Help with excited behaviour please

[Stitch]

Thanks for the videos which I will review shortly.   I have been challenged with excitable and sometimes aggressive terriers for many years as well as having my share of large dogs so I am not new to this but this particular dog is off the scale with excitability and he combines it with being a 40kg flying missile sometimes, so it's like terriers on steroids but one you can't pick up or manipulate.  Eg. yesterday he was doing his loops on/off the dog bed and he flicked the dog bed hard into my shin bone.  I have a big bruise today and walk with a limp!

Dogsfevr can you tell me how you are training your problem dog?  My boy is almost 12 months old now so roughly the same age.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Stitch

[Stitch]

OK I watched those videos thank you!   Home School the Dog.  I have done about 6 weeks of lessons on that but got a bit lost wondering how I was going to adapt it to the type of excitable behaviour he has.   We have a lot of land here and I don't have any trouble with his recall....except that I might get bowled over when he comes galloping in!  

[Dogsfevr]

13 hours ago, Stitch said:

Thanks for the videos which I will review shortly.   I have been challenged with excitable and sometimes aggressive terriers for many years as well as having my share of large dogs so I am not new to this but this particular dog is off the scale with excitability and he combines it with being a 40kg flying missile sometimes, so it's like terriers on steroids but one you can't pick up or manipulate.  Eg. yesterday he was doing his loops on/off the dog bed and he flicked the dog bed hard into my shin bone.  I have a big bruise today and walk with a limp!

Dogsfevr can you tell me how you are training your problem dog?  My boy is almost 12 months old now so roughly the same age.

Its  not mine but a dog i have regular contact with .
But i do own large dogs & like you certain behaviours just arent suitable when uncontrolled .
This scenario is hard because there"s the lets make excuses side,a trainer who said its screwed up because it flew on a plane & my thoughts its a beautiful,smart dog who craves attention in one way,hasn't been allowed a certain degree off freedom to learn (not feral ,do what you want freedom but an ability to learn kind off freedom instead of controlled & then confused)
This dog is a body slammer & no fun what so ever .The trainer /behaviourist method to the family was grab a chair ,get the dog to focus & suck food from a syringe to re instill breast feeding .
The dog has no idea how to sit still,be calm ,switch off something i pointed out very early they needed to manage ,instead they would walk it,walk it some more let it dive bomb & they loss control as the dog was so amped up .
So i gave my thoughts ,the dog at present works in one speed ,teaching it to chill is like going cold turkey for an alcoholic so my thoughts is to learn to get a response in speed mode,get some focus in speed mode & as the dog is working the reward is the calm mode slowly working the dog to chill reward without pushing the human touchy feely .This dog luvs brain games ,spin,touch,paw shake & walking backwards ,Withing 2 mins its tired & the next phase of calm starts ,the last time i saw it it just wanted to dive bomb me so just told it what i wanted ,it did that & the dog stopped jumping & was switched on learning without the battle .Back to front method but could be very successful if the family where all 100% on the same page
Personally as its not my dog & im just offering my two bobs worth i don't think the success will be as good as it could be because some just find a reason .for the bad manners  & its alright .

I totally get your frustration its no fun & you get battle fatigued from just thinking about why something so simple is so hard but if you can find the one "moment" thing you will seriously get success quickly

 

[Stitch]

Dogsfevr, agree....after so many years of having to think out of the box with terrier training I have to start thinking differently with this dog.  I spent years trying to explain to obedience class instructors that terriers are totally different to train than say a working dog or whatever.

Now I feel that those years of training are counting against me as I am stuck in 'terrier' mode....if that makes sense.

I have this dog walking calmly on a lead which was my initial goal....but it has to be on lead.

I tried giving him a big box to investigate yesterday as I think he needs to use his brain a bit more to tire him out.   He really enjoyed it.

Your idea of giving him more brain games is one I will start today and see how he goes.  Thank you for your help.

[persephone]

Oh, Stitch.... I feel it ! With a large breed it can be physically dangerous for you as well .  Glad he enjoyed 'thinking inside the box "  ;) Hopefully some more brain games will help give him a focus elsewhere.... 

[Dogsfevr]

1 hour ago, Stitch said:

Dogsfevr, agree....after so many years of having to think out of the box with terrier training I have to start thinking differently with this dog.  I spent years trying to explain to obedience class instructors that terriers are totally different to train than say a working dog or whatever.

Now I feel that those years of training are counting against me as I am stuck in 'terrier' mode....if that makes sense.

I have this dog walking calmly on a lead which was my initial goal....but it has to be on lead.

I tried giving him a big box to investigate yesterday as I think he needs to use his brain a bit more to tire him out.   He really enjoyed it.

Your idea of giving him more brain games is one I will start today and see how he goes.  Thank you for your help.

Even with leash training you can get creative which again is using brain games,self control & in a some what sly why teaching focus and respect on you without it being the boring same old same that they switch off .

Pool noodles make fabulous training tools to create interesting walkways where the dog & you have to work as a team but also allowing the dog to problem solve .
The dog above is terrible onleash so they opted for the easy option of the offleash park so it turned into "free for all brain" at an age i think is crucial for building a relationship .
That will take time more time than it should have .

Maybe even look at search n seek games in the backyard .

Some dogs brain just works overtime & no doubt there a challenge but the trick is you wont win a battle so you need to switch to other options .
Boxes with treats inside ,hide n seek ,even teaching catch requires self control

[persephone]

Hey, @Stitch,
How are things going ? 

[moosmum]

The moo did this while she was young, and yes, we did cure it. 

The brain games have always been our 1st solution. (expect more, not less?)

I did use an umbrella at times to prevent the jumping. In Moos case I think she liked to sniff our ears on greeting, So going to her level before she could do that helped, if she wasn't too over thee top to begin with. A growly sounding Aht !  on jumping.  I figured do what her mother/older dogs would do. Also, if she did not stop at 1st warning her access to us was cut short. Go back in for a bit then try again.

These fixed the problem for us. 

[KobiD]

An update would be great! Always to hear how things are progressing..

Our mutt must be 4 years old or so by now and also has the ability to get.. mmm very excited! She's not a non stop dog, but in certain situations she crosses threshold. She can be happy excited, overstimulated by scent, and has also been reactive towards other dogs. 

Impulse control is the aim of the game. Working out how to keep them under threshold where they can learn, while rewarding the positive behaviour.

Our girl still doesn't walk well on leash. She finds the end often. Doesn't neccessarily pull, but hits the end, doubles back or goes loose. As soon as I move again she finds the end of the leash. She runs better than she walks. She walks between off leash at her own pace. 

She often rushes up on guests and wants to jump to say hello. She likes licking the kids on the nose.. People often inadvertly reward her behaviour and it takes everyone on board to change it. With dogs she isn't reactive towards, she treats them the same and says hello often too excitedly - not always welcomed.

Part of this is her personality. Shes a goose and she thinks shes a kangaroo. She bounces like a tigger.. BUT!

 

We have a postive marker, and a negative marker. She knows the noise that means 'stop/inappropriate'. She also has many other skills on cue. So for us, the key is to redirect to a wanted behaviour, or as others have said.. incompatible behaviour. If she wants to say hello to kids, I have the kids make her sit and be calm first. We have calm and gentle on cue as well. If shes too excited when I approach the back door I wait for her to sit/settle/calm. If she peps up as I slide the door open, I slide the door back. If she pulls on the leash I stop. If teeth ever touch skin during play it stops. She's far from perfect.. and still becomes overwhelmed at times.. But repition repition repition.. and avoid getting into situations where they can practice the behaviour.. 

I guess in your case that would mean avoid having your back turned. Or play a game where you turn your back, and have someone else mark and reward BEFORE he jumps. Once you can reward the behaviour then becomes the long journey of building duration and proofing it in a variety of environments.. It is achievable!