Out of control Sheltie, especially when around husband

They come calm! I have never seen this.:lol:

My first sheltie Justice aka the perfect puppy was a wild man. Perfectly behaved but crazy energetic. He used to do kick flips off the cupboard because it was easier than stopping as he was running though the house.

Ember was pretty calm but she had other issues to deal with so frankly I don't remember how busy she was.

Diva, OMG. ADD cat on crack as a puppy.

Birch was a slightly less wild version of Diva.

I should mention I like active dogs and purposely choose my pups with energy and drive. However, I would not call any of my dogs hyper. They know when to chill and know when to go. It took training and they needed to be properly exercised both mentally and physically as puppies or yes they would drive you crazy.

I would suggest starting obedience training at home if you can't make it to a class. I find mental work gets my dogs more tried then physical activity. Focus on self control exercises like stays, leave it, crate games. Teach him retrieving and play ball. You didn't mention how much exercise he gets but it sounds like he needs more, Go for long walks, get some running in there. The good news is Shelties mature pretty early and the brain will start to come in the mail soon. :wink2:
 
Justicemom said:
They come calm! I have never seen this.:lol:

My first sheltie Justice aka the perfect puppy was a wild man. Perfectly behaved but crazy energetic. He used to do kick flips off the cupboard because it was easier than stopping as he was running though the house.

Ember was pretty calm but she had other issues to deal with so frankly I don't remember how busy she was.

Diva, OMG. ADD cat on crack as a puppy.

Birch was a slightly less wild version of Diva.

I should mention I like active dogs and purposely choose my pups with energy and drive. However, I would not call any of my dogs hyper. They know when to chill and know when to go. It took training and they needed to be properly exercised both mentally and physically as puppies or yes they would drive you crazy.

I would suggest starting obedience training at home if you can't make it to a class. I find mental work gets my dogs more tried then physical activity. Focus on self control exercises like stays, leave it, crate games. Teach him retrieving and play ball. You didn't mention how much exercise he gets but it sounds like he needs more, Go for long walks, get some running in there. The good news is Shelties mature pretty early and the brain will start to come in the mail soon. :wink2:
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LOL at kicking flips off the cupboard, and cat on crack. Both sound like Laddie.

He probably is not getting a lot of exercise, it is winter here, and we had snow and ice for the last two weeks, so, I could not go out in it, now, it is warmer, but, I have a severe cold, so, I have to get well first. We have taken long walks, he loves them, but alas, he is even more hyper when we get home, I need his energy, LOL.

What are crate games? What age is really the best time to start, he is 6 months now. I don't remember how old my first Sheltie was, seems a year old, but he was so easy to train, only a couple of times of a same command and he had it down perfect. I have never trained a raw pup before, this is all new to me.

Thanks again for your help.:hugs
 
SusieQ said:
LOL at kicking flips off the cupboard, and cat on crack. Both sound like Laddie.

He probably is not getting a lot of exercise, it is winter here, and we had snow and ice for the last two weeks, so, I could not go out in it, now, it is warmer, but, I have a severe cold, so, I have to get well first. We have taken long walks, he loves them, but alas, he is even more hyper when we get home, I need his energy, LOL.

What are crate games? What age is really the best time to start, he is 6 months now. I don't remember how old my first Sheltie was, seems a year old, but he was so easy to train, only a couple of times of a same command and he had it down perfect. I have never trained a raw pup before, this is all new to me.

Thanks again for your help.:hugs
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Crate games are exercises developed by Susan garret and presented in her DVD.
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=dta287

I watched the DVD after I started training Birch so I didn't follow it exactly at first but teaching him to go in his crate to wait and have self control was so helpful for future training of all sorts of things. You can start training at any age. Younger the better as less bad habits to undo. Just examples here is Birch as a 8wk old pup learning to love his crate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjzr8fTxPUY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOnbA55gOBw

If you do impulse control work right you get this. This is my kick flipping dog Justice as an adult. :smile2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mFLhyWKuQU
 
Laddie loves his crate, I got him use to it the day I picked him up, so, he now considers it his home. I will start doing those other things you mentioned, they sound good.

I am stunned, he just tried to bite Steve, what a day it has been.


Thanks again
 
SusieQ said:
HELP FELLOW SHELTIE OWNERS!! I never knew that Shelties were so darn hyper.
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They are a sheepdog, and one of the more active sheepdog breeds, so yes they can be hyper - some more so than others.

But it sounds like what you are most concerned about are more behavioural issues. Remember he is just a puppy - so you are really dealing with the equivalent of a 2yr old human, curious, investigating, can't stay still. And a very short attention span.

Identify the behaviours you want to improve and teach him what you want. Remember he is a dog so many of the things we ask of dogs are not instinctive, they are learnt from us.

With grooming, at this stage while he is yet to grow into coat, you should focus on teaching him grooming is fun, give him treats and have a little play session afterwards. If you want him to learn to stand on the grooming table you will have to teach him that too. And keep sessions very short - plenty of time to build up.

As for biting - nipping is a natural behaviour, esp for a pup that is teething. When he does this say a loud 'ouch' as if he hurt you and redirect his mouth onto something else.

I would really, really recommend you enrol in puppy kindergarten. Many of the larger vets hold them, the SPCA may also too (they can probably point you to some anyway). It is a fantastic way of learning how to communicate with a pup, you'll get great advice and assistance and Laddie will get to interact with other pups.
 
he digs at the couch, bites at my face, grits his teeth, and almost tries to talk
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This sounds like my sheltie when he is playing. I probably shouldn't have encouraged it but it works for us as he is so cute when he does it and does no harm. When he is excited he tends to race to a bed digging and biting at it growling and talking the whole time. So this could be just excess excitement and you need to put in the limits of what is acceptable and what is not in your house. Biting at my face, teeth making contact is not acceptable here and like others have suggested I found a squeak/ouch when it happens gets him to back off and rethink.

Also with tiring her out, mental work is probably the trick, you can find lots of different you tube video's with step by step instructions that you can try.
 
I think it's important to redirect behavior or teach new ones instead of trying to stop what you don't want. Your dog is never going to understand why you don't want a specific behavior. Redirecting/offering options will be less frustrating for everyone.

Finding something that motivates your dog can be challenging! My Olive likes a lot of treats at home, but only one anywhere else, and not consistently. She won't play with toys outside our house and even in our house it is a challenge to find toys that work - she loves her ball but I can't use that because she locks on it like a laser sight and *poof* no ability to focus on anything else. Sticks work in the yard sometimes for impulse control work (I toss, she sits, I give a release command and she can run after the stick). Right now, for anywhere outside our house/yard, I'm using cuddles as a reward. She has to perform a little longer (verbal praise for little things) but then we have a cuddle-fest and it's a great reward, plus I think it distracts her from whatever stress she may have been experiencing. And we've gotten some thumbs-up from passers-by, so that's always a bonus.:yes:
 
Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.
I keep the grooming sessions very short, and after, he gets a treat.
As to the "Tazmania Devil" traits, well, I guess some is just puppy, I will try my best to be stern and say "ouch" loudly, I have done this, but, it makes him wilder, I will keep trying.
It has been so long since I had a puppy, over 20 years, I just don't know how to act anymore.
 
Lots of good advice already but I thought I'd add in my 2 cents. My sheltie is just about to hit the big 1 so I've come through this phase recently. Bonnie possibly wasn't quite as hyper but 5-6 months old was definitely tough and feels like it nevers ends. I'd say around 9 months I really noticed a difference and now at 1 she is even more settled, still reactive to noises and loves a bark though. As mentioned yours is in the fear imprinting stage, I've read and noticed that in this stage they will even run when you get the lead out for a walk which makes no sense but it just happens. Your pup is really in the human terrible 2s stage :) Probably the best thing for your dog is to realise this and stop stressing, they pick up on it and on pressure put on them, even when we do it subconsciously!

I'd suggest you ignore the dog a lot more (dont' look, touch or speak to them), ask it into your space when you want to give it attention so with getting less attention it will be more excited to come to you when attention is a prized, hard to get commodity. If they demand attention or do an unacceptable behaviour leave the room for 15 secs. And do this consistently between you and your partner.

Even when you can't walk it is so important to give mental stimulation. If you youtube puppy training/tricks you will see how much a young dog can learn, until 6 months is when they are learning the most so its never too early to start teaching fun tricks. I also made/bought some agility equipment for inside, an upside down box for table, pvc pipe for jumps and a childs tunnel from cheap shop. Also hiding treats around the house and show them to use their nose to seek them out.

I've really found it good to teach/make Bonnie settle so if after a walk and her dinner she gets some time in her pen/crate just to settle her mind. Also after walks we do some calmness training, getting rewards for settling next to me, see the videos below. Youtube is your best friend!
video on crate games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfL99xcEpXc
video on capturing calmness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wesm2OpE_2c
This link has some great ideas on cheap brain teaster toys.
http://www.youtube.com/user/loveyourdog/videos
best wishes, you'll get through it sooner than you know!
 
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