Dog Community

what to do with high energy dog???

Posted : 1/21/2007 5:25:41 PM

Bugsy is approaching 18 mos now and is still so very, very high energy. This morning I took him for a 5 mile walk with 4 liters of water in his backpack, alongside his best playmate for the added diversion (she's awful on leash so he had to struggle to 'heel' the whole time). This was after he had been up for nearly four hours - 2.5 - 3 of which he was outside chasing squirrels, clearing crows, stalking small birds, removing a ton of wood from the firepit, hunting rabbit poo, etc. When we got back I gave him a treat in a kong thinking that he would settle down with it and fall asleep. No way. He danced and pranced with it up and down the hallway and the stairs. Finished it. Wanted out again (its sleet & rain here). Back in again. Brought me his kong (wants another treat) DH comes home he runs to see him - gets toy so DH will play with him.
This continues (he's been up since 6 am) at 5:15pm he is running around with his Cuz, placing it on my lap nudging my arm squeaking incessantly etc.
He has rested a total of about 30 minutes since he got up and shows no sign of being tired.
We walk him daily, do training for his mind, play fetch (also tough as we make him wait until it lands and then send him), he gets his Cuz for a while each day.
He is indefatigable.
Can you rent your dog out? Seriously what can we do to get him to chill out - its like having a 95lb jack russell! (no offense to JR owners!)
I'm worried that loading him up and walking him more and more is just enhancing his endurance and strength ( not a bad thing but we can't walk him 5 miles a day)

Help!

Chuffy

Posted : 1/21/2007 5:57:30 PM

It sounds like he gets plenty of exercise already so maybe you could up the ante with the play and training? If he likes fetch, could you stretch that to scent and retrieve (where he has to use his nose to find the object not just run after it). What kind of training do you do? I've found ten minutes of clicker training is great for tiring a dog out. They really have to *think* and problem solve and you can teach them more and more complex behaviours to keep stretching them. Do you go to any classes? Could you go to more advanced ones? How about booking him in for the odd day at day care?

kpwlee

Posted : 1/21/2007 6:05:16 PM

All great ideas - he enjoys learning and learns pretty fast. We do a version of scent & retrieve - we call it find it. Where we make him stay and we walk off and hide something and he then is released to 'find it'. We do some shaping (the term I've heard around here) and all of that helps. I will have to get a clicker and learn some new 'tricks' myself!
We've done obedience and I would love to do agility with him but at the moment don't have the time for the commitment. For now he will have to continue to leap over the couch when the mood strikes [

]
He has a few friends that he plays with at least once a week but may be trying a day care will be good. We are going to have to board him next September (yes I am already worried) and might have to earlier so that might help me and him feel better about being kenneled!
One of the reasons I worry about it is because of his energy needs.
Thank you again for your input
(where in the UK are you? I lived near Manchester for 7 yrs.)

Chuffy

Posted : 1/21/2007 6:10:05 PM

Nowhere near Mancester sorry. West Mids, very rural.

mrv

Posted : 1/21/2007 6:48:42 PM

Make him use his mind....Try clicker training and 100 things to do with a box (you can find lists of ideas via a search). Teach every trick you can think of. When the weather is ok and the ground not soggy (and your ground is safe no lawn chemicals, farm run off, insects etc) throw kibble in the backyard for a partial or full meal. He will have to use his nose to find his dinner. Start teaching him vocabulary names for people, toys, etc. Tracking is great and you may find some folks down in your area who are into that pursuit. You could try carting as well.

kpwlee

Posted : 1/21/2007 7:15:09 PM

thanks again - very good ideas
he does a version of find the kibble each morning as he hunts down all the rabbit droppings he caqn find

brookcove

Posted : 1/21/2007 7:33:51 PM

I've started serious training with Zhi and she is zonked by the end of the day! Seriously, just do several sessions of shaping and your dog will be flat out tired - it's brainwork that wears them out faster than anything.

There's a lady on my flyball team with a dog that does freestyle - that dog has more tricks than you can shake a stick at. I bet SHE could shake a stick at them, on command! [

] I never really thought of teaching my dog something as simple as "Look left" and "Look right" until this weekend but Zhi and I worked on it last night while I was watching TV and now she does "Right" (the way she naturally turns).

You know all the stuff Skidboot does (the heeler that was on Pet Stars and everything else for a while)? That's not really that hard to teach with a clicker. And the reason Skidboot's owner did all that was the same as you are saying - Skidboot was driving his owners nuts until he (his "dad") started doing all the tricks with him.

kpwlee

Posted : 1/21/2007 7:44:53 PM

Thanks Becca - i will have to find the time to better educate myself in order to better educate him [

]

BTW he has finally crashed out about 10 minutes ago - we will now have to wake him about 10 for his last pee and he will sleep (or at least calmly wait in his crate) until we wake him about 6.
Basically he has been on the go for 13.5 hours today - it could be worse he could be up all night [

]

TinaK

Posted : 1/21/2007 9:14:27 PM

Laser pen! Tire him up.

BEVOLASVEGAS

Posted : 1/21/2007 11:48:13 PM

Welcome to the club of high energy dogs, I feel your pain. Currently, I have 2 high energy dogs and 5 others who are very managable. Bevo & Brinxx are both always on the move. This morning, we went for a trot around our property (150 acres) with me on the four wheeler & them running alongside. Then I had some calves that needed to be gathered so Bevo & Brinxx gathered them from the back of the pasture & brought them up front. Later, they herded Brinxx's sheep for about an hour. We played frisbee for about 45 minutes. Then my best friend came over with her 2 dogs, so it was playtime. After playing for another hour to hour & a half, they came inside to their kongs. After a good chew, we did about 15 minutes of shaping each. Our day began at 6:00 a.m. Brinxx fell asleep at :30 p.m. Bevo is still squeeking his squeeky toy. If there is a secret to "wearing them out" I would love to know what it is!

lisa baker

Posted : 1/22/2007 12:03:08 AM

At 18 months this is still prime training time. I'd really try to make the time for Agility, Flyball, Herding class, something. A tired dog is a well behaved dog. You have to exercise both the mind & body, this not only helps with obedience it helps build trust & confidence. Sounds like he's simply bored & boredom is the easiest thing to fix.

Elizabeth

Posted : 1/22/2007 12:29:10 AM

working the mind is always the best way to tire a dog out,,but if your looking for some physical activity I strongly suggest bike riding!!! Whether permitting I do a 30 minute bike ride every day with my BC/husky mix and it does wonders for her, often if she's really hyper I'll let her pull me (she wears a harness) for a while to tire her out and work her muscles. You can turn it into a great training session too, "leave it" is important when she sees a squirel she wants to chase, and I've been working on different sounds depending on which way I'm going to turn.

lisa baker

Posted : 1/22/2007 12:50:27 AM

barngirl, we have one of those bike attachments for dogs. It's great fun I agree, we use ours around a huge local park. We are fortunate to have a lot of winding paths, hills & off-road sections to our park too. The only thing I caution is riding through neighborhoods & being careful of stray dogs coming out of nowhere. I posted about this Springer bike attachment on another board & had several people tell me horrible stories of incidents like that. I just thought I would caution. That aside it's the best exercise as it's not too hard on the body, just on the pads if you don't watch out. *two thumbs up*

gayle

Posted : 1/22/2007 1:54:27 AM

berserker used to be a little psycho puppy, when he would eventually wear me out enough for me to sit down he would come up and gnaw on my arm. he grew out of that quickly thank dog, but he didn't start to settle until after 2 years, and now (he'll be 4 in april) he is only "berserker" 10% of the day, the rest he is pretty docile. so your guy might grow put of the extreme energy given some time, to me 18 mos. is still a pup. if not you will definitly be getting plenty of exercise anyway [8D]

kpwlee

Posted : 1/22/2007 8:36:35 AM

Poor Bugsy only as an acre to sort out!

Some seem to be suggesting we don't do mental training with him- if you read my op you will see that we do mental training daily. We will try and add more and increase complexity but as of yet - no physical or mental training has 'taxed' him.

As for bike riding love to try it but goodness gracious with his power and speed it appears to be one huge nasty accident waiting to happen. All I'd need is a cat, deer, squirrel etc. to cross our path - one tug and down I'd go