# pup gets WAY to excited



## Mama_Papa (Nov 25, 2008)

Hi All, Ok Shiloh is now 5 months old and he's just been nuteured a week ago. He's a Shihtzu- Japanese Chin mix. Anyway, he's very smart and really well behaved for the most part. He can do about 12-14 commands and learns pretty fast too. My problem is he LOVES people. ( I know that's not the problem within itself  ) He will just go nuts when people come to the house and if he's out on the yard and the kids in the neighbourhood stop by to pet him or even adults. I do my best to tell every one even the kids not to pet him until he calms down and sits, and the kids especially, believe it or not will listen to me as they are a little bit afraid of how wild he is jumping and trying to lick them up. Not afraid as in he will hurt them but just a bit startled of how excited he is. The kids listen better to me than the adults to be honest. A lot of the times he will finally sit a sec or two once I've been telling him to sit and then once he does I tell the kids ok you can pet him. But then right away he's all excited again and going nuts. Should I just scoop him up and take him inside when he doesn't listen or keep going thru the process of making him sit or he doesn't get petted and what do you think about taking treats outside ( in case ppl stop by) and while I'm making him sit to wait to be petted I will treat him when he sits PLUS he finally gets petted? You know, extra positives to sitting and staying calm.

The sweet little thing just loves people and thinks everyone is supposed to love him back just as enthusiastically. I also think his excitement has actually increased SINCE he's been neutered to tell you the truth.


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## Lil Red Express (Jan 18, 2009)

When you find out let me know because I have the same issue with my 5 month old Aussie. I tell him NO but he is so excited he seems to zone right out and doesnt hear anything .


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## Ardy (Aug 28, 2008)

I was just going to post a question about a very similar problem with my puppy. she is 9 mo. old, a shih-tzu/bichon cross. She has been spayed about 3 mo. ago, but it has made no difference in her excitement level and the way she goes nuts around people and other dogs. I just spent almost this entire day trying to restrain her and get her to calm down while my 18 mo. old grandson was here. The puppy would not leave him alone, just kept licking, crawling all over him, and getting in his face. I put her behind a gate and made her stay in the kitchen for awhile, that didn't help, I put her outside in the yard, that didn't work, I put her on a leash and held her back so that she could get close to the baby but not touch him, that didn't help. When she is restrained in any way, or separated from people, she will not give up. she keeps barking, whining, jumping, etc. until we can't stand it anymore. She goes crazy when anyone comes to the house, and it seems like the more I restrain her the worse she gets. Then tonight my older grandson, who's 11, was here, and he went downstairs with Grandpa to play pool. I won't let the puppy go down there because she just gets into things and makes a pest of herself. I was in the same room with her, but had the gate closed so that she couldn't go to the basement, and she whined, barked, jumped at the gate the entire time they were down there. I tried playing with her to distract her, didn't work. I finally put her outside just because I was so frustrated. i couldn't leave her out there for very long because its cold and snowing, but I had to get a few min. of relief. I am so stressed out, I am ready to give her away. She has also been getting into things more and more lately, and chewing things up. We keep putting things up every day, but yet she still finds something to get into it seems. She has toys, she has rawhide bones, but still insists on chewing things she shouldn't. I got some of that bad tasting stuff, bitter apple, and sprayed it on my furniture because she was constantly chewing on anything made of wood. That did deter her from the furniture thank goodness, but she still gets into anything she can reach. 
Anyway, I feel like I have tried everything to get her over this thing of jumping all over people, and its been this way since we got her. If she got excited for a few min. when company comes, then settled down, it wouldn't be so bad, but we can have company for several hours or all day, and she never calms down, she just won't leave them alone.
I need to take some desperate measures, and i don't know where to start. If I can't solve this soon, I will have to find her another home. I am 68 yrs. old and I just am running out of energy. My husband has health problems, so this is hard on him too. We really love her, and she is pretty well behaved when its just the two of us with her, but we have kids and grandkids around quite often, and I'm getting so I dread having anyone come here to our house. We take her for walks every day, and have been working with her on walking beside us, and she has improved with that. Except when she sees other dogs and people, then its the same scenario, she goes nuts trying to get to them. Most of the time, we let her go ahead and meet the dogs but she jumps all over them and they end up growling at her. this doesn't stop her either, she doesn't care how much they give her negative vibes, like growling at her, she just keeps jumping all over them. 
My husband thinks there is something mentally wrong with her, that she gets this crazy and won't or can't settle down. I just don't know.


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## Trainer (Feb 18, 2009)

You all have puppies acting like puppies. Don't expect them to act like adult dogs. They aren't yet capable of doing that. Let them enjoy being puppies.

When they get old and near the end of their life they will have problems moving and will be in pain most of the time. They will barely raise their head to acknowledge someone who comes into the room. When they get to that point, you will long for these days to be back. It can't happen. They will never be young, exuberant, and happy again. I know this all too well from experience.

Let your puppies be puppies and don't worry about it. Relish these days you have with them.


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## Ardy (Aug 28, 2008)

Thank you. I keep wondering if this is all puppiness, but since Annie is 9 mo. old, I thought maybe she should be getting over some of this. After a day of being excited and totally wound up with the company and all, she is now crashed for the night. After everyone left, she was pooped.


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## Trainer (Feb 18, 2009)

A tired pup is a good pup. 

Depanding on the breed and the individual, a dog can be as much as 3 years old before acting mature. Other breeds can be adults at 1 year. This doesn't mean you can't moderate your pups excitement to a degree. Just don't expect them to act like adults and do enjoy their puppyness while you have it.


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## Mama_Papa (Nov 25, 2008)

Trainer said:


> You all have puppies acting like puppies. Don't expect them to act like adult dogs. They aren't yet capable of doing that. Let them enjoy being puppies.
> 
> When they get old and near the end of their life they will have problems moving and will be in pain most of the time. They will barely raise their head to acknowledge someone who comes into the room. When they get to that point, you will long for these days to be back. It can't happen. They will never be young, exuberant, and happy again. I know this all too well from experience.
> 
> Let your puppies be puppies and don't worry about it. Relish these days you have with them.


Well I didn't imply that I wanted my puppy to lie down all the time and not get up and play. I want my puppy to be a puppy and play with him and such, but don't you have to train your puppies to act properly around people and not think they can just jump all over whoever they please? 

I've seen posts on here where people give advice about teaching their dogs to sit and stay calm when someone knocks at the door etc. It's kind of the same thing that my puppy is doing only it may be inside or outside and I was just stating the way I had been dealing with it and asking if treating along with the fact that he gets to be petted when he's calmer will help get better results.

And yes, I do relish my days with him.


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## Ardy (Aug 28, 2008)

Yes, I enjoy Annie too, and we enjoy taking her for walks, playing fetch and tug with her. Still, I need to find a way to calm her down when people come, the excitement and jumping all over them goes on and on, and its very annoying. I'm happy that she likes people, and she loves the kids. I just need to find something that works to train her to greet people properly.


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## nikelodeon79 (Feb 3, 2009)

Yup, it's important to train them not to jump on people.  It just takes lots of time and patience! The positive reinforcement (treats/praise) is a great way to do it. If possible, have your pups on leashes when they meet/greet people, that way you have more control and can prevent the jumping in the first place! Make sure to praise them for NOT jumping, even if the reason they aren't jumping is because you're holding them down! LOL!

Regarding the spay/neuter behavior change issues: I am not surprised their behavior didn't change. They are young puppies and therefore are not yet sexually mature. The fact that they were in tact had no bearing on their personality/behavior pre-surgery.


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## Mama_Papa (Nov 25, 2008)

nikelodeon79 said:


> Yup, it's important to train them not to jump on people.  It just takes lots of time and patience! The positive reinforcement (treats/praise) is a great way to do it. If possible, have your pups on leashes when they meet/greet people, that way you have more control and can prevent the jumping in the first place! Make sure to praise them for NOT jumping, even if the reason they aren't jumping is because you're holding them down! LOL!
> 
> Regarding the spay/neuter behavior change issues: I am not surprised their behavior didn't change. They are young puppies and therefore are not yet sexually mature. The fact that they were in tact had no bearing on their personality/behavior pre-surgery.


Thanks for your reply


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## cjac&mac (Feb 12, 2007)

Being overly exited is not a natural behavior for dogs. Yes technically your dog is still a puppy, but physically not for much longer. By the time he is 8-10 months old he will be considered an adult dog. By the time he is 3 years old, he will finally reach social maturity. 

An overly exited dog in any situation, is an example of a dog who is not meeting his physical and mental requirements. Therefor the dog has to release pent up energy the only way he is able, ie jumping up on people. The same reaction when you come home from work and the dog appears "excited to see you" is a result of not enough exercise. We as people take it as affection, when really it means your dog has been bored all day.

When it comes to him not jumping up, obviously wearing him out first thing in the morning is naturally going to help. However, he has also been conditioned to this behavior by kids and adults accepting it with open arms. The best thing you could do to help curb this unwanted behavior, is exercise him in the morning, and when people come near have him go into a sit. When he is calm then allow people to approach him. If he starts to become overly excited again then put him back in a sit until he is calm. Repeat as necessary. 

Although you can't control other people you can control your dog. It may be tedious at first, but once he gets it, your golden.


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## bondra76 (Feb 8, 2009)

Use crate training if you haven't already - I think it helps somewhat with this. Also last time I went into the vet he gave me a packet on puppy frenzy. Here's the excerpt (my timeout for my dog is usually in the crate with a great toy btw):

A puppy frenzy is when your dog's brain goes into complete overload and, well, the puppy goes crazy! Look for the following symptoms:
- The puppy starts running circles at warp speed
- Everything in your puppy's path is bound to be destroyed, jumped on, chewed on, etc..like a tornado in your house
- The puppy nips at us bits our hands and faces, rips our clothes, steals things that don't belong to him, etc...

WHEN YOUR DOG IS HAVING A PUPPY FRENZY, YOU SHOULD NOT INTERACT WITH THE DOG. JUST DO YOUR BEST TO GIVE YOUR DOG A *POSITIVE TIMEOUT* IN A MANAGED AREA. Give him a yummy Kong or other high value bones/toys to chew on. The frenzy will usually last for 20 minutes. 

NOTE: When a dog is in puppy frenzy mode training commands don't register - so just give the dog a time out.


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## nikelodeon79 (Feb 3, 2009)

Umm... isn't it okay to let the puppy be a puppy sometimes? My pup gets the zoomies and I just let her run... then again she's generally not destructive, just runs about at a million miles per hour. LOL.


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## Mama_Papa (Nov 25, 2008)

ok, thanks for the advice. Actually cjac&mac, that makes sense also when I think about it because the vet told me to limit his activity until he heals from the neutering so I haven't been taking him for excerise and playing as much (although I still played with him to some degree) so that's why I guess he seems a little more hyper the last week. He does get mental stimulation however.

And Bondra, thanks also. Yes, he is crate trained and I will use the crate as a time out when he doesn't listen and he knows not to bark and carry on or he won't get out as soon. But just like Nikelodeon79, when my pup goes in a 'fenzy' I let him play it out as long as its only with his toys or simply running and not crashing into things. If he starts pulling on our pants or rough housing with our feet he gets a timeout.

Thanks again


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## cjac&mac (Feb 12, 2007)

Mama_Papa said:


> And Bondra, thanks also. Yes, he is crate trained and I will use the crate as a time out when he doesn't listen and he knows not to bark and carry on or he won't get out as soon. But just like Nikelodeon79, when my pup goes in a 'fenzy' I let him play it out as long as its only with his toys or simply running and not crashing into things. If he starts pulling on our pants or rough housing with our feet he gets a timeout.
> 
> Thanks again


Just remember that if you are using the crate as a "safety den" then it should not be used as a zone for punishing or timeouts for bad behavior. It should always remain the safety zone, or the den, where he feels safe, and he is naturally going to be calm.


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## Trainer (Feb 18, 2009)

I think its perfectly OK to use the crate for timeouts. 2 minutes in the crate doesn't cause the dog to hate the crate or feel unsafe and secure in it. The dogs/puppies understand the difference between time out and other uses for the crate. I've never had a problem with it.


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## cjac&mac (Feb 12, 2007)

Trainer said:


> I think its perfectly OK to use the crate for timeouts. 2 minutes in the crate doesn't cause the dog to hate the crate or feel unsafe and secure in it. The dogs/puppies understand the difference between time out and other uses for the crate. I've never had a problem with it.


I'm just wondering how long you've been training for?


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## Trainer (Feb 18, 2009)

cjac&mac said:


> I'm just wondering how long you've been training for?


16 years. You?


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## Lolas_Dad (Apr 28, 2008)

Just be glad that your puppy is good with people and not aggressive with them. Lola is kind of like your pup. She gets excited when my father comes over. She barely can contain her excitement to let him in.


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## cjac&mac (Feb 12, 2007)

Trainer said:


> 16 years. You?


I was just curious. I've been reading some of your posts, and it seems that your training methods are more for the humans. You tend to comfort people in their training errors and encourage them to keep trying. As opposed to helping them and their dogs specifically. Everyone has their own methods, that's why there is so many trainers out there.


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## Trainer (Feb 18, 2009)

Yes, I hope my training methods are more for the owners than the dogs. "Comforting" and "encouraging" are not words people use very often to describe me.  I'm not sure what your last statement means. Wouldn't it be great if every trainer used the same best training method and send the old, outdated, archaic methods out the door?


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