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Over excited sheltie

Discussion in 'Behavior' started by roxyllsk, Oct 18, 2014.

  1. roxyllsk

    roxyllsk Forums Enthusiast

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    Apr 28, 2012
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    I have a very very high energy sheltie. She's 10 months old now and has been spayed for about 3 months. She's been to basic obedience class and now we are doing agility and she is really loving it. Every morning I take her to the hockey rink and hit balls for her to chase and retrieve (she loves this) for about 30 minutes, and she gets several longer walks during the day. Plus she plays with her older brother a lot in the house. We work on our agility / obedience training several times during the day, for only a few minutes at a time. She is rarely crated during the day, but sleeps in her crate overnight. I thought that giving her a 'job' with the agility training would help her focus that crazy energy she has, and give her confidence. She was unsure at first but after the 3rd class is picking things up very quickly and is quickly gaining confidence.

    When I bring her home after class, she is so explosively excited when she gets out of the car. It's bordering on aggressive. She barks her head off and grabs her leash and shakes it like crazy with her teeth bared. It's like she's so wound up that she doesn't know what to do with herself. I actually can't take her in the house right away because she will jump on her brother and bite him (like displace aggression maybe), so I take her for a walk around the neighborhood to let her settle down. She's done this other times, too, when getting out of the car after being away.

    I'm not sure where this is coming from - is it because she is just very excited to be home ? Is this something that she will outgrow ? It's a relatively new behavior. Is there anything else I can do to get her to settle and refocus ?
     
  2. ghggp

    ghggp Moderator

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    It sounds like you are doing everything possible to allow her to release her pent up energy. Many on this forum are experts and may be able to give you more advice.

    I can only say that I have an extra hyper sheltie too. He was fixed early and I thought that would take care of the problem... Not! After we would go for long walks my other two boys just wanted to rest. Not Laddie, he wanted to play frisbee. After a half hour of that he was still wound up.

    In my obedience class they trained us to use the settle command. That means lay down and relax. This is a bit hard with a hyper dog. However you have to mean it... Make sure they stay down for 5-10 minutes. You can work up to it but it really helps focus their brains.:biggrin2:

    Apparently shelties were crossed with border collies and those hyper traits transferred to our shelties today. You can overcome it... I finally did! Good luck!

    Additionally the settle, down stay and sit stay can be helpful to redirect the hyper behavior... For at least 5-10 minutes. :yes:
     
  3. Caro

    Caro Moderator

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    The reason she is hyped up when you get home is her adrenalin levels are still high. As she gets older she should get better at winding down - as long as her current behaviours don't become a habit. Tully is high drive, when we come home from activities she usually stays outside for a while - in the front yard during the day or sits on the back porch at night. She worked that out herself though.

    Walking her to get her to calm down is a great idea. Maybe come up with a few other options, such as those that will focus the energy on using her brain. Stuff a Kong or have a kibble dispenser handy for when you get home from training, as mentioned practice some obedience commands esp settle, drop, on your mat and other ones designed to slow things down. A shoulder, neck and back massage can also reduce the physical tension (avoid the butt as that sometimes gets them worked up).

    And importantly, from you, calm quiet energy.
     
  4. Justicemom

    Justicemom Forums Celebrity

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    Celtic actually starting to have a bit of this behavior. What has really helped him is taking him a long to Birchs class night. He practices relaxing in his crate while we run when Birch is done, get gets out and we work on sitting still and focusing on me, laying down and focusing on me and just generally attention and self control exercises. He gets treated for any calm behaviors while agility is going on around him. As a result he is learning being calm is just as good as being crazy. I am finding the on/off switch is getting stronger with time.
     
  5. 2GoodDogs

    2GoodDogs Forums Enthusiast

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    My puppy gets out of the car and goes reactive, due to a previous event... so, I get him out and with the best cookies work on sit, stand, down for a few repetitions and then go inside. Varying success with this, but last night we made it the 15 sreps to the door without a meltdown...
     
  6. Jess041

    Jess041 Forums Enthusiast

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    I think if you keep doing what you're doing, she'll outgrow it and learn to calm down. Hang in there :smile2:!
     
  7. corbinam

    corbinam Moderator

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    My puppy Enzo was (and sort of still is) the same way. After a exciting experience (agility class, rousing game of fetch outside, etc.) he seems almost more excitable than before. He is relentless in cramming toys against my leg to play MORE.

    I ignore him, and he gets the memo, then realizes he's sleepy and relaxes :sleepy:

    And yes, it gets easier as they get older.
     
  8. Justicemom

    Justicemom Forums Celebrity

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    Toy cramming yep I reconize that behavior. :wink2: Birch still does it and yes ignoring it is the way to go. Anything else keeps them reved up.
     
  9. Jess041

    Jess041 Forums Enthusiast

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    I still get toys rammed into the back of my legs every now and then too :lol:
     
  10. roxyllsk

    roxyllsk Forums Enthusiast

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    I tried doing some heel work after class this week. I saved some of the extra yummy treats and made sure she knew I had them. We worked on heel, lots of changes of direction and stop and sit and wait. It really helped her settle down a lot faster, within a few minutes.
     

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