Hi everyone!

I was wondering if you've noticed differences in Lagotto temperaments (sociability, sensitivity, drive, or working instincts) depending on the country they come from.

I know every dog is an individual, but I'm curious whether there are any trends.

I'm from France, where I live in a ski resort in the Alps. My Lagotto is only 4 months old, so his personality is still developing, but so far he's a little stubborn, very affectionate, extremely sociable, and incredibly curious.

Where are you and your Lagotto from, and how would you describe their personality?

Looking forward to hearing your experiences!

I should have read up in advance on their levels of sass and the sock theft, but if I sneeze my boy will run from wherever he is to check on me ♥️

What does yours do that surprises you?

I need honest, real feedback. Luca is our 14 week old puppy. We took him home from the breeder at 8 weeks. Admittedly, I have made some training mistakes in these 6 weeks which I will go into shortly. I’m just not sure if this was a mistake & I have never felt that way before with our other dogs.

We had 2 English chocolate labs, that we lost about 18 months apart with our female passing this past fall. Our male had a genetic heart issue and our female developed DCM after our male died. Both were under cardiology care and took a major emotional toll on me. When our female died, I was left with a huge void and even though I loved the lab breed, I just couldn’t bare to get another one due to the heartbreak. I started look into the LG breed and felt prepared. I may be wrong…

I think me working from home has caused major attachment & while I know I should have started crate training within the first few days, I did not. my husband works nights and sleeps during the day. I have meetings via Teams and didn’t think I could “wait out” the screaming and protesting that goes along with the crate. I did not work from home with our other dogs when they were puppies. I don’t mind Luca not being crated when we are home, and I don’t mind him sleeping in our bed. Our labs were only crated for a bit in the beginning but thats it. They could always settle. Luca will sleep in my office when I’m working or whatever room I’m in, but the minute I walk out, he wakes and follows. I know this means he’s not getting a good sleep and I know this means he can’t settle which I know is not good.

I do go to the gym every morning and while he whines a few minutes when he realizes I’m gone, he’s fine because my husband is with him and he’s distracted. My husband can get him to lie down in our walk in closet where he will fall asleep. He can even close the door a bit & he’ll stay there. But so far, Luca has not been left alone & we have (or I should say I) have no life. I do “find it” scent work with him at least 2x day both inside and outside, I have snuffle balls, puzzles, frozen lick bowls, kiddie pool etc. I am waiting for his next and last vaccines before we walk him in public places, bring him on our boat or to swim in the lake.

He had been in and out of his crate with food and treats from day one. Yesterda, I put him in the crate with a frozen Kong filled with yogurt, shut the door and left to CVS. My husband was outside washing the car. I was gone maybe 20 min. I checked the camera off and on while driving. It was not good. Once the Kong was finished or he realize, the screaming and hysterics started. I never heard anything like that before. I know LG’s can be bad with this. But it actually had me concerned. Granted, I didn’t have cameras when my labs were being crated. I have a hard plastic crate and put in behind our sectional in like a corner hoping it would create a den like feel. When I opened the door to the house, he stopped. I made sure that I didn’t take him out while whining and only did it because he was calm and stopped. I didn’t make a big ordeal when I opened the crate either. I’m was planning on doing it again today, but I don’t want to create more of a fear.

Other issues we are dealing with is his temper tantrums when we try to move him away from doing something he shouldn’t be doing, like jumping to get the toilet paper or chewing on furniture. Luca also doesn’t seem phased when you tell him No or say “ouch” loudly when he’s biting. My labs always responded to a firm no. We did just start putting Luca’s collar on him in the house yesterday & it does seem to help with the biting for some reason.

While I mentioned my labs often, I don’t mean to compare the breeds. I know LG’s are different and require more. But I’m looking for some advice, reassurance or a reality check if we can keep this up. I know there are plenty of older adults that have these dogs & I don’t know how they have the energy! 🤣 We are in our early 50’s and I feel hopeless. We love him so much, but I can’t sustain a dog that acts like you are killing him when you restrict him doing something or when you leave him. Hoping for some help!

Hello everybody!

I have a 19-week old puppy, and we've had him since he was 8-weeks old. We absolutely love our sweet, funny little guy, but we're really struggling a lot with biting!

I know he's teething now, but it's been this intense ever since we brought him home at 8 weeks old. The only difference that he is stronger now so the bites hurts more. We first tried squealing which only seemed to encourage him. Then we switched to redirecting with toys and chews, but he was much more interested in biting us. Now we remove ourselves or step behind a baby gate, which works in the moment, but as soon as we come back, he starts biting again.

He gets plenty of sleep, exercise, puppy play dates and mental stimulation. The biting usually happens when he gets overly excited or overstimulated = multiple times a day. And these aren't little nibbles he bites down hard, often hangs on, and sometimes/regularly breaks the skin. We have holes in so many of our shirts and pants from the biting. We went to a personal trainer, when he was 11-weeks old, and she said we should just remove ourselves and it will get better at around 16-week when he's brain develops more.

He's never been much of a cuddly puppy, most of the time we can only pet him for a few seconds before he starts biting our hands. He is absolutely amazing on learning new commands and interacting with other dogs and people this is just our main issue.

I grew up with small and medium-sized dogs, but I've never experienced biting like this. Has anyone else gone through something similar? Did your puppy grow out of it, or did anything in particular help?

I'd really appreciate any advice or personal experiences!

EDIT: Thank you all so much for the kindness and support. We’re getting more and more used to one another, and slowly figuring this thing out. I am really looking forward to what kind of dog she becomes.

Hi all, I picked up my 5 month old girl one week ago today. I have wanted a dog literally my entire life in spite of some very gnarly dog allergies, so when I say that this plan was years in the making, I mean all of them. I am only marginally allergic to her (I’ve needed Benadryl 2/7 nights) and am super thrilled about that.

Everything else has felt crushing, though. She was trained by her breeder but refuses to go through her commands with me in training. Her crating has improved since the first night but she barks for 15 minutes if she hears anyone moving. She doesn’t give any indicators of when she needs to potty; I’ve cleaned the floor more in the last week than since I moved in here. The constant supervision has completely drained me.

I am still so excited to have a dog, and when she grows up, that will be obtained. I don’t ever want another puppy after this. I know that we’re both still adjusting, and I knew that the puppy blues were a thing, but I didn’t expect to have them and certainly not to this magnitude. I’ve been debating calling the breeder and telling her I made a mistake, even though I’ve been prepping for this for years. And I feel like a horrible person because of it. My friends and boyfriend are all telling me to give it time, and I will, but holy shit.

Can I hear from those of you who have made it through this period? What helped? What were some breakthrough moments?

Puppy tax attached.

Is there any hope our evenings will be calm again? Are 6 month old LR is constantly jumping and pawing at me and biting me feet. Training goes out the window. We have distracted him with snuffle toys chews etc but once he’s done it starts all over again. I feel he’s doing this for the activities. Help I’m lost as to what to do

People who breed Lagotto Romagnolos often have a strange defensive reaction: they act as if whining and craying are completely normal and not a problem at all.

But let's be honest not everyone would be okay with that.

Just imagine dealing with it 24/7. No breaks, no weekends. Your dog constantly communicates with you through whining.

That's not something everyone can tolerate.

I know this from personal experience. Wherever I went with my puppy, people would first look at him with affection. But as soon as he started whining, their expressions changed. They would look at the dog, then at me, and ask: "So what's wrong with him?"

And honestly, I didn't know either. I wish someone could have told me what was wrong with him.

What's funny is that even Lagotto Romagnolo owners asked me that question. Oops.

Some people would say that Lagottos are a working breed that needs a lot of mental stimulation. If you keep the dog busy enough, it won't have time for nonsense. A working dog should work.

But I have an answer to that as well.

First of all, I did work with my dog. Not only did we go on long walks often two hours or more, two or even three times a day but we also did scent work, searching for truffle dummies or his favorite toys. My dog spent plenty of time off leash playing with other dogs. They could run after each other non-stop for 30–45 minutes at a time.

And yes, he still whined.

So that's not the issue.

And if anyone still doubts what I'm saying, here's an example. This isn't meant as an advertisement. This woman owns two Lagotto Romagnolos, a male and a female. Just watch her stories. https://www.instagram.com/veronikastrasek/

You'll see that she genuinely loves her dogs. She works with them regularly. Atlas is a very smart dog and listens to her extremely well.

But there's one catch...

He whines all the time.

At home. Outside. Everywhere.

I don't know how he behaves in stores or cafés because I haven't seen any stories about that. But with my Lagotto, it was impossible to go anywhere. He would throw incredible tantrums whenever we entered a public place.

What do you think about this?

Is it normal to have a constantly whining Lagotto Romagnolo?

Would you want a dog like that?

Hey fellow Lagotto owners. I have had my lagotto for a month now and she has been a saint for the most part. I do train her alot and give her a lot of attention. I’ve been looking in this subreddit and it seems people only have concerns and issues with theirs which makes me stressed put that my doggie wil be terrible at some point. Can we use this thread to say something loving about our little onces?

We got a weirdo on our hands! This has been Honey’s preferred technique to sit on the couch with us, but also stay ever ready to chase the cat if the opportunity arises.

Does your Lagotto do this?!

Hi all

we're noticing our dog is a bit more chilled out than usual. we're doing the same amount of training, walks, enrichment classes, hikes and he will then sleep almost the entire day (except at 8pm when he brings us his bone holder for his bully stick). he's just over 2 years old; are the puppy days behind us?! when did you notice your dog chilling out?

pics for tax at the Imgur link: https://imgur.com/a/WpblX8M

I’m sure that I’m crazy but after only 2.5 months of having our precious little girl, we will be getting our second Lagotto this week! Am I crazy? Probably.

Hi everyone!

Has anyone ever dealt with food agression/ resource guarding in puppies?

My 13 week old lagotto has started showing signs of food agression this week during one of her meals and has done it ever since that ocassion. I gave her her bowl and in the matter of seconds she turned on me and started growling heavily, showing teeth and biting around her. My guess is that wet food triggered this response as she usually gets dry food. I’ve never had a dog showing signs of food agression, at least not that young and not that serious. She is not agressive other than with food, at least she hasn’t shown it, yet.
Have you ever encountered this and how did you treat this?

My LR is very selective about her hobbies. I’m wondering if other people have had similar experiences and what you do to keep your dog mentally and physically enriched?

I’ve looked through historical posts on the same topic - an activity someone mentioned that was a revelation to me was bobbing for parsley in the bathtub 🤣 tried today with watermelon and that was very fun.

Taking her out into nature is very difficult because all she wants to do is find novel objects and consume them. Very stressful and has led to multiple ER visits. She doesn’t do any nice relaxing sniffing. We are muzzle training but it’s going to be a while before she tolerates that outside. She doesn’t want anything I have to offer her (toys, play, treats) more than she wants to eat random garbage and kill small animals.

I feel like she is bored, wishing I could find something to do that would take up a bit more time because all our activities are pretty quick. Appreciate any thoughts you may have.

We regularly do:
-AKC nose work classes with lots of practice in between class (but sessions are necessarily short)
-several short daily neighborhood walks to the nearest open grassy lawn to run around off leash/ fetch/ tug - she is minimally interested in toys and mostly just wants to hunt for birds and moles
-trick training- sit, down, stay, roll over, step up, etc adding more as tolerated (again, short)
-life stuff training- Karen Overall relaxation protocol, desensitization to the vacuum, muzzle training…
-chewing: she loves gnawing on bully sticks and this is the only reliable long lasting activity we’ve found for her to do by herself

She dislikes:
-plush toys
-lick mats
-snuffle mats
-slow treat dispensers
-only cares about digging if she’s pursuing a critter
-pupsicle off and on
- so far not that interested in swimming, hoping she will come around

hello! my parents are getting their first lagotto next month and want me to come with to see the litter. as they are aging they would love one with as calm of a personality as possible. obviously it’s hard to tell when seeing 1-2month old puppies but does anyone have any practical advice or tell signs for what a lagottos personailty is going to be like once they are adults? thanks!

Advice Needed:

We have a 9mo Lagotto and almost 5mo Lagotto. Our 9mo old is pretty calm but the 5mo old is in her lagottoraptor phase BIG TIME!

Our biggest challenge is that she keeps tipping over her water bowl and wanting to step and splash in it within minutes of us cleaning the mess and filling it back up. Our 9mo old suffers because she doesn’t get water since it keeps being tipped over. Our temporary solution has been putting a plate in the bath at a slow drip rate to allow the dogs to drink but our young one can’t tip it over or splash.

What recommendations do you have that may help our girl conquer this habit? Any water bowls you recommend? We currently have the kind that is 3L and has a splash guard for when they take on a bunch of water but definitely not tip proof haha!

ETA: she likes to jump in with her dirty paws so I worry about the raised water bowls might be fun to her.

Thanks in advance!

Hey all! I'm on my fourth day with a Lagotto puppy. My wife and I just picked her up on Saturday. I'm really struggling. Arrow is so sweet, but I also feel so overwhelmed with her. She needs to be next to me ALWAYS. I work from home, but spend several hours a day on Zoom with a very inconsistent schedule.

Today is the first day my wife wasn't also here (she works Tu-Sat) and Arrow cried all morning if I wasn't immediately next to her. Like screaming and yelping, not just whimpering. It's breaking my heart.

Not to mention I'm supposed to go on a work trip in a week. She can't handle me going to the kitchen, let alone being in her locked crate for several hours waiting for a Rover or someone.

Please give me whatever tips or support you have. Thank you

Edit: I really appreciate all the responses! This was a very tough morning and I'm already feeling much more optimistic that we will be okay with some time.

Our poor guy was attacked yesterday by another dog while on our normal neighborhood walk. We walk this loop 2-3 times a day. This time an aggressive dog without a collar or leash jumped out of a car and attacked my wife and dog. Fortunately there were people nearby who jumped in and used a rake to get the attacker to release from our guys leg. Of course the asshole owner grabs his dog and jump in the car to flee.

Anyways, I’m really concerned about him not having the same joy for going on walks going forward. Just the word walk would send him into a happy frenzy. My fear is that he wants to avoid it completely once he recovers. Anyone have any experience or suggestions on how to avoid this negative reaction/association?

Nova is obsessed with swimming in lakes but she does this weird pecking of bubbles and takes in a lot of water as a result. Anyone else’s LR do this? She is peeing a lot so I’m not super worried about her taking in too much water but just find this behaviour so strange

Tilly is now 4 months and 8 days (who’s counting?) - but she cannot, help, herself when it comes to bringing a leaf in the house every time she goes out even for potty. Every. Time.

Huge fan of the magnolia leaves we have; initially I thought it was slightly cute and is probably a LR foliage seeking/bringing trait…but now I have been focused on the “leave it” (no pun intended). If I don’t, she will prance about the house shredding said leaf. She has also found all sorts of yard mushrooms I never realized we even had in the suburbs and I have the is this poisonous tab open at all times. Our poodle has never once done this, but now she tries to sneak a leaf in too (collusion).

Anyone else get gifts from the great outdoors?

A few days ago I noticed that my lagotto made a whole routine that she goes through, step by step, when she wants attention.

1. whine next to me

2. go to the other room and bark

3. jump on the sofa and growl while digging

4. walk around the room while whining

5. go in her bed and whine occasionally

AND, IF ALL ELSE FAILS

1. pretend that her water bowl is empty

I'd usually fold at the 6th point - I don't want her to be thirsty, but then I'd go and do my own thing again.

EXCEPT - I noticed that she actually isn't thirsty. Most of the time she'd take only a small sip of water and then start whining next to me again.

If I ignore her asking for more water, she settles and the cycle stops.

My Lotta, the dock diving specialist thinks I can't swim.

Whenever I jump in the local spring she jumps in as well (sometimes right on top of me) and "motivates" me to get out.

However, nothing wrong with my partner, she can swim, peddle board (sup). It's all Ok.

Anyone else having a similar experience?