help - hyper puppy

[Steely]

I know puppies have tons of energy - and realistically it takes a stay at home "pup mom" to raise them right, which I am. I take this little girl (she is 3 months) on 2-3 walks a day each totaling 2 miles each, and yet she is still rambunctious. She will sleep for about an hour after her walks and then start at it again. She sleeps through the night like a baby, but the daytime is chaos. I have purchased every toy imaginable and yet she still barks and creates havoc until I take her out again.

Is it possible that I have programmed her for too much exercise??? She is a shepherd/retriever mix, so I know she will be a handful, yet I have never had a puppy with this much UMPHFF.

Of course she is definitely part of my new exercise regime. lol

Like my other post - any ideas are appreciated

 

[Jena]

lol wow 2 or 3 walks? my puppy barely gets out with all i have here. yea id' slow down the walks to two a day. ever get that thing i forget what it's called you can put peanut butter inside it its rubber and they sit with-it for hours fighting to lick the peanut butter out. that should help. other than that i'm soo not the dog person to be asking my big dog is out of control

 

[Steely]

Yea, the kong with the peanut butter, she gets the beginning peanut butter pieces out, and then she is bored. I even tried frozen dog food in the kong, bored after she can't get what she wants out of it. Um....tenacity pup......yes...........tenacity is what it is called.

 

[Andy]

Maybe she wants you to play with her instead of taking her on a walk? Throw something for her to run after? Hide a kong in a box or under a towel for her to get out? Do you have a laser light that you can shine on the floor for her to follow?

 

[Andy]

I don't know if this is a good idea or not but how about tying a rope to a tree and letting her tug at it?

I wouldn't play tug-of-war with her but if she can play against a tree?

Our two dogs (goldendoodle is over 2X the size of diva puppy) are such good friends. They play tug-of-war alot. Goldendoodle will take a sock or something to diva puppy and "ask" her to play! They love tug-of-war.

Having diva puppy has been a great help in sweet puppy getting rid of energy. They run and chase each other. I will throw a stick for Diva puppy to get. She gets it and runs. Sweet puppy trys to get the stick. When sweetpuppy has it, they will sometimes walk with it still in both of their mouths but the game is usually over. Diva puppy does not chase sweet puppy (that is why I make sure diva puppy
gets it 1st).

Oh, you should see diva puppy begging sweet puppy for whatever she has. Just like she begs us for something, sits on back feet and waves front paws. So funny!

Maybe another puppy would help?

 

[donna723]

If you aren't crate training already, now is the time to start.

 

[Hound dog]

Crate training is bliss. No, I worded that wrong. lol Training them to it can hoover, depending on the dog and when you start. Once they're trained to it, then it's bliss.

A shepard/retriever is going to be a very active dog.

My Molly is a shepard ridgeback mix and she had loads of energy as a young dog. But then she was also a lot of fun.

She went on 2 walks a day.......each a couple of miles. She had morning playtime. This was either with Rowdy in the yard (the 2 would wrestle and chase each other), me or Nichole playing with her with her toys (wrestle and fetch and tug o war) or Nichole and I playing soccer with her using first one of those cheap bouncy balls, then a basket ball, then the hard plastic dog ball.......once she got to the point of popping basket balls within 10 mins. sister in law told me about the big plastic dog ball. I think you're supposed to fill it with water, but honestly if the thing hits you it hurts.......and I can only imagine how much more it would hurt filled with water. Then there was afternoon playtime consisting of pretty much morning playtime stuff. And evening playtime which was me tossing a toy or bone from my computer chair to keep her occupied/entertained once the kids when to bed until finally exhausted she was ready for sleep herself. Each playtime session was about an hour long at least.

This does not count Nichole random walking her........or playing with her, or sledding with her, or "hunting" with her, or going fishing with her, swimming with her.......

Gee, no wonder Molly doesn't realize she's a dog.

That high level of activity didn't stop until she was around 5 or so.......and it was still high but not quite that high. At 10/11 yrs old.........she goes out occasionally to play soccer with her ball....tops it's 20 mins, usually about 10. I had no time to walk her last year so will have to ease her back into it when the weather warms up.......so no clue how far she can walk now.

The rest of the time she's on her blanket. lol

 

[Hound dog]

The insane part is that I want another shepard mix in the worst way.

I guess you could say that was a lot of work..........but it was also a ton of fun. I miss those days with Molly. Betsy plays and such, but never the way Molly would play.

 

[Steely]

Hound dog - you nailed the exact day that I have with Tesla. We have tons of sand dunes behind my house, and we will go out there and she just romps, digs holes, buries her nose, slides down them. Hilarious. Plus the 2 or 3 walks, and the ball throwing from a computer (lol) - perhaps though I do need to play more one on one with her. Like throwing a ball, etc.

Getting another puppy is not an option right now, just not a big enough yard. And crate training is not really an option because I have neighbors who called the cops on me when my lil Chester was dying of cancer and he was barking too much. GRrrrrr. I really can't let Tesla bark too much, or I could get slapped with a "disturbing the peace ticket" I was told. Mind you Chester was inside the house at all times, and when the cop got to my door he looked at the 14 lb cocker spaniel and laughed. He said "that is why I am here?" Anyway -

 

[donna723]

If you (and your neighbors) could endure the crate training, it would really be worth it. After a while they come to like their their crate and see it as their refuge, their own little personal hide away to keep their "stuff" in and to get away from it all. I got mine used to the crates by feeding them each their breakfast in their own "rooms" and they actually looked forward to going in there. They would go in, sit down, and wait for breakfast to be served. It also helps with potty training in that they will usually not pee or poop where they sleep. You don't want to get one too big at first when they're a puppy - they shouldn't have so much room that they can pee in one end and sleep in the other. There are some crates that come with removable partitians that can be taken out as they grow. If there is any way possible you can swing it with a crate, you really should try it. Makes things sooo much easier, especially with a large dog. I couldn't survive even one day without crates for my four.

 

[DaisyFace]

Steely--

I'm a big fan of the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan. Now that man walks his dogs for HOURS every day....most of us cannot do that. What he suggests for dogs that need more exercise than their owners can provide is to train the dog to use a treadmill. Might help to tire the little pup out!

 

[Steely]

Donna any ideas on how to crate train (I have one already) without her barking?
I tried it once, and went to the store, and when I came back she was yelping at the top of her lungs and my neighbors were outside just waiting to tell me.
(I ignored them, pulled into the garage, and shut the door - they make me so mad

 

[KTMom91]

When we first got Bud, he would bark and howl while we were gone (the neighbors let us know), but if we left the TV on for him, he was fine. Sounds strange, I know, but it worked for him.

 

[Hound dog]

I crate trained in short sessions, especially for older pups.

Crate contained a raw hide, a stuffy.........sometimes a blanket, cushion, ect depending on if the dog was house trained or not........cuz if not you certainly don't want that in there. That makes it a bit more pup friendly.....and gives them something to do if they get bored other than bark or whine. When they went into the crate they got a treat, told what a good doggy they are. Of course any dog not used to the crate is going to whine/bark and carry on at first hoping you'll let them out. With most this usually only last a few minutes. But there are dogs that can carry on for hours and hours and make you want to strangle them.

At first Molly hated the crate. Of course she did. She was 5 wks old and had run free with her parents and littermates until we brought her home. I can out stubborn any dog. But my girls couldn't bare to listen to her baby cries and snuck her out and into Nichole's bed. It took me a while to catch on to this as they snuck her back into the crate when they got up in the morning. lol This did not help her crate training. It made it much worse.

So I did the small amt of time in the crate thing. Because Molly was the dog who would not stop crying barking ect. I started with 10 mins. When it was over I praised her on what a good puppy she was and rewarded with a treat. (treat in and treat out with lots of praise both ways) I did that several times for several days. Then I'd always put her in it when I cleaned as she was gifted at getting underfoot or wanting to play when I was busy. So the length of time varied. And it didn't bother her so much with someone in the house. Then I was left with only the crying and barking when we left the house. So I did that for short periods to.

I think it took about 3 wks to stop the barking and whining all together.

Now Precious........responded to none of that. She didn't bark ever but she cried non stop and it drove me nuts. I think her breeder fibbed about her having been kept in a crate there. Having grown up with birds.......and in short supply of patience one evening.....I draped her crate with a sheet. She instantly shut up. From that moment on she slept with a sheet over her crate. Betsy started out the same way but we gradually weaned her from the sheet.

Betsy is soooooooo crate trained that if someone opens the fridge and she hears a cheese wrapper? She runs into her crate.

 

[Andy]

We brought sweet puppy home when she was 4 months old. It is so hard to tell kids that puppy can not sleep with them so we compromised. The crate was put into difficult child's room. He slept on the floor for a few nights next to the crate and that helped a lot. After that, he would talk to her or even sing to her from his bed.

It helped that with it being summer, difficult child was home pretty much 24/7 for a few weeks.

I am working on getting sweet puppy to either go into her crate (which is now at the front door) or sit back and stay if there is any activity at the door. We don't get much for company so that part is hard to train, however, this includes letting diva puppy in and out of the house. We know when diva puppy is ready to come in because sweet puppy will go into her crate. She also will go in when she knows diva puppy will be let out.

When diva puppy wants in and I am closer to the door, I love to have sweet puppy sit and stay. She is so good about waiting for the door to shut before coming forward.

When the weather is warmer, I think difficult child will have to help work with me to get her to either go into the crate or sit and stay when the door bell rings. He will need to be outside ringing the doorbell while I work with her.

She usually starts barking at the sound of the doorbell on t.v. or the computer.

 

[DDD]

I'm not cut out for puppy training. We have adopted dogs who are housebroken and a bit more settled. Ace is the first one who is crate trained and he chooses to go in his crate alot of the time. We've never locked him in there...but, he had one when we got him. We did fence our yard for our first dog and all of them have gotten plenty of exercise running laps, chasing squirrels and also playing with balls and Kongs.

One thing I know about our dogs is that they quickly learned patterns. If I walked near a certain time each of them anticipated the arrival of that same time the next day. I think I would hesitate to schedule two long walks as you may be locking yourself into a lifelong pattern. on the other hand, that may be something that you prefer. It's great that the puppy sleeps all night. The one and only puppy I ever had needed an extra blanket with an old fashioned clock to help settle down at night. DDD

 

[Mamaof5]

I have husky hybrids. One is coyoty and alaskan husky, the other is red capacian wolf and siberian husky. Rambuncious, full of 2 yr old energy, tenacious, powerful and playful, always on the go...that's just the first few descriptives I can use for my boys.

One thing I do agree with is NEVER play tug of war with a dog. It is a form of power struggle for them. It is something that, behavior wise, is not a good idea to be instilling in a dog. They will win, they are tenacious about winning the tug of war. Especially certain breeds, Sheppard being one of them. Huskies are very much the same behaviorally for tug of war. They are working dogs, sledders. My siberian hybrid was a sledding dog, he is trained for mid line sled pulling (not point or end line, he's in the middle, his sister was a point dog, as in leader). Huskies have a natural, insane need to run, pull things and play. They are also diggers.

Crate training - YES YES YES YES!!! All the way YES!!! Suffer the pains of training now for the joys of being trained later. She will howl, she will bark, she will whine, she will cry for the first little bit. It's like tough love in the beginning of crate training but they will come to realize (and they always do) that this is their safety place where they can go and do go for quiet time, relaxation and sleep time. NEVER feed a dog in their crate, never leave water in their crate. The crate is not for feeding it is for sleeping and quiet time. A dog rarely deficates in their sleeping space after the first time (puppies can't hold it all night either) it happens, and it will. Also, last feeding and watering should be well before bedtime so that the prior does not happen.

Another thing I recc, is commands. Sit, stay, heel, up or down (up for up on the bed if you allow it, we do, down command when you want them off the furniture). Also teach them that the table and kitchen during meals is not their place - reduces table scrap begging. If you do allow table scraps, after the family is done and in THEIR bowl not on one of your plates. Dogs are like toddlers, they learn by leadership and example.

 

[donna723]

I have the same problem with my boy, Trace, barking when I leave. Trace is just a barker. He barks when I leave, even if I just go outside to walk one of the other dogs. It's a bit of separation anxiety with him because he had a history of severe abuse before I adopted him. He has become very attached to me and he panics when he can't see me. If he can't see or hear me, he thinks I've abandoned him. He quickly learned that the barking did him no good so now he just barks for a minute and then stops. Two things that I have heard of but haven't done yet - sounds kind of mean but it works. You can do this for any kind of bad behavior. Put a handful of pennies or small pebbles in a metal soft drink can - shake it when they are doing something they shouldn't be doing - catch them right in the act. It makes a horrible racket, it startles them, and whatever they were doing, they stop right away. Another thing you can do (and I know it sounds silly) ... get yourself a squirt gun! If he barks in his crate, squirt him right in the face while he's doing it! It gets tricky though because you don't want them to stop barking at all. I have this same dilemma with my larger mixed breed, Freebie. Freebie is a barker too, mostly at strangers. She's bigger than the Bostons but when she barks, she sounds like a HUGE dog. Freebie is the reason that I still feel safe living alone, so it's a toss-up with the barking. Although not all of us can use his methods (you'd never catch me on skates being pulled down the street by a herd of dogs!) Cesar Milan does have a lot of good suggestions.

 

[AnnieO]

Bubbles was crate trained shortly after husband first found him.

husband was TDY for four days in 2002 - when he returned, the apartment looked like it had been burglarized, no BM, no kids. The cops were there before he found the note she left.

It took him over an hour to get Bubbles to come out of the crate. And to this day, if Onyxx or I, or any female, raises our voice? He will go find a small, mostly enclosed spot to hide in. Our theory (no way to really know, of course) is that he was abused so badly by BM, while husband was not there, that he came to see the crate as his refuge. He will also run to husband if there's nowhere else to go.

A couple of years back, the battery on his electric fence collar died, and BM picked him up. Mind, this wasn't even a day she got a visit with the kids, so why was she in our neigborhood?! Anyway, when we got him back he was terrified. Would not come out from under our bed for I think 3 days - and yes, he held it that entire time. We fed him under the bed.

Now - when we know she is due, we have to watch him if Jett isn't watching for her. He will hear her honk, look through the window and turn into vicious-dog - he is the sweetest thing on earth normally - and he does NOT want Jett leaving with her. Funny thing? It doesn't seem to matter what she is driving! He knows. When she brings Jett home? No problem with the dog, except him letting Jett know how much he is loved...

 

[donna723]

Step, they have a lot more wisdom and insight than we give them credit for!

About the crate training ... it can be a real adventure at times. Gotta tell you what happened when I first got my Ragan, 8-1/2 years ago. My first Boston, Ms. Rudy, was an elderly eleven years old when I brought Ragan home as an 8 week old puppy. We never used a crate with Rudy, never needed to. She had the run of the house and almost never got in to anything, even as a puppy. Ragan was an entirely different story! Ragan was the puppyfromhades, in to everything! For the first few weeks I would come home from work and it looked like a tornado had ripped through my house! Hard to believe such a tiny little puppy could unleash so much mayhem! So I bought her a little crate. The first few days, I'd put her in the crate (with food and water since she was so young), and then go to work. The front of our house was all open, the living room, then dining room, then kitchen. I put her crate on the far end of the living room and the first night when I came home, I found the crate on it's side, food and water spilled! The second night I came home and found the crate right side up but about six feet away from where I left it, food and water spilled on the floor! The third night I came home and found the crate on it's side, all the way in the kitchen, at the opposite end of the house from where I'd left her, with a trail of water and soggy dog food through all three rooms and Ragan looked exhausted! All she wanted to do was sleep! The next day was Saturday so I put Ragan in her crate and just sat and watched her. The little booger had discovered that if she flung her tiny little 10 week old body against the side of the crate, she could turn it over on its side (with her in it!). Took her several tries but she did it! Then if she did it again, the crate would then be upside down and a few feet away from where it started! Did it again and then the crate was on it's other side! So apparently she had spent that entire day very patiently inching her crate all the way from one end of the house to the other and wore herself out in the process! Never underestimate a determined dog, even if they're only ten weeks old!