Shakti Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 My GSD Ben who is now 18 months old is very smart, very affectionate and eminently trainable. The problem is definitely MINE. He just NEVER relaxes or mellows out. This week he has had an hour walk EVERY day up hills etc which has left our Bull Mastiff exhausted, a half day swimming and playing Frisbee at the beach, one night at Agility and TWO different obedience classes and he is still running about the backyard finding things to play *fetch* with. Yes, we do have a crate for him but I feel cruel putting him in it for no reason ie he is not tired, we are at home etc etc. Even if he does nap he is instantly fully awake and alert at the slightest noise. He is not aggressive or yappy etc. (Just plain exhausting to be around!!) He is, I think, underweight - if he was a human he would be a Type A caffiene and nicotine addict! A friend said the best thing would be to teach him LONG downs ie 20-40 minutes where he does not break it until I return to him - any thoughts?????? I swear even our three other dogs are beginning to avoid him! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 Kovu is just like this, I could make him run up and down hills all day and he would still want to keep going through the night. He is so bad that whenever I walk out the backyard when he's out there he runs around like a madman looking for *anything* that could even remotely be considered a fetch toy...like a piece of string...and no I am not kidding. He gets FRANTIC about finding something for me to play with him with, it can be a piece of string, the corner of a peg, a blade of grass left on the conrete, a small pebble, anything that is not concreted to the ground is fair game...drives me NUTS! :D He has started to settle down now that I have started drive training with him, he is calmer inside and only really goes crazy when it's work time...but I must admit it hasn't curbed his frantic search for some kind of toy everytime I walk outside Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flames_Daddy Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 Ben is just a WHOLE LOTTA GSD!... he just loves life and can't get enought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Logics Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 Hi Brooke, Many breeds can become over active, lots of energy, ready for anything at any time, move your big toe and they torpedo to the door. Lovely healthy happy dog but not good for your nerves and in the end its not good for the dog. Some dogs are lay back cool headed personalities and others have to be taught to 'chill out.' I have several dogs and two of mine are real life torpedo's given half the chance they too would spend all day hurtling around. All the dogs get a really good free run for over an hour on the local golf course as I walk up and down the length of 18 fairways. Then they get training, are used for demonstrations during my classes, attend fixtures etc so definitely not short on both the physical and mental exercise. But some dogs need to be taught to calm down and take time out. I use crates and my dogs will often go and lay in them out of their own free choice, they don't see it as punishment at all. As youngsters when I see constant over activity I'll call the dog up ask him to go into his crate and reward with a few treats, a chew bone or pigs ear and then shut them in. If they winge I just ignore it, this generally only occurs the first few times as the dog really wants to get out and buzz around. In no time they accept it as time out and relax after a few weeks or months, depending on the dog, of practice the need to hype generally stops. All my dogs will go out and play and chase but when inside they are happy to laze around and allow me to get on with whatever I am trying to do. Don't allow the human emotion to cloud what in reality is best for you and your dog. Providing you teach Ben in a positive way to go into his crate and take time out and you don't walk around with the 'guilty' look he'll be fine in no time and you'll have a dog that you can enjoy for many years to come. Just begin with half an hour several times a day then increase the time in the crate and lessen the repetitions. If you can't teach Ben to act calmly at home it will eventually reflect on everything else you do with him away from home. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noisymina Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Try the book - "Getting in T Touch with Your Dog" by Linda Tellington-Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangerineDream Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 In the past, I've had a couple of dogs like this (1 Dobe and 1 GSP) - I literally had to untrain them.....both would go forever and the more exercise you gave them the more they wanted...and more...and more...and more I started walking them at different times on different days, and not every day - dropped it back to 3 - 4 times a week, fed them at different times so they didn't expect tea at 6.46:30pm each night..... sometimes, I'd walk them to the end of the street and back (300m), sometimes 2km.....it taught them that they couldn't expect and second guess me, and their activity level dropped from frenetic to more easily controlled......made my life far more pleasant and I wasn't 'nagged to death' any more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealityBites Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I have a 20 month old male Dobe like that. He is fed twice a day and is on a good diet, but is skin and bones because he just never stops moving! If he's inside, he's round and round the couch, if hes outside he's chasing birds, flies whatever he happens to see. The only thing I have started doing with him that has made a difference is training in drive. It doesn't matter how long or how far I walk him for, it makes no difference. He is a rescue case from NSW, and I'm not sure what the people did with him before hand, but the drive training is the ONLY thing that makes him calm down and settle. AND I don't have to do it for ages either, a 5 or 10 minutes session twice a day, and he's happy to zone out inside. My other dobe who is 6 months old has been trained in drive since I got him at 8 weeks and he's about as laid back as a Bullmastiff who has walked 20 kms!! Try it and see if it makes a difference, if you do a search you'll find heaps of info about it and how to start etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonElite Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Although Rex is a CPX he get a off lead runn each day to use up some of his enenrgy On an odd occasion when I couldnt take him out, becouse I was sick or there was a hurcane and rain for aweek he would start to be annoying. I ahve always done mini tracking with him inside the house, I would put pieces of food and make him search for them, that seemed to wear him out fair bit, mainly emotionally. He loved it and if it wasnt food Id play hide and seek with OH and Rex - the dog really enjoyed and got tired eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 What do you feed him? Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamuzz Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 My vet says Coda is the most relaxed GSD she has ever met - maybe we could get together and introduce them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashanali Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 (edited) Hehehe... I know what you are going through. Jack is the same. Can take him to the beach and he runs and runs and runs... full speed, every direction. Be there for over an hour and he is still going as fast as he did on his arrival. Put him in the car, go home... and he will do laps of the yard. Jack is three and a half, you would think that by now he would be slowing down. It hasn't happened yet though. I will watch this thread with interest and see what feedback you get ETA: My dogs are not fed on routine or exercised on routine as I don't like them to bark if I am late. Jack has always had weight issues until the last couple of months. Age may help... I am waiting for him to become "old". Edited October 9, 2006 by Ashanali Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I have a pretty cruisy GSD Although I guess it is all perspective . . . the people at training and at the park seem to think he has lots of energy. Since I am used to Kelpies, who tend to be full on, Diesel seems pretty lazy in comparison. With the Kelpies, if they start to be too much, some training works really well (actually, I am off to do some in a minute with Kaos! ). Even small things such as target training, holding objects or tricks in the evening works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena GSD Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Sounds like a happy, healthy, bright,.... German Shepherd Dog to me !!!!!!!! I have found over the years that I have owned GSDs. They tend to start ''mellowing out'' at about 18 to 24 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealityBites Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Before I got those Dobes, I have had 3 GSD, the last one being the most full on! I'm afraid that that is what they are like and they don't ever really grow up!! You just have to learn how to channel the energy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Moses use to pace around at night, so I did a lot of clicker training and free shaping as it gave him a great mental work out and would tire him out. What I have found though at seminars he will try and work me, offering things. What I found seems to work in that situation is to get him to do "dead dog" stay because in his mind he is working. Also to reduce eye contact with him. I have also had him try to work me before going into an obedience comp. Crates are great too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakti Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 These are all great suggestions! I will contact each of you offlist personally but thanks so much for all the suggestions! Fotr those who wondered, he is on a BARF diet and has been since puppyhood. We also have a Leonberger, a BullMastiff cross Ridgeback and a Japanese Chin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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