Now there's a dog that needs something to do! I don't know when I've seen such an athletic-looking fellow. My mind went straight to S&R and then to Agility.
Dog training thread
- Thread starter Pampered chicken girl
- Start date
What a beautiful topline that dog has! DH needs to be playing Frisbee with him or something!
*Sigh*, I wish I could be contributing to the dog stuff right now! He is SUCH a jumper, but he's way too big to be doing that to me while pregnant. I *can* push him down on the ground if necessary, but it's more physical effort than I should be exerting this close to the third trimester, and I don't want him to plant a paw on my tummy with his whole 70+ish lbs and give me reason to worry... There are so many things I'd love to do with him.
Like, I'd love LOVE to let him loose in the house but he is huge and doesn't know it, so he's literally a wrecking ball to anything he walks by. And his mouth still goes for EVERYTHING. And there are countless small things I'd like to go back to practicing, like basic good manners, but he gets excited and jumps on me randomly. Huff
Try filling his mind to help with the boredom: Save toilet rolls to fill with treats and kibble, much like a Kong. My dogs love it when they see me with a handful of rolls, and the torture of sitting watching me chopping up stuff (cheese, roast beef etc to mix in with kibble) folding and filling is all part of their impulse control training. Even paper towel rolls would be fun to full and keep him busy getting the goodies out.I used that method when he was smaller, it would work for the duration of the training session and was very useful! I physically can't keep him down without my full weight now, so I can't use a lead as a pulley under my foot for quick corrections anymore. I've taken him out into the rest of the backyard with me to play catch a few times, and I let a 30' cotton longe line trail behind him. Usually the ball keeps him occupied, and I can even sit down with him under the oak tree (his movements are still very explosive though, even when he is "resting", so I've not done that since hitting the midway point of pregnancy). If he starts jumping on me, I can stand up and stand on the lead until he gets the picture, then I praise. It's a very specific scenario when I can use it.
I think most of his problem is that he's a bit bored, and a bit people deprived. You can tell when my husband goes out, he gets so excited and just wants to play and get some love. He DOES need more physical activities to participate in, and I have been able to play fetch with him while he is on the cable and not free with a trailing longe line, so I do want to see if I can try to somewhat reliably do that with him. It'll take a while to fill his play and love tank, and it'll just be getting harder for me from here.But I do want to do that for him. I really think that's a big part of the issue. It's just a matter of me and my inconsistent energy.
And he doesn't eat the cardboard?
I do this a lot just with regular kibble for meal times. Neither pup eats the cardboard they do rip it up. But its what they need sometimes.
I also put a bunch in a tote and Tucker found a way to open the tote lid so i started putting them in there so he would have to open the tote lid to get to his food.
Another easy game if you could is just standing in a spot he wouldnt jump on you and throwing a piece of his food. He goes and finds it then you throw another. It would tire him out.
Thank you! He really is lovely. I have thought of doing agility type things with him when he's older (don't wanna strain the joints of course). Not enough space in our backyard for frisbee, but he LOVES playing fetch with a big rubber ball, and he really is very athletic when he goes for it. He's learning how to catch things out of the air, too. He loves to work to an almost hilarious degree. When we bring him in, we have him sit and wait until the door is closed and everything, then tell him "crate". If dogs could do burnouts like cars, that's what he does.
He's a very good boy, just bored right now.Talked with hubby and have been sharing all of the advice from everyone the last couple of days, and we are both on the same page in regards to the source of his rowdy behavior (bored, cuddle starved). So, I'm going to "puppy proof" the areas that need it and depending on how hubby's work is this week, hopefully we can find an evening to bring him in and let him pinball around the house (DH affectionately calls him the Pinball Wizard, haha). It'll be rough at first, but I hope if we can start doing that every once and a while, he will be less excited and spastic about "oh boy, house, people, WOOHOO!". And I am going to try and see how playing fetch while he is on the cable goes.
Instead of a regular round ball see if you can find him one with lots of angles. Don't know how to describe it. More interesting bc it doesn't just roll in a predictable manner but bounces erratically. It's polygon shaped.
You will chase it less when he is on the cable, it's not as likely to get away from him, roll out of his reach.
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