Define "energy"

borders3

Of my three BC's Kya is the one I have had to use different training methods with because she is very sound and sight sensitive. She sees and hears EVERYTHING that is going on.

Because of this I thought she was blowing me off or was too hyper to learn anything. What I discovered was when I work with her I have to keep my voice soft and not excited. I have to remain calm even when she does the most amazing thing. I also have to be ever mindful of how I praise her or give treats for a job well done. Petting with a VERY slow hand and giving treats and praise with no high squeaky voice is a must.

I started training with Kya at 10 weeks in a formal setting but didn't figure out she had sensitivities until she was about 4 months old. She is now 1 1/2 and doing so much better. I also had to find a good quality treat so she wasn't getting more amped from the the treats.

So by retraining myself in how I work Kya is a big part of helping her to calm down. These are some of the things that worked for us so I thought it couldn't hurt to pass them on. 

Kya sounds much like Ari.  I cannot get too excited and everything needs to be in a CALM fashion.  She is very sound/sight sensitive herself.  It's been very hard for me to work on this, but it is paying off.  There was a HUGE noticeable decrease in inappropriate behaviors to me once I learned to be VERY mindful of my voice and movements.   My voice is unfortunately naturally on the higher pitched side, so I do take great care to try to pitch it a bit lower and not speak in my normal fast paced tone.  And to be frank - Ari has been helpful for me to learn to relax anyway (I'm a bundle of nerves and anxiety normally - I do have diagnosed anxiety issues). 

I'm glad the training we will be doing will be one-on-one with a trainer.  I just cringe thinking of group sessions - she's not ready for that - it would be stimulation overload for her.  I do want to work up to this, but at the onset I think it would be a bad idea.  

I do have to brag we had a phenomenal training session this morning for about 30 - 45 minutes (normally I keep it around 10-15 but she was so focused I kept going).  I was so proud of her!  I introduced me walking around and actually OVER her in a down stay and she did not budge one muscle, just kept her eyes on me and waited for the release.  Also, not part of the training session, but I did drop my bagel this morning right in front of her and told her to leave it and SHE DID!  (and yes she most definitively got a yummy treat for that one).

mudpuppy

If you put some structure into your fetch game it will work your dog and satisfy him much more than mindless run and get. Make him work for each throw. Make him exhibit self-control by holding a stay until sent after the toy.

Completely agree with this.  We have a routine we follow with Chuckit.  And, its usually played after a nice session of OB work so...its a reward.

But, she has to be calm when I get the toy, she has to walk nicely with me to the ground of choice.  She sits nicely and looks at me and waits for the release before I throw it.  Then she brings it, drops it and waits nicely for the next throw.  When I see she is getting a bit tired with heavy breathing, I'll put her in a sit stay or a down stay for a few minutes...  I'll toss it one more time as a reward for staying in place; then she brings it back, I pick it up and say "enough".  She knows at that point, we are done.

Darnit...I forgot to add "enough" to the Commands thread going on right now. 

 You've definitely hit on something here - there's several breeds who have reps for being "hyper".  I see owners working with them and think, "Wow, no wonder!"  90% of the dogs out there benefit from happy, happy, happy, joy-joy handling.  To your average BC (and many Aussies/GSDs/Belgians/shelties/field bred hunters) that is just fuel on the fire!

When we are out working, it's all quiet - I'd be exhausted (well, more so), if I spent all day having to rev up my dog so get them to do basic chores.  So BCs are geared to be intense without requiring gearing up. 

brookcove

To your average BC (and many Aussies/GSDs/Belgians/shelties/field bred hunters) that is just fuel on the fire!

So true! I've found other Aussie people say that Luna is so calm, and it's not that she is naturally calmer or less drivey than other Aussies (probably the opposite according to her breeder and other seasoned Aussie folks), it's that we have always rewarded her for harnessing her energy, staying calm and being focused. When asked to explode and give something her all, she does with gusto, but I couldn't get through the day if she was in crazy mode all the time.

I also find that the more animated and up I am, the more confused she gets, it's like she saying, "crazy woman, what are you so uppity about? Just chill and let me know what I need to do!"

My BC, Tuck, was no-stop energy....his 'peak' turned into a 'plateau'...I guess that's how it is with BC's.

Taz hit his around 8 months, he's starting to calm down now. But he's a Shih Tzu-X-Pom

I guess that's how it is with BC's.

It isn't, really.  They give you just what you want.  If you want them to be "on" all the time they are all too glad to oblige.  If you teach them an "off" switch, they learn that too.

There's a few exceptions.  If you don't spend enough time with them.  As I said, they need to be needed.  Leaving a BC to his or her own devices will confuse them - are they or aren't they your dog, a part of your life.  Many dogs I get in because they are "uncontrollable" just need some structure and attention.

The other exceptions have to do with breeding.  There's many dogs, sadly, that are bred without regard to the fundamentals that make them good working dogs - and one of those is impulse control or patience.  A dog that goes-goes-goes all day long is no good to me as a shepherd.  If I have to keep a dog up for fear they will chase sheep if I'm not paying attention to them fully - I couldn't have my dog with me at all times so that I can attend to things on the spot.  That would be a big waste of time to have to return to the kennel just to catch up a sheep and check her foot when I notice her limping. 

Ari NEEDS to be physically excercised a bit just to burn off steam.  We found trying to train when her muscles are screaming to go go go just isn't pretty.  So cutting the edge off just a bit with mindless excercise THEN doing things that require her to think works out much better

also very true- animal cannot think if animal MUST RUN. This is more a characteristic of young animals though so take heart. As they get older they may remain as active but they can think without having to take the edge off first. Something parents who have kids who have been diagnosed with ADHD might want to think about before feeding them drugs.

mudpuppy I agree - though my Aunt does have a son with genuine adhd and meds/counseling have helped tremendously after they tried all other routes (since they really did not want to put him on medication!).  BUT that said, I'm shocked by how inactive lots of kids are these days (not to say all that is).  As a kid, if the weather was even partially decent (aka not a blizzard or hurricane lol) we were not allowed IN THE HOUSE.  Outside playing is where we belonged. 

I do take heart that one day Ari will mellow enough that she'll be able to focus more without having to run a marathon first :)  I do love watching her run though, creature of beauty she's just so darn happy I think she may burst one day just from the simple joy of running. What's also great is having her come to you while running and forgetting to stop running before trying to sit at attention in front of you....

 Emma was a crazy puppy, and in the last year, she's become a dog who gets up up up training, LOL. She just doesn't have the drive, naturally, to work as hard as I ask her to (because, well, she wasn't bred to work for me, she was bred to work for HERSELF!). Ena is a totally different dog, and I struggle with it every day. If I'm up up up during her training sessions, she's spinning and bouncing and pounding me with her feet and barking at the floor and the dog next to her and....

I've had to start taking only ONE dog to each obedience session. I was trying to throw the puppy in a crate and work Emma, then leave Emma on a long stay and work the puppy, but I can't do it! LOL I'm too boingy from training Emma and when I switch.... I make the puppy crazy. 

I can't remember what I was reading the other day but I was shocked when it said, "It's best if you limit your kids to six hours of TV/video games/computer per day."  Mine get 30 min on the computer per day to do whatever they choose (they usually choose games, lol).  We watch one hour of TV per week, online because we don't have TV - Extreme Home Makeover - if they get all their school done that week.

Joey, without a doubt, would be diagnosed ADHD if he went to school.  I've struggled with his attention for years.  He's one of the reasons I homeschool (PJ's sensory disorder is the other biggie).

Anyway, back on topic.  There's obviously a certain amount of physical exercise that a working type dog needs or their brains just run out their ears.  It's not as much as people often think though - the point where they need less of that and more of stuctured activity that works their genetic potential, comes much quicker than you'd think for most dogs.

I speak as someone who did own a dog who literally couldn't be worked enough by mere mortals.  It took your taxpaying dollars to make Trim a  happy, normal dog - she works for the US Air Force now, eleven years old and still running out cleaning waterfowl off tarmacs, thousands of yards, several times a day.  She's the only dog I've ever found like that and I've been privileged to work with quite a few.

 brookcove - limit to 6 HOURS per DAY?!  WTH?  We were allowed a little TV (or video game) at night as kids - and Saturday morning cartoons of course.  But the rule in the house was NO KIDS IN THE HOUSE, if the weather was fine.  We didn't have a computer growing up - and it was till later we had video games.  I read as a kid though, and to this day it's my preference.  I drove my Mom happily crazy trying to get me enough books (I was THAT kid who just read all the books on the summer reading list instead of just 1). 

I'm hoping Ari gets to the point where she can handle structered activity more.  Heck I even joked to the SO if it requires ME learning how to hunt birds and learning how to train her to be a gun dog - I would (though I never cared for hunting - nothing against it when it's done right, just personally never been interested).  I doubt it would come to that though lol.  

Last night Hotta a 6 mos. old male husky came over for a visit and they had a blast together.  Their play styles are very simliar and Hotta was a really great puppy for her to play with (he is in a multi-dog household so he learned pack rules better than Ari can with us).  I was proud of Ari that even in the middle of playing if I called her she would come over to me (though usually Hotta planned his surprise attacks then while she was focused on getting back to me lol).  They had a great romp inside, then we took it outside to the river and they both got slobbery, wet and sandy and couldn't have had a bigger smile on their faces (nor could the owners!).  Needless to say Ari was VERY well behaved last night b/c she'd calmed those muscles down screaming at her to run run run play play play - and we got a good training session in after Hotta had left and she settled down. 

Next week we have another play date scheduled with another dog, so hopefully those two will get along as well!  Formal training with a private trainer starts Tuesday night, so I'm looking forward to that as well.  I also need to get pictures on here of her - she is so AKWARD looking right now, seriously she looks like she's walking on stilts!  I love this gangly phase of hers it cracks me up.  She's also as uncoordinated and ungraceful as ever so she fits right in there with me on that!

brookcove

I speak as someone who did own a dog who literally couldn't be worked enough by mere mortals.  It took your taxpaying dollars to make Trim a  happy, normal dog - she works for the US Air Force now, eleven years old and still running out cleaning waterfowl off tarmacs, thousands of yards, several times a day.  She's the only dog I've ever found like that and I've been privileged to work with quite a few.

Forgot to add - I'm really glad Trim found her calling in life, 'tis a good thing she ended up in your hands!