Keeping a reactive dog occupied

[reploidphoenix]

I have a 10 month old unneutered boy. Hes reactive, but no longer fearful like he was a couple months ago. 

I have a trainer working on him with tellington t-touch, he has a thunder shirt, and I've gotten him the cbd edibles treats. I'll probably be getting a fermone defuser too.

My question is, where do I take him and how do I keep him occupied when hes reactive? If he doesnt like new experiences, how do I keep him happy? Right now he gets into everything and is constantly  up in my grill when I'm trying to do something. Hes extremely rough and plows through everything in the house(which I assume is anxiety/tension related). 

I try to exercise him, but everything has been ice the past week(exercise hasnt really been a cure anyway).

Doing trick work doesnt tire him out as he gets frustrated and wiggly easily.

Any suggestions to really work his mind? Hes getting to the point I can only take so much and then hes gotta go in his crate because hes into EVERYTHING. I never had this problem with my female.

[GentleLake]

You might find this thread helpful.

 

[reploidphoenix]

I mean I was looking for something other then trick training to keep him occupied.  Something possibly indoors because of the ice we have everywhere. I would take him to public places, but he is reactive and I dont want to freak him out.

[D'Elle]

Make your training sessions shorter and give more treats, and do many short training sessions throughout the day if you can. Other than that, if I had a dog who was plowing through the house I would put the dog into a crate until he settled down. Then let him out and if he starts going manic again, back into the crate he goes. Do it wil a totally neutral attitude, and never with a punishing one. He needs to learn an "off switch"; to settle down and be calm when that is needed. It is up to you to train this, since he is unlikely to learn it on his own. You don't define "reactive", so I cannot be sure what you mean by that and therefore cannot address that issue.

[reploidphoenix]

2 hours ago, D'Elle said:

Make your training sessions shorter and give more treats, and do many short training sessions throughout the day if you can. Other than that, if I had a dog who was plowing through the house I would put the dog into a crate until he settled down. Then let him out and if he starts going manic again, back into the crate he goes. Do it wil a totally neutral attitude, and never with a punishing one. He needs to learn an "off switch"; to settle down and be calm when that is needed. It is up to you to train this, since he is unlikely to learn it on his own. You don't define "reactive", so I cannot be sure what you mean by that and therefore cannot address that issue.

By reactive, he just barks at random noises, strangers, dogs. Hes on high alert all the time.

Honestly, I dont think I will be able to  teach an off switch. The things I mentioned above to calm him have helped, but aren't a fix all. For example: at night he cant settle, even when exhausted. He will do paces around the house in circles around the couch and through the kitchen, then back again. Only thing at night that helps him settle is putting him in his crate.

When hes being rough and crazy, putting him in his crate makes him 100x worse.

Some background: hes highly inbred which I think started this issues..so I think it's more of a maintenance then a fixer

[jami74]

Does chewing help?

Our dog settles when having a good chew and I've just realised that he'll turn to chewing and trying to tear things apart when he's in a highly aroused state. To start with I saw it as him being 'naughty' when he started grabbing at his blanket in the car (usually through busier traffic) but I think he's actually trying to self-soothe. He has rubber chew toys and sometimes if he's finding it hard to settle I'll smear peanut butter on one, some of them have holes or bobbles so they take a bit of working at. He also has some soft toys which he'll shake and throw and try to rip apart (obviously supervised).

[GentleLake]

Have you talked to your vet about ant-anxiety meds for him? I don't believe meds are a panacea for everything or that they should replace training and behavior modification, but for some dogs they're a godsend and can help them live more normal lives and also be more receptive to whatever behavior modification you do.

Hoping you can help him find some peace.

[D'Elle]

15 hours ago, reploidphoenix said:

Honestly, I dont think I will be able to  teach an off switch

If this is your attitude, then you probably won't be successful because this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You need to believe in your dog. You have not tried long enough to train this dog to settle down because with some dogs it takes longer than a few months.  Go forward, be optimistic, believe in your dog, and be one hundred percent consistent and your dog will learn.  The combination of kind and consistent training and maturity will do the job but if you do not train, he is not likely to learn it by himself.

15 hours ago, reploidphoenix said:

When hes being rough and crazy, putting him in his crate makes him 100x worse

You don't go into detail as to what you mean by this. If you mean he makes noise and tries to get out of the crate, just ignore him. Give him something yummy like a stuffed Kong and leave him there. Eventually he will have to settle down; he cannot keep that up forever.  I also think Gentle Lake's suggestion of some meds might be worth looking into for this dog, although they need to be used in conjunction with the training. Even dogs who are difficult and inbred can be trained and managed. They are more work, but it can be done in the vast majority of cases. You just have to be willing to do the work. I understand how difficult this is; you need to decide if the dog is worth it to you or not and if so, don't give up on him. Best of luck!

[GentleLake]

21 minutes ago, D'Elle said:

...[meds] need to be used in conjunction with the training....

Most definitely. I mentioned it but probably didn't say it directly enough. The meds are rarely a cure, but an aid to help the dog calm enough so that he can access his thinking brain and be receptive to training and behavior modification.

[reploidphoenix]

By being worse I mean if hes unsettled and rough, putting him in his crate makes him all that much worse when I let him back out. It's like all the energy of being anxious builds up. He does cry in his crate if hes not tired. If I'm giving attention to my other dog he screams this piercing scream.

The trainer I'm working with thinks the rowdy/roughness is his way of releasing the anxiety. Even in play he acts frantic all the time where he runs into walls and doesnt watch where hes going. If a person has anxiety they move, fidget, clean. It's a way of releasing that tension. I'm sure dogs are similar.  I'll try to get some videos of his craziness today and what I mean by being rough

[GentleLake]

9 minutes ago, reploidphoenix said:

The trainer I'm working with thinks the rowdy/roughness is his way of releasing the anxiety.

Then it sounds to me like it would be a great benefit to calm the anxiety before it builds to the point that he needs to release it.

And that's where meds -- or at least some sort of calming supplement; there are a number of them -- could be helpful.

[reploidphoenix]

Heres a video. I let my girl out to potty and he thought he were playing instead, so he got upset. That bark halfway he thought he heard something. That happens randomly all day even in the house

 

[ShellyF]

I hear you re the ice! We regularly have that. 

I set up hunt the treat in the house. I hide lots of Bits of kibble and off he goes. 

I also teach him the name of toys. I put a treat on the toy I want him to find and then say ‘find ******’ 

When he finds the treat he finds the toy and I praise him. Eventually he finds the toy by name without the treat. Then I hide that toy without a treat and send him to find it. Once he gets the hang of it you can have several named toys. You can alternative what he has to find to really get his brain working. 

We also have soft footballs in the house and play herd the ball. We taught him to lie down and watch and nudge and then grip. 

Enjoy

[reploidphoenix]

6 minutes ago, ShellyF said:

I hear you re the ice! We regularly have that. 

I set up hunt the treat in the house. I hide lots of Bits of kibble and off he goes. 

I also teach him the name of toys. I put a treat on the toy I want him to find and then say ‘find ******’ 

When he finds the treat he finds the toy and I praise him. Eventually he finds the toy by name without the treat. Then I hide that toy without a treat and send him to find it. Once he gets the hang of it you can have several named toys. You can alternative what he has to find to really get his brain working. 

We also have soft footballs in the house and play herd the ball. We taught him to lie down and watch and nudge and then grip. 

Enjoy

Thanks for the suggestion! He would really like hunting for treats throughout the house. Hes got a really good sniffer on him. Right now indoors he obsesses over fetch and throws the toys at ur chest or face. Last week I taught him to back up into his bed and lay down before I throw it. I like the game more when I can throw the ball a good 50-100 feet outside and have him run up and down the hill for it.

Funny enough during fetch he tires easily and lays down with the ball. It's not enough to keep him down for long though....

[jami74]

Yes we do hiding things too. Sometimes if our boy is pushing to pay fetch with the ball I make him wait and hide it and then release him to find it, just adds a different spin on it. Unfortunately our boy destroys balls now, otherwise I'd hide balls all over the house to find.

I've started getting our boy moving stuff. As he has a knack for finding socks  I now put a pile of socks on the floor and get him to take through and put them into the washing machine one by one. Or I'll tip all of his toys out and get him to pick them up and put them away. At the moment he needs input from me for every item but I'm hoping one day he'll be able to do the washing and tidying up all by himself . He honestly often just needs a job and if I don't give him one he's a pain in the backside.

[Hooper2]

Honestly, the video you posted of Wellington's "temper" looks to me like what I would expect most adolescent dogs to do when s/he sees his/her person interacting with another dog in the yard.  That's not to say that it's perfect behavior, and I would certainly continue to train the dog to accept me interacting with another dog without barking, but what I saw looked to me like perfectly normal young dog behavior. 

[D'Elle]

I agree with Hooper2. There's nothing "temper" about that video. That dog is acting in a normal excited manner, not over-the-top and not angry. This is how my dogs act if there is something exciting going on.

[urge to herd]

That video says the same thing to me. He's wanting to be part of the fun ~ a temper tantrum would have him hurling himself around, barking non-stop, scratching at the railing along the deck, trying to climb over it, even. He's feeling left out and letting you know it.

If you want him to wait quietly, you can probably do that. I've had dogs that did similar thing protesting to your boy, but it seemed mild to me and didn't bother me that much. I just let them bark. Someone else might have ideas about how to get him to be quiet in this situation.

Ruth & Gibbs

[CptJack]

Agreed with the others about the video.

I think it was Donald McCraig (maybe - someone here anyway) who once said all the training in the world won't turn a young dog into an old dog. 

Keep training but all I see there? Is a young dog.  Not a dog pitching a fit, not a dog with something wrong with it, just... a young dog.

[reploidphoenix]

He gets pushy and over excited in play as well. He bites my other dog hard sometimes and makes her yelp because hes rough. His half brother has been kicked out of 3 daycares for the same issue. There anyway to help that? Hes obviously not a child that u can tell him hes behavior is too rough

[carolync]

As others have mentioned, talk to your vet about anti-anxiety meds to help calm his brain while you work on behavior modification. I have a high-drive girl who has benefited greatly from them.

I would work on teaching impulse control, play mat and crate games. Another thing to help when the weather is nasty out is a flirt pole, it really helps us burn off energy in a short amount of time, and work on her impulse control at the same time. For instance, she has to do a command before being released to the toy, sometimes it's as simple as a sit or a down, other times she has to run to her crate in another room and wait to be released.

Bett can also be ball/frisbee obsessed. Those toys are put away unless I am actively playing with her. If I left them out, she would be focused and aroused on them the entire day.

Check out 101 things to do with a box - when Bett was younger, that would really mentally tire her out.

Good luck, and remember he's an adolescent.

[D'Elle]

Your other dog is the best one to tell him he is being too rough. If, however, your other dog doesn't draw the line for him, or is elderly or much smaller or in any danger of getting hurt then it is up to you to make sure this doesn't happen. You need to monitor all play sessions and....I say once again.....watch your dog's body language very closely. This is vital. If you observe your dog closely you will soon learn the signals that indicate he is going to go over the top. You then remove him from the play and give him a little "down time" in the crate. Again, make sure it is not punishment. Just do it without any comment or being rough with him. You can even say it in a nice voice: "uh-oh, you are too excited...time for a break".

[urge to herd]

yes, you can tell him to stop it. If your other dog is not able/willing to defend herself, then you need to. As with other misbehaviors, you can pop him in his crate for a 'time out'. You can even call it that, saying cheerfully, " OH, you're all riled up! Time Out!" Cover the crate, walk away, leave him there for a few minutes. If he persists in bothering your other dog, then the time-outs get longer.

My parents used to send me to my room to "think about what you've done". You're offering him the same chance. Behavior that has been going on for a while will take longer to extinguish than a newer behavior.

His crate is a safe place for him to calm down, until he's more mature.

Ruth & Gibbs

[reploidphoenix]

He thinks when other dogs correct him that it's funny. My girl wont correct him usually, unless hes crossing a line like sniffing her while shes in heat. We have a dog that visits every couple weeks that puts him in his place and runs around like shes playing with him...

His rough play seems to be over-arousal,  but theres very little warning. Hes fine one minute and then bursts into energy out of no where and becomes nuts.

Maybe mostly what I'm seeing is just a young pup without body awareness..my other dog will be laying on the couch and he acts like shes not even there and just jumps ontop of her full force and lays down. My other dog then gets up and lays in her bed being annoyed. With toys he used to snatch things out of our hands and get our hands too..its been alot to get him to take things nice. Sometimes he seems so frenzied to get a toy, especially before my girl gets it he knocks over anything and everything to get it.

Is this maybe just something he may grow out of? My girl is only 34lb..the boy is pushing 55lbs

Heres a video of her hiding behind a table since hes been rough and she tries to ignore him. I do admit I feel shes instigating him with the barking..

 

[Hooper2]

Wait. What?!   You consider a (intact?) male dog sniffing a bitch in season to be "crossing a line"?  Yeah, no.  That's not crossing a line.  That's being a  dog.   I'm shocked if butt sniffing was the most problematic behavior you and your girl had to deal with in that situation.

Your puppy used to grab things from your hands, but now that you've put some effort into training he generally takes things nicely?  What exactly do you see as a problem here?

I'm not sure what you mean by him "thinking it's funny" when other dogs correct him, but if you mean he continues to play, and the other dog tolerates it, then he backed off enough to satisfy the other dog, so, again, what's the problem?

As far as the video goes, once again, I see two dogs being dogs.   Admittedly, I might change my opinion of what's going on if I saw more than just this short clip, but based on what I did see, your girl wasn't trying to ignore Wellington, she was egging him on.  But if you are concerned that the play is getting too rough, separate the two dogs.  Put them in separate rooms, or crate one of them.  It's not rocket science.

Honestly, almost everything you have described about Wellington in this thread, and both videos you've posted just seem like normal rambunctious adolescent dog behavior.  Again, I might change my opinion if I saw more of his behavior, but if your idea of being over the line is a dog sniffing a bitch in season, your idea of a tantrum is a dog barking when he sees his owner playing with another dog, and you think your bitch is somehow somehow trying to ignore Wellington while simultaneously "instigating" him,  I'm a unconvinced that any of his behavior is all that unusual or extreme.