PLEASE HELP ME!!! uncle pete is driving us crazy!!

We have a fabulous puppy, 9 month old weimaraner/lab mix. He is so full of energy that he is driving us all crazy!!! He is also extememely vocal (read NOISY). He whines, squeals and makes groaning noises whenever he plays - which is all of the time. Our lab pup gets pushed, rolled and otherwise mauled by Uncle Pete (the weim) during play. I have to figure out how to wear this wonderful dog out!!! No amount of play or attention will satisfy him. I even tried to get him to run on the treadmill! (I'm sure we looked crazy-me trying to hold this 76 pound dog on the treadmill. Front feet moving but the back ones gripping the sides....ugh!) Somebody help me please!!!!

PS I do kennel him for some needed downtime for me but then I don't know how long to leave him in there and I feel guilty.

 

WOW..Sounds like you have your hands full..
Have you got a lake or Beach near where you are, swimming is really really good for them, it used to tucker my Blue heeler right out, and that she loved it too...
Has he had basic obedience??? Lessons, they are Gold for helping training pups...Also desexing can calm them right down too..

 

Labradors have lots of enegry as a breed in genral, the only things i found with my lab/rottweiler was to take her for really long walks, Take her to the lake and let her jump in the water after her floater toys, Agility burns off energy aswell.

The more vigorous the work out for him the more chance you have of cutting down some of his energy.

At 9month old he will still be trying to push you to see how much energy you have.

I agree with Chezza, Basic obedience training aswell as having him neutered should calm him down alot..

Mike

 

tiem to get out your walking shoes!!!
A nice walk is also great for bonding time w/your pup.
We were walking Molly nearly every evening and it helped (she's a year old GSD). Now the days are shorter I can't do it (nearly dark when I get out of work) and boy does it show. Weekends I get her out for walks 2x/day to make up for it.
Bennie - I'm down a pant size and I feel good too

 

Thanks for the advice. Uncle Pete was neutered about a month ago. I am determined to deplete his energy so instead of one walk per day I have asked me daughter to take him running with her whenever possible. That is usually 5 miles.

How long at a time is it reasonable to leave him in the crate so that I can get things done?

By the way...we just got back from a 45 minute walk in 37 degree weather....I need a shower but guess what ....... Uncle Pete wants to play!!!! :shock:

 

I never found walking to tire out a high energy dog - it just seems to condition them so they have even more energy! Getting a second dog is the only thing that helped with us - the two dogs could race around the yard and get tired out faster. We also did agility classes. Training is supposed to be good, because tiring out their minds usually works better than trying to tire out their bodies. Swimming is an excellent way to tire them out, and going to an off-leash park is good, too, but you need to be sure you have decent off-leash control before you do that.

I read a bunch of Suzanne Clothier's work on teaching self control to a dog, and we worked on that a LOT. I also used to encourage calm behavior at night while I tried to watch TV. I would pop some popcorn for myself, and whichever dog was lying down quietly would get a piece tossed at them. Everyone else got ignored. You can use regular treats rather than popcorn, obviously. I would increase the interval that they needed to lie down quietly before getting a treat, and it seemed to help a lot. Of course, you have to be able to wtach TV with dogs staring intently at you, willing you with their minds to throw them a treat.

 

Hi,
I agree with those who said that 'walking' a dog doesn't actually burn off any of that wild energy. I know for a fact that I could walk Floob for 12 hours a day and he'd bounce in and grab a toy.

They need to run freely, as much as possible. I know it's not always as easy as that to do, but with a toy, the smallest area of grass can have them running a few miles by the time they've been back and forth for just 30 minutes.

I have a very active dog, he has around 4-6 hours off leash play in the fields every day... and still comes home and expects more.

Have you tried mentally tiring him out? I use kongs, hollow bones, anything durable that I can cram fresh meat into. He can spend anything from 5 minutes to an hour trying to get something really yummy out. There are lots of treat toys out now to buy.
I also use pop bottles (plastic 2ltr ones), put a treat inside and stab it once with a knife so he gets the scent.
Then there's his favourite... the old faithful cardboard box. The bigger the better. It's got now where the whole box is covered in tape so it takes some digging and throwong it around to get the yummy treat out. I use pigs ears now in boxes, that way he carries on using enery to eat it and is more than happy to nap afterwards.

Good luck!

I've just noticed the heat you're in... oh my.
In the summer I had a big under the bed storage drawer that I filled with water in the shade in the back garden. I cut hot dogs up and tossed them everywhere, making sure he was jumping into the water as much as possible. It's a quick game, but very exiting and energetic. I've done 'hiding' around the garden with hot dogs too. He loves 'finding'.

 

I always wished that my high-energy dog would play fetch! With fetch, you can remain a low-energy human and simply sit down and lob the ball away every time the dog brings it back. What an awesome way to exercise your dog!

 

You are exactly right!!!!! The vet told me that taking this dog for a long walk is like taking a marathoner for a leisurely stroll! He recommended a second puppy which we got. Problem has become that the second pup - a pure bred black lab is totally laid back and I would venture to say a little bit slow if you know what I mean. He pretty much gets run over.

I do try to tire out Uncle Pete's mind. Big rawhides with liver inside last about 20 minutes. He also loves empty plastic water bottles. I think that I will look into the agility training...where would I inquire about this?

Fortunately we are moving to a 125 acre farm so I am hoping the 2 pups will wear themselves out there. I need to figure out how to contain them so that they don't run away though. Any advice? Underground fence vs. above ground?

I am so thankful to have found this site. A chance to vent and get advice from other dog lovers! My husband thinks that I am nuts. Purchasing a Jeep so that the dog's ears could flap in the wind and a farm for them to run about has confirmed my nuttiness in his eyes!

Any advice on length of time in the crate?

 

when I say walk I'm forgetting where I live - White Mtns. of NH - a walk around here involved plenty of uphills.
Not right now as it's hunting season and we stay out of the woods regardless of orange coloring. Molly's back side resembles a deer too much to have her in the woods or even near the woods.
We, unfortunately, don't have the option of off leash parks or anywhere you can simply let dogs off leash for a good romp.
My friend and I were taking the dogs on access roads to let them simply run and play and yes it made a huge difference but Beau decided to go swimming with a moose one day and we were wading in the swamp to get him. Molly came right back Beau didn't....so they have to be leased when walking together.
Beau has the electric fence at his house so we tried letting them play there...Molly doesn't normally run off and Beau respects his fence. We did that for awhile until one day Molly decided to chase a truck - so that's over now too.
It's hard trying to find a spot to let dogs run and play here - and fencing my backyard isn't an option right now

 

Hehe, you should have picked your second dog more carefully! We were very lucky - the new dog can keep up with the high-energy one, but inside the house she is calm and loving. The best combo!

For agility training, you could try doing an internet search for agility trainers near you. Try starting here, at the Clean Run website: http://www.cleanrun.com/agilityinfo/clubs/.

I bet the farm will help a lot! My dog would LOVE to be a farm dog, where her people are working outside all day and she can roam around with them. She is very well-behaved on the two days a year we manage to actually tire her out sufficiently.

Underground fences can be dangerous. Many dogs figure out that it is worth it to get zapped to get out, but then they won't come back IN. You can't just put in the fence and toss the dog out, either - there is training involved.

I would say you need to start working on your recall. Start in the house and work up to a fenced yard, and then start going more places. Use a long line to keep the dog safe in unfenced areas. Reward, reward, reward for coming to you! A person who used to post here also talked about getting her dogs used to her farm, where she would call them to "check in" every 5-10 minutes or so. They just had to come back to her, and then she would let them go play some more. They eventually started to check in on their own without being called! Just make sure that coming to you doesn't always mean the end of playtime, and good things happen.

Perhaps someone else who actually lives on a farm would have more ideas on how to train your dogs to keep them safe.

For the crate time - how long is he in the crate by necessity? Is he in the crate while you work, and/or all night long? Assuming he is not in a crate overly long and you have made every attempt to exercise him but you just need a time out, I'd say maybe 30 minutes in the crate. If he has very little crate time otherwise, you could make that longer. If he's not used to the crate, work up to longer times. And put something safe to chew on in the crate with him.

With my current hyper foster, I sometimes tether him to the chair I am sitting in so he has to stop running around willy-nilly and dancing on the other dogs' heads, but he still can be near me and have a little room to stretch and play with toys.

 

Yes!! We need to work on recall! Thanks for the web address.

As for the crate...I am a stay at home mom so the dogs are generally in the crate by 9pm and out at 6:30am. During the day I put them in if I need to pick up kids or run errands-generally for not more than 2 hours at a time. Does that sound okay? Don't some dogs have to stay in the crate all day while the owner is at worK?

Off to look at agility web sites.

 

Molly is in her crate normally from 8-12, out 12-12:30, in from 12:30 till 1 or 3 (depending on my son's schedule at school that day).
I start a new job on Monday and I won't be able to go home for lunch. But Molly isn't in the crate at night either. I feel bad about her possibly staying in there all day but I'm starting my new job to get health insurance and some things just need to be done.

 

When we got our dog as a puppy, she was in the crate all night, out at 5:30am, back in at 7:30am, out for an hour at lunch, back in until about 3:30pm, then out until bedtime. I specifically got up very early in the morning so she could be out for a good two hours before having to go back in again. Of course, I still felt guilty!

Now both dogs are not crated during the day, but they sleep in their crates in my bedroom at night. The foster dog is crated all night until 6:30am. He goes back into his crate at about 8:30am when my daughter leaves for school, and he comes back out at 3:00pm when my son gets home. Usually we go to bed about 10:00pm when he goes back into the crate. It's a lot of crate time, but he's very well-behaved in his crate and we do our best to exercise him when he is out. And it is only temporary as he will hopefully be adopted soon!

Your amount of crate time sounds just fine! And if he hasn't been in the crate for more than a couple of hours for errands, I would say you could put him in for an hour or two in the evening so you can relax - or perhaps during human dinner time so you can cook and eat in peace. Just be prepared for him to burst out of there with a ton of energy and needing some games or training time before he has to go back in at bedtime.

Dogs are very much creatures of habit, and you can kind of program them to accept certain routines. A trainer at a local shelter here always does this with new dogs. He comes home from work and immediately puts the new dog on leash, and he takes the dog from room to room as he does stuff. For instance, while he is working on the computer, the dog is tethered to his chair, so the dog learns he needs to lie down and wait for his person to be done. After a week or two of the same routine, he no longer uses a leash, but by then the dog is used to the routine and does it on his own! I think it sounds like a very good idea.

 

How much protein is in the food your giving and are you still feeding a puppy food, if so check with your vet if its okay to switch to an adult food and keep to no more than about 20% - 21% protein....doesnt help with every dog but Ive seen it work for a lot of them.
With the crate time I try to make sure that theyre not in there for more than 6 - 7 hours overnight and no more than about 4 hours during the day, just make sure that they have 'special toys' (stuffed Kongs etc) that they only get when in the crate. This will keep him occupied for a bit. If dogs are crated too long they tend to get a bit manic when they are out.

 

I work at a hospital and MANY doctors send their dogs to doggie day care due to their long work hours.

I am told its a great way to tire out your dogs and the dogs have tons of fun all day too.
I let my dogs run up and down hills (in the wooded area near my home) to play catch with balls. It works great for my dogs and tires them out quickly too.

Anyone have any doggie day care's around? It may be a wonderful option for some people. The prices vary but are usually affordable around $14.00 per day.
Sue

 

Not quiet sure I want to pay for doggy daycare although it is tempting for maybe one or two days a week. Wouldn't it be easy for my pets to "catch things" from all the other dogs? I suppose they have rules about vaccinations but still....how do they make all those dogs behave?

 

Some places are better than others - you want to choose one that makes you fill out a huge questionnaire about your dog's health, his habits, his problems, etc. Make sure there are trainers and knowledgeable people on staff as well.

We have a bunch of doggie daycare places around here, but only the rich doggies get to go. Most cost about $20-30 per day.

As for getting sick - they say dogs that are never around other dogs are more vulnerable to getting sick when they do go out. Regular exposure to other dogs helps build up the immune system. Doggy daycares do require vaccinations, although some are starting to accept titers as well. I can never bring my dogs, though, even if I had the money because I will not subject my dogs to a bordatella vaccine every 6 months - that's just silliness.

 

what are titers?