# A dog too hyper to train?



## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

Training is not going well for me and my huge Lab/GSD mix, Bambi. I've had her for almost two years now and have been trying various training techniques and methods of gaining her attention, but it just seems impossible. I know she's not stupid; in fact, she's ridiculously smart. But her attention span is about two seconds, and I can't keep her focus at all.

...And I know the reason. She's such an active, high-maintenance dog who needs a minimum exercise time every day of one or two hours and she doesn't ever get it because we have no place to let her run, and walks nowadays are impossible. We can't trust her out in the yard loose because if she becomes distracted for one moment... by a jogger, a dog walker, a cat, a squirrel, etc... then she's gone and will NOT come when you call. There are no dog parks in our area and the only place she could exercise was with my step father's lab mix, and he moved.

The only way we can exercise her in our yard is to tie her out on the cable and play fetch, and it doesn't have a very long reach - not to mention the fact that she could very easily tangle herself up. And like I said, walking is impossible. She's very impulsive and goes absolutely NUTS when she sees another dog because as a puppy her previous owners did not socialize her well. Quite frankly we're lost. Training is impossible unless we give her exercise... and exercise is impossible because we can't trust her loose and don't have a fenced in yard or dog park, and she's the type of dog that *needs* to run.

I'd just like to know what you do to exercise your hyper dogs... perhaps give me ideas to stimulate her mind and body and help get us on the road to success with training.

EDIT: In case you're wondering, she's about two-years old...


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

It sounds like she might need some proper recall training, so she can go off leash safely. An e collar might be a good idea, as well as lessons on how to use it properly, so she can go off to the dog park or whichever and not take off on you. 

What is she eating? I would go to a chemical/dye free food, so it's not part of the problem or adding to it. A raw diet might be perfect, you can give her big bones to keep her busy and occupied. 

My hyper dogs did grow out of it, but I did a lot of attention work with them, as well as not putting up with the 'sillies' they sometimes got. Being able to do things like agility and field work helped a lot too, something about them having to run and get tired out that worked well.

Tracking might be an option too, it is hard mentally and she might like that game, which would be on leash.

Lana


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

First, I have a question.... do you have nowhere to take her on long leashed walks? I live on 3 acres, with 90 acres of farmland behind us, so there is no sidewalks or typical places to walk. I drive up the road about 3-5 minutes away to a neighborhood with sidewalks, park my car, and walk Jackson for 30mins-1 hour about 5 days a week.

Even though we have all the land that we do, I don't really let Jackson off leash, or haven't in a while anyways. He was a lot more trustworthy as a pup and now, like you say, if he sees something... he's off. I wanna work on recall more before allowing more off leash time.

So I went out and bought a 50 foot training nylon leash (got it on eBay for around $15). It's GREAT for training recall; it also gives him enough room to run around a bit. We also play fetch with the 50 foot leash on... sometimes I just let it drag when he's fetching or playing frisbee so if he decides to run off, I can catch it easily. For letting him go out to the bathroom, I bought a 20 foot retractable stake in the ground, and then I clip the 50 foot leash onto that, so technically he has 70 feet to roam. As much as I'd love a fence, it's not afforable right now, and honestly he gets more room (70 feet) than most people I know that have fences. Sometimes the leash can be a pain, with getting tangled, etc, but generally speaking, it's not too much of a problem. 

You're exactly right, the reason she's so hyper is lack of exercise. I understand you said you have nowhere for her to run free, but you CAN make up for that with an hour walk per day, or more would be even better. Is there anyway you could get some rollerblades, or ride a bike with her, and drain all that energy? As for leash training, there's a lot of YouTube vids and tuturiols on leash walking. First, you want to make it a fun and positive thing to follow you. I've read lots of people having GREAT success with using a Premier Easy Walk or Gentle Leader harness... it re-directs them towards you to prevent pulling. The first day I used an Easy Walk, he stopped all pulling. I highly recommend these.


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## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

She definitely needs recall training, but again I'm brought back to the focus thing again... she's so hyper and ornery that training her to come when called is nearly as hard as everything else. I've tried the "bell" technique, where you start positive association by giving a treat every time you ding a bell... I thought that maybe then she'd come whenever the bell was dinged. Unfortunately however I either did something wrong or it's just not powerful enough because it worked just about as well as screaming her name a hundred times. To be honest though, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with using an e collar...

At the moment I'm feeding her Taste of the Wild dry food because it is grain-free. I considered raw, but I don't think it's an option at the moment due to cost issues... because no matter what people say about it being less expensive, it's still quite a hefty amount to be dishing out every week.

We did have a very hyper dog in Tori, our GSD/Aussie mix, but she's eleven years old now and grew out of it as well. Unfortunately she was seven or eight before she started to slow down and I'm just not willing to wait that long with Bambi.  That'll be quite a few years yet, and I have to say that Bambi is a LOT worse than Tori ever was, and that in and of itself is quite a feat.

And about tracking... can you give me some more info or pointers on it? That may be a very good option for her, considering it'll also give her mind something to do in the meanwhile.

Thanks! (Oh, I also wanted to ask for anyone's opinion on trolley systems; it'd be better than just tying her in the yard to play fetch and she'd have a large area to run. Has anyone had any success with this?)


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Bambi sounds like my dog. If you give Rusty an inch, he'll take the whole damned zip code. She just needs a really good reason to pay attention, and it's time to go bootcamp on her. This doesn't have to be harsh or physical, but it has to be 24/7. She has to do something for you before she gets anything--even eye contact. Make her sit or lie down while you prepare her food. Make her sit and wait for permission to enter or leave a room. When you come in the door, make her sit or lie down until you hang your coat and invite her to get her pets. Make it stick!

This requires absolute consistency--you have to become her new tattoo--but you'll be surprised at how quickly she gets with the new program.


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## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

@ Jackson's Mom: We do have a place to walk her, unfortunately however that's where everyone else in town walks their dogs and that's just too hazardous at the moment to risk. She's EXTREMELY impulsive and the last time I took her I didn't know if her collar would hold, she was pulling and screaming so much. Plus the fact that she's impossible to walk without having your arm pulled out of its socket; I've been trying to teach her not to pull but it's just not sticking. I'll stop and walk the other way and even stop and make her look at me for a minimum of five seconds before continuing and she's just *not* getting it. That's where the exercise thing comes into play; I figure that if she's exercised enough before a walking training session she won't be so hard to deal with.

The long leash is a really good idea! For some silly reason I didn't think of it, and actually that may be a really good way to teach recall. We do have a retractable leash but I don't trust her on it. We only use it for our older, slow-moving dog who's very easy to manage on it (though she didn't used to be!). I'll have to grab one next time I head to the pet store, thanks for the suggestion!

I've been considering taking her out on a bike... I just need to find one of those great springs to keep her from pulling me down; of course to do that I'll have to find a quieter place to walk. I think that even with the spring she'll be able to pull me over when another dog walker comes by, so I'd rather like to avoid that. I've also been using a head collar as an aid to stop pulling, but I'll check out those other harnesses you've mentioned. None of those seemed to work, like the so-called "anti-pull" harness we got from Walmart (actually that made her pull more), but you never know till you try! : D

@ Marsh Muppet: I've actually been trying that sort of technique on her; whenever I take her outside, I make her sit while I put the leash and collar on, then I make her sit while I open the door to let her out. Problem is, my dad is NOT consistent and doesn't do this at all so he's undoing everything that I've been teaching and I know there's no use trying to get him to use this method because... well, he just won't. I guess that's another road block I've hit when trying to train her because he's consistently undoing my consistent work. I guess it's time to move out, huh?


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Many of us have had to deal with one or more family members who don't care about consistency. Or training. Or blood pressure spikes in those of us who do care.

Just keep at it. It takes longer, but it still works. Bambi will not be as obedient with your dad as with you, but she will be better than she is now. And when your dad complains that she drags him all over the place on walks, just say: "I can't imagine why that is; she's as good as gold for me".


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## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

I have to say... even though Bambi is a booger of a dog and doesn't always listen to what I say, she does listen to me more than she listens to my dad. I can get her to stop rough housing with our older dog with a single word while my dad has to chase her around and it still doesn't stop her. I guess I should stop and consider all of the good things that's come of training instead of worrying about the bad all the time... 

I'll do my best to put my impatience aside and get this working, because there's almost nothing in my life that I want more than to have a good, obedient dog that I can take out on walks without worrying about her making me look like an idiot when she sees another dog.


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

What about attending training classes with her? I would suggest privates at first to gain control and then group classes.


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## qingcong (Oct 26, 2009)

When we first got our dog, he was about as crazy as it got. It was to the point that he drove you crazy sometimes. He basically had two speeds, 0 and 100mph. Impulse control was non-existent. Very rarely did he do something at normal speed. His behavior around other people was equally nuts and very embarassing to me as a first time owner.

Well, today I get compliments on how well behaved he is. It was a gradual process, but every passing week we saw a small change in his overall behavior. The key was to make his access to resources dependent on calm behavior. 

Want to eat? Sit and approach the food slowly. 
Want to greet someone? Sit and if you jump on them, then the person goes away. 
Want to sniff something? Look at me first.
Want to walk? Sit while I put the leash on.
Want to be pet? Sit and if you nuzzle my hand then I stop petting.
Want to go outside? Look at me first. If you try to bolt then the door closes.
Lunge at another dog? You will end up going the other direction.

Every part of your dog's life, you have control over how she gets it. The more she defers to you, the more control you have and the calmer her behavior becomes. It won't happen overnight, but if you're consistent and patient, you should see incremental improvements.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

http://www.ehow.com/about_5272119_stepbystep-tracking-dog-training.html

That's more or less how I have done it, hoping to do a test with my youngest if there's ever one nearby and we can get into it. I didn't have a friend start the track, I just tie the dog and go place the item, go back and have them track. Gradually working on aging it and making it harder, and we PARTY when we find the last item each time. 

Another thing that works quite well to tire them out is biking, just started that here and I have a very happy girl when she gets to go biking around the neighborhood. But, she is good on leash, has vocal commands she responds to and will come when called...

I agree with qingcong's post, you can do all the running in the world but you still have to teach manners and self control. I can do all I can to tire these guys out and usually it takes less than a half hour for them to be ready for more

Lana


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## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

Note: if you do the long line walking...be careful. I've been on the receiving end of a serious jolt from a large dog who worked up some serious momentum over 80' before hitting the end of her 50' line and putting us both on the ground.

A padded harness and slowdown cue for her and looping a U in the lead around the waist for me helped keep us both from injury.


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## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

@ LynnI: The only decent dog trainer I know of around this area only does basic obedience, and I think it's group classes. I'll check up with her to see if I can get private lessons, though. If it works, it'll be worth the money!

@ qingcong: While I've tried some of those methods, I've never actually implemented them all and often let her get away with anything. Explaining it that way, that she gets what she wants if she's calm, really helps. For me the biggest problem with her is her impulsiveness with other dogs... it's a little hard to implement that on a walk when another dog is coming in the opposite direction, but maybe I should start small at first.

@ Bordermom: Thanks for the link! I'll read that and hopefully start utilizing it soon... the more variety and exercise she has, I think the better it'll be for her. Biking too is a good idea... though I'm admittedly a little nervous. She's doing a little better on the leash than she used to, but I'm still afraid that she might get it in her head that it might be a good idea to go running over the bank, lmao. Still, though, it sounds like a really good exercise.

...Last year we took Bambi out to my mom's place to play with her husband's lab. They ran and ran and ran for about two hours and Bambi was STILL hyper and rambunctious when we got home. I hope that I can get both the manners work and exercise to work with one another.

@ Shaina: Good tip! I can imagine that has to hurt quite a lot, and Bambi could really do some serious damage if she got to the end in one of her big spurts. I'll keep that in mind, thanks!


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## Tankstar (Dec 30, 2006)

Sounds like you need a tranier IMO.

This dog is starved for excersise, and manners. she is BORED so acting out offcourse.

Id get a very small leash 1 foot, a good collar and walk her on that.

Do you have a tredmill? you can try and condition her on that.
But nothing much is going to change if she isnt exposed to all her problems and worked on eventually in those situations.


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## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

I'm definitely with you there... It's just a matter of finding a good trainer. We live in a very rural area and dog trainers aren't too abundant here unfortunately... nor are any of the other pet amenities, like dog parks (which would be helpful in Bambi's case).

I agree, Bambi is extremely bored which is aggravating the whole manner training situation. Unfortunately we don't have a treadmill, and I've tried walking her on a one-foot long leash... it didn't turn out well because she pulls more on it than she does on a six-foot-long leash. What I have been doing however is stopping and turning around in the opposite direction whenever Bambi starts to pull on a walk.

One thing I am having trouble with at the moment however is her acting like a nut when another dog comes and I'm not sure how to practice that. It's a little difficult when another dog is coming in the other direction on a walk and you have no where to go - you can't go back the way you came because she'll just be distracted by the other dog following behind and you can't go forward because that's going right to the problem. I'm not quite sure what to do in those circumstances...


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## snwflk (Apr 13, 2010)

You do nothing... You cant have control over distractions UNTIL you have commands and focus on you 100%- If someone gives you a look, just tell them you are in training.. Thats all you have to say. You need to get a lil tougher with her doing the commands. INSIDE where they are NO distractions and gradually move outside.. You cannot complete with outside until she is focused on you inside.. 

Like everyone already said.. Start small- VERY SMALL STEPS and structured walks, Play fetch in the yard.. BURN that energy.. A tired dog will listen MUCH better then a dog who has so much energy to burn.. 

It comes down to CONSISTANCY and PRACTICE.... oh and a lil bit of patience or maybe a WHOLE lot of patience..


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## Eyssa (Jul 28, 2008)

Haha, a big dose of patience would probably help. 

I just get so panicky and worked up whenever she goes into that mode... I guess it's partly about how I feel I look stupid holding a dog that's trying to yank my arm off to get to another dog. Do you think it would be a good idea to invite a friend over with their dog to practice in the yard, maybe to get her to the point where she can actually take walks?

...Unfortunately Bambi is also this way in the house when it comes to the cats. As soon as the cats come out of their "hideaway" (they hide all day upstairs because they're petrified of her), she's suddenly in chase mode, knocking you out of the way if you happen to be standing in her path. I've made a little bit of headway with her, but I can't seem to gauge her focus.


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