# Excessive Energy, Puppy Crazies and Biting-untrainable?



## Feist23 (Jan 2, 2010)

Our 11 wk old mountain Feist puppy Ringo is getting impossible. He has so much energy that every interaction with him is more of blocking, diciplining, wrangling etc that it is exhausting. I am even starting to shy away from giving him affection because his first response is EXCITEMENT. If I try to calm him down or redirect by taking him by the collar, he snaps his head back and forth to bite my hand. Positive reinforcement is also working against us because he goes goofy. We don't do a high-pitched voice or increase our energy level and he still goes crazy. Also, using snacks or toys during training makes the training impossible because as soon as he sees said snack or toy he goes crazy. Basically, any sort of reward results in high-energy behavior. 

I am just at a loss about what to do. I am trying to teach him to sit and I feel so disillusioned. If I wait for him to sit, I can't reward it fast enough. If I try to illustrate sit by pushing his butt down, he comes after my hand. DH is getting frustrated and wants to use an empty paper towel tube to make a noise to distract him from bad behavior. I think that this is going to make he afraid rather than respectful. 

He's not all bad. If it is starting to get dark outside, he will willingly lie down on his blanket in the living room. He also kennels up at night without issue and sleeps until he asks to pee. He is a lot more calm in the evening. But....when we try to take advantage of that and do some training he revs up again. 

Any ideas for training him?


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## kailaq (Nov 12, 2009)

i have the same problem. i have a 17 week old pug/jack russell cross and his jack russell side is really getting the best of me. i find that my puppy is most attentive after i've taken him out for a walk and his energy is a bit drained. i would walk him for about 30-45 mins then play fetch with him in the backyard then bring him in and let him have some water. then i would do training with him. most of the time, i use his kibble as treats and shoot 2 birds with one stone by training him while giving him lunch/dinner. he's more likely to pay attention to me when he's a bit drained.

good luck!


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Have you tried playing "its yer choice" with him?


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

How often and how long are you walking him for?


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Feist23 said:


> He has so much energy that every interaction with him is more of blocking, diciplining, wrangling etc that it is exhausting. I am even starting to shy away from giving him affection because his first response is EXCITEMENT. If I try to calm him down or redirect by taking him by the collar, he snaps his head back and forth to bite my hand. Positive reinforcement is also working against us because he goes goofy. We don't do a high-pitched voice or increase our energy level and he still goes crazy. Also, using snacks or toys during training makes the training impossible because as soon as he sees said snack or toy he goes crazy. Basically, any sort of reward results in high-energy behavior.


You just described my Golden as a puppy. Others will give you practical advice, but you have to accept that puppies are horrible, at high speed, and for a long time. Once you get through it, you can knowledgeably commiserate with others going through the same thing--all while laughing up your sleeve at them.


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## Feist23 (Jan 2, 2010)

We live on 70 acres and have about 4 miles of hiking trails that we walk daily for about an hour. During the walk, he is going up and down hills, over and under obstacles, keeping up with the people etc. Its like a 4 mile obstacle course. In addition to that, he gets a lot of play time in the yard with running, fetch etc. 

I am not familiar with "its yer choice". Do you mean the puppy chooses what we do, or if he chooses not to "play along" that he doesn't get attention? I am not sure.

Trying the training with his kibble after a lot of exercise might help. We will give it a go and see what happens.


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## Pynzie (Jan 15, 2010)

There is a sticky post in this section about the "it's yer choice" game that you can look at. It's about impulse control. And training after exercise is a good idea. You also need to make sure he knows that biting you is not acceptible. Let us know how it goes.


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