Calm behaviour in the house.

Okay so I need suggestions. My living situation has changed and it is a big change for Simi. We are living in the city now with no fence and Simi isn't exactly a dog park kind of dog, so she is on leash or long line every time she is outdoors and over all she is spending a lot more time in the house, compared to before where she could stay out and play with her egg for hours in our fenced in yard. Her activity level is much lower than it was and probably a bit lower right now than it SHOULD be. But with weather and work I am doing my best for now.

The issue I am running into is that she is insane in the house. We have a lady who lives in the top half of our house and when Simi is indoors she is very hyper, divebombs into the stove, runs and slips and slides on the flooring here and over all acts like she used to when she lived at the farm. Which can't happen now. So I am trying to break a habit she's had all her life.

So I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to calm her down, methods of training it, etc.. I realize the first step is increasing activity level so I am working on that but does anyone have any suggestions on teaching a settle command or something of the likes?

She has always been an indoor dog but before was allowed to be crazy with no rules, and so now that has to change.
Thanks in advance!

Penn knows 'go settle'. Basically, I trained her on a specific blanket& she is allowed to sit, stand, lay down or rotate through all 3. Only rules are she has to be quiet& stay on the blanket. She'll generalize to any square mat/ blanket/ rug I point to& will actively relax while she's on it. 99% of the time she lays down& she will easily stay for 40 minutes (longest I have asked her to do it) with a gentle reminder if she forgets!

I am not sure if that would work for your situation or not but it can't hurt? Teaches them to relax& often when Penn is released from it, she is calmer than before I asked for the behaviour!

Long down, "place" command, or mat work. They all have the same end result. I personally like "place" and I like to start the dog on something elevated so it's very distinct when they've stepped off of it. Blossom's main "place" is on top of Ollie's shipping style crate LOL (though she'll go to anything she's directed to). She can hold this while other dogs work, people come in the door, etc. Obviously that took quite a bit of training but the results are great! When I'm looking to calm her down, I often have her stay up there until she visibly relaxes - lies down, rolls onto one hip, and sets her head down.

Works wonders for crazy-ass dogs.

This! The more you work at it and positively reinforce it, the more they'll start to do it as a default behaviour. Finn settles himself very well if I say once, "I'm busy, go to your bed".

Of course, she's also used to a TON of exercise so it may take her a good amount of time to get used to the new activity routines and settling. Consistency is key.

Along with those suggestions, since she's running around and whatnot, could you maybe try tethering her to you? Not sure if she would take you down with her, but figured it was worth bringing up.

I totally agree with the place/mat/long down method. I've also put the dog on a leash and sat on it or held it fairly tightly, so that his only option was to sit or lay there and not bounce around like an idiot. It's generally called "Sit on the Dog". I like the leash option if I know he's not going to stay on his mat and I don't feel up to replacing him on it 100 times. As he's gotten older and better at laying on his mat and settling in general, I don't need to resort to the leash anymore, but it was useful at first, and helpful if we go to a seminar or training class.

I worked through some of the Relaxation Protocol as part of my mat training which helped him get the idea of going to his mat and actually relaxing there: http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf

I love mat work- great suggestion! I use a real mat (thin crate pad type) and take it places with me, so Recon has learned that he has to go there from wherever we're at and STAY THERE permanently, despite dogs running past him within feet for toys, each other, etc. Just start small, in the house, with distance, then increase duration and distraction like a normal stay!

That's pretty much what I do. I use a specific couch spot. Mia knows if I tell her to lie down there she's not allowed to get up. Nowadays it is only minutes after I put her in her 'calm down' place until she's actually calm.

Yup that's how I got Roman to behave in the house. As soon as you go lie down of your own accord I'll bring you goodies After a while it becomes part of their routine to relax.

If he starts getting hyped about something (like going insaannee when he hears the car start up, squealing, trying to jump in etc) I won't let him do what he wants until he looks away from it for several seconds, again of his own accord. You have to be patient at first, but it calmed him quite a bit.

Also wanted to mention, I have two 'stays'. One is stay there for the long haul, we ain't doing anything and the other one is 'stay and wait for my release'. I find if I just put Mia in a STAY she gets more agitated. Like how a lot of people have their dogs stay at the back door before walking calmly through the door? Well Mia stays and waits... tensely then screams and races off when you release her. So it's good to have two different things for her so she's not just staying and waiting for her release all tense. Because she won't relax in that case at all.

Having a dog with a solid "place" is seriously the best thing ever. I think it'd help your pup a lot.

Thanks all! My issue I have with a long down is her waiting for my release, and where she's such a drivey dog, when I do release she's even more amped up than before... But Laur had a good idea with the two different stay commands. Because right now, she knows "Stay" as stay there until I release, but wait for my command. So she DOESN'T calm down. But if I train a different command that literally just means hang out where you are, it's gonna be a while... hmm, this might just work.

I pretty much make it auto. Going there means you don't move. No command, but there is a release when I do allow him to get up. So a command for the place could be a stay in itself and may help her relax.

Ah yes, this makes sense.. now just to start training this. I honestly suck so bad at training mat work. I can always teach the part where they go to it (Simi will run onto a mat/pillow/agility table/etc and lay down right away, but she does so with MUCH gusto) but I have a hard time training the length. She is AWESOME in her crate in terms of relaxing and staying calm and I do love that. Unfortunately I can't put a blanket in her crate and then transfer that out into the living area of the house (She has her own room) because she eats blankets if they're left in with her.

She has a big cushy costco bed that she lays on, and honestly, if I put her on it with a kong she stays pretty calm, it's just traveling through the house, etc., that's crazy. She bursts out of her crate, when I bring her to put her into her crate, she runs full tilt into it, etc.. She's just a drivey dog, yes, I know this. I LOVE this... but I need to teach her that there's a time and a place. lol.

One thing I've done when teaching duration, because I'm really bad at that too, is working on it when I'm cleaning or cooking. That way I'm keeping myself busy, moving around but all in the general area and that way I can keep dropping treats as I pass by. If I'm otherwise just sitting there trying to work on duration it just, never happens and me moving around cleaning isn't super high distraction so it's a good bridge I think.

OMG I swear our psychos are related. LOL.

I will confess that I have not trained Blossom to "travel" through the house calmly. She pretty much does that at 90 mph. "OUTSIDE?!" *gallops wildly down the hallway, smashing spaniels and corgis in her wake*

But she does hold her "place" like a pro, and when she gets all worked up because she hopes we're doing something cool, I put her on her place or in a long down until she chills, and it really does help. But you'll HAVE to wait until Simi chills out to release her, or you won't have the desired effect. If she gets up, I'd just calmly put her back and insist she stays.

LOL She is an awesome doh, as is Blossom. But yes, that's Simi..
Honestly, a big part of our issue when she gets excited in the house is that she LOVES my boyfriend SOOO much, lol. And if he even moves she's like OH MY GOD, TAKE ME WITH YOU! All of this is a good thing, considering when we first moved she tried to bite him when he moved on the couch, lol. But she has since gotten used to him and loves him. He gets annoyed because she doesn't listen very well to him, but she just gets so excited lol.

I know that a lot of it stems from being raised in a house where it was a-okay to run wild and crazy 100% of the time. And the fact that she's a working bred GSD. lolBut I just can't let it happen here. As it is my landlord isn't happy about her size, even though she's a teeny GSD. Hopefully within a few months we will be moving to a place with a fenced yard where she can run to her hearts desire. lol But until then...

Does anyone have any good resources for training mat work and for calm "traveling" through the house? THanks!

I train "with me" when I need the dogs to walk calmly around the house. That means they walk with me, not galloping back and forth to the door as I am making my way to it. With me means walk by me just not in front of me, if they try to move ahead, I body block them or have a leash on to prevent them from moving forward. Only way they get to go where they want to go is by walking with me calmly first.