part pit-bull.

I have never owned a dog and I am asking for suggestions or maybe web sites that can help deal with her. She is a good natured dog but she is very…hyper and playfully aggressive. She is a very gentle with my youngest son (1 ½), but when she plays with the older boys she often hurts them. There is no way she is trying to hurt them, but she jumps up and scratches them and when plays, she bites. She does not bite hard but sometimes, when she gets overly excited, she does go too far.

She also will not come to me, or my wife, if she gets loose. She has never run away, she just really likes to run and explore so she does not come back for usually a few hours. I would really like to be able to let her run around for a while, but since she will not come back when I want her too I don’t. When she goes out she is on a chain or a leash. The house I am renting does not have a fence and I am pretty sure even if it did she would jump it.

The last big problem I have with her is she digs in the garbage. There is no way she is hungry and we do not feed her people food, but whenever she is alone for a little while she tears the garbage cans apart. If we all leave the house we put them where she cannot get them, but she will get into them even when she is alone in the room for a while and we are all home.

Just so anyone who wishes to help knows; I do not hit her and I will not try to alter her behavior by hitting her. The place we got her from suggested “positive reinforcement”, but I honestly do not know how to alter the behavior problems I mentioned with rewards and such. Thanks for any help.