AHH puppy why must you drive me crazy.

[ma-vie-en-vert]

I'm pretty sure a lot of you know that it's much easier to train a dog when they're not crazy hyper.

Yeah, well, I'm having problems. It seems that my pup has NEVER ENDING ENERGY and I don't know what to do?

I'll take her for a walk and for play time literally ALL DAY in hopes of calming her down a bit so she can focus better. AND SHE'S STILL CRAZY HYPER.

There's gotta be a way I can help her to focus more. I do the whole "watch me" thing where you feed her a treat every time she looks at you, and she still doesn't have that down because it'll work for a while, and then she'll get tired of the treats and find running around more fun. EVEN THOUGH I JUST TOOK HER FOR A WALK SO LONG IT TIRED ME OUT! AND I'M A RUNNER!

And I found something about teaching a dog not to jump and I want to know your guys' opinion on it. When they jump you hold their paws until they try to get away and then you push them down and say "off". Comments?

Thanks.

Ignoring jumping, turning away from the dog, or walking into the dog to make them put all 4 feet on the floor, and then rewarding them, works better.

As far as teaching and playing the look game, your puppy is clearly telling you how long her attention span is right now.

You just need to start listening.

[Sch3Dana]

How old is the puppy? If she's really young, you may just be expecting too much. One thing I would mention, a lot of "hyper" behavior is really anxiety based. If your puppy is having a hard time calming down, you might want to look at your scheduling and house rules. If she is running wild all day long, you may end up chasing her around and yelling at her a lot in response to bad behavior in the house. This in turn may incite more "hyper" (anxious) behavior.

Make sure that your training methods allow you to stay calm and in control when your puppy is in the house with you, that the rules make sense and that they are enforced with 100% consistency. That usually means leaving a leash on anytime the puppy is with you so you can easily prevent or stop inappropriate behaviors. And, if you find yourself yelling, stop and notice how things got so out of control so you can prevent them the next time.

Wanting to yell when your puppy pulls the drapes off the wall is normal - letting it happen everyday means you have a training/management problem. It think a lot of people just give their pups too much freedom too soon and the result is chaos and stress for everyone.

[ma-vie-en-vert]

Originally Posted by Sch3Dana

How old is the puppy? If she's really young, you may just be expecting too much. One thing I would mention, a lot of "hyper" behavior is really anxiety based. If your puppy is having a hard time calming down, you might want to look at your scheduling and house rules. If she is running wild all day long, you may end up chasing her around and yelling at her a lot in response to bad behavior in the house. This in turn may incite more "hyper" (anxious) behavior.

Make sure that your training methods allow you to stay calm and in control when your puppy is in the house with you, that the rules make sense and that they are enforced with 100% consistency. That usually means leaving a leash on anytime the puppy is with you so you can easily prevent or stop inappropriate behaviors. And, if you find yourself yelling, stop and notice how things got so out of control so you can prevent them the next time.

Wanting to yell when your puppy pulls the drapes off the wall is normal - letting it happen everyday means you have a training/management problem. It think a lot of people just give their pups too much freedom too soon and the result is chaos and stress for everyone.

Well she's not much of a puppy anymore, lol, she turned two 17 days ago. I know her hyperness is definitely not anxiety based. No one in the house EVER yells at her. Everyone does the whole ignore bad behavior but reward good behavior thing. Her house manners are pretty decent for a dog i'm having so many problems training. When she's running around, I just let her run. We play tag in the house, outside the house, play in the pool run around for hours in the field by our house.

So yeah, I'm gonna work with her again today, and see how it goes.

[adojrts]

What breed of dog is this? How much are you feeding her?
You mentioned giving lots of treats for behaviours that you want but then she starts up again. We don't dool out rewards for every behaviour that we want and we quickly chain behaviours together or and we train duration in the behaviours before the dog is rewarded. We also give a 'done' cue when the training is finished or the dog is being released from a sit/down etc to do as they please. If that isn't happening, it is certainly a win/win for the dog, she complies for a few minutes, gets a reward of food and then goes about having a grand time with behaviours you don't want until you reward her again. So what you have taught her is the once she gets a reward the training session is done.

I would strongly suggest you get your hands on some good training books, Pat Miller's The Power of Positive Dog Training, anything by Karen Pryor, Jean Donaldson's Culture Clash is also excellent.

Have you taken any obedience classes with her (I know being in SK, that many of the towns are small and far apart, although its a lovely place), therefore making that difficult.

You could also try putting her on Nothing In Life Is Free (do a search on google and it comes up first), also using Life rewards to teach her how you want her to behave.

We also sometimes fall into a trap, while trying to burn off excess energy to keep our dogs calm and quiet in the home it back fires on us. What we create is a dog that is very fit and then it really does require all that exercise!! Research has proven beyond a doubt that athletes in top condition get a high from the Endorphins produced in their bodies from working that hard, it applies to both humans and animals.
Good luck
Lynn

[lizzybeth727]

Originally Posted by ma-vie-en-vert

When she's running around, I just let her run. We play tag in the house, outside the house, play in the pool run around for hours in the field by our house.

I think one thing she needs to learn is to be calm in the house. Try to limit all high energy games to only outside, or only one room in the house, but when you're in the rest of the house you should expect her to be calm and relaxed. Try to keep your energy level very low when you're in the house - take lots of deep breaths and consciously try to relax your muscles, and she will probably take cues from you that she needs to relax too. Whenever she does relax, you can reward her with some gentle petting, low-key treats, or other things that she enjoys but will not get her really excited. Then when you go outside and you want her to exercise, that's when you let loose with games of tag, fetch, etc., that will let her burn off some energy.

[ma-vie-en-vert]

Originally Posted by adojrts

What breed of dog is this? How much are you feeding her?

She's a rottweiler mix. I don't know how much in cups I'm feeding her, but she eats twice a day, a full bowl each time.

Originally Posted by adojrts

You mentioned giving lots of treats for behaviours that you want but then she starts up again. We don't dool out rewards for every behaviour that we want and we quickly chain behaviours together or and we train duration in the behaviours before the dog is rewarded. We also give a 'done' cue when the training is finished or the dog is being released from a sit/down etc to do as they please. If that isn't happening, it is certainly a win/win for the dog, she complies for a few minutes, gets a reward of food and then goes about having a grand time with behaviours you don't want until you reward her again. So what you have taught her is the once she gets a reward the training session is done.

When working with her I do always give her a 'done' cue but there still is a chance that I'm not doing it right so she's not really understanding. I don't give out treats for everything. And something I've noticed is that she almost responds better to praise then treats. I think that's cuz my parents spoil her at dinner time (grrr...) so treats don't really mean much anymore, lol.

Originally Posted by adojrts

I would strongly suggest you get your hands on some good training books, Pat Miller's The Power of Positive Dog Training, anything by Karen Pryor, Jean Donaldson's Culture Clash is also excellent.

I'll try to find one or more of those books. If we even have them here in town.

Originally Posted by adojrts

Have you taken any obedience classes with her (I know being in SK, that many of the towns are small and far apart, although its a lovely place), therefore making that difficult.

I've been to obedience classes with her, but I only went to the first two and then quit going because the woman teaching the class used aggression and pain to train rather than positive things. For example teaching walking on a leash, she put a choke collar on Lex and when she would start walking off this lady would tug on the leash so hard and hurt Lexi so bad she'd scream. I actually had problems getting a normal collar on Lex after that. She'd rip them off. So yeah, screw that. And she's the only one in the area.

Originally Posted by adojrts

You could also try putting her on Nothing In Life Is Free (do a search on google and it comes up first), also using Life rewards to teach her how you want her to behave.

I'll look that up, thanks.

[ma-vie-en-vert]

Originally Posted by lizzybeth727

I think one thing she needs to learn is to be calm in the house. Try to limit all high energy games to only outside, or only one room in the house, but when you're in the rest of the house you should expect her to be calm and relaxed. Try to keep your energy level very low when you're in the house - take lots of deep breaths and consciously try to relax your muscles, and she will probably take cues from you that she needs to relax too. Whenever she does relax, you can reward her with some gentle petting, low-key treats, or other things that she enjoys but will not get her really excited. Then when you go outside and you want her to exercise, that's when you let loose with games of tag, fetch, etc., that will let her burn off some energy.

When in the house, the only time she's ever hyper is when someone comes to the door or when we initiate the game. Otherwise she's almost perfectly behaved. She lays down and just kind of chills out and when she does this she gets rewarded with lots of hugs and cuddles, lol.

I need to try to find more things to do with her outside, she doesn't like fetch, she just won't do it. She doesn't like toys or balls or anything. Strange pup.

[funzo333]

Originally Posted by RedyreRottweilers

Ignoring jumping, turning away from the dog, or walking into the dog to make them put all 4 feet on the floor, and then rewarding them, works better.

As far as teaching and playing the look game, your puppy is clearly telling you how long her attention span is right now.

You just need to start listening.

I completely agree. It's very important to not cave to the puppy's incescant yipping and attempts at attention.

Obviously, we know that our dogs need and deserve attention, but we can't give it to them on their terms all the time.

For example, before you take you dog out for a run or to play, make it sit and stay for a second, then you guys can go out together. Make it believe that exercise is a reward for being good and calm, rather than just an outlet of pleasure that it gets all the time.

I write a blog on the issues and problems that we come across when we train our puppies, because I think it's such a frustrating issue, so anything we can do for each other helps. If you want something more in depth and longer, check it out, and post a comment of question if you want some issue covered more in more length.


Housebreaking Puppy Blog


Good luck, it always ends up getting better!

[ma-vie-en-vert]

Originally Posted by funzo333

I completely agree. It's very important to not cave to the puppy's incescant yipping and attempts at attention.

Obviously, we know that our dogs need and deserve attention, but we can't give it to them on their terms all the time.

For example, before you take you dog out for a run or to play, make it sit and stay for a second, then you guys can go out together. Make it believe that exercise is a reward for being good and calm, rather than just an outlet of pleasure that it gets all the time.

I write a blog on the issues and problems that we come across when we train our puppies, because I think it's such a frustrating issue, so anything we can do for each other helps. If you want something more in depth and longer, check it out, and post a comment of question if you want some issue covered more in more length.


Housebreaking Puppy Blog


Good luck, it always ends up getting better!

Is there a way I can get her to sit and stay without her completely bolting out the door? Cuz she's a big dog already and she won't even sit and stay for her leash to go on. She'll sit, and stay and then as soon as I reach down to attach her leash she just gets all crazy and jumpy and ahh. And when trying to get her to wait for me to open the door, as soon as it's cracked the tiniest bit, she just bolts, with me being dragged behind, lol.