Rewind...Fire has become a wonderful house dog. In spite of being a high energy intelligent dog, his house manners at 1 yr of age are nearly impeccable. Rarely steals, never chews anything other than his toys, never has a bathroom mishap, and is quiet in his crate all night. Nearly a week ago, I was basking in the "job well done" feeling of having a young dog who was showing promise of being 100% reliable in the house and readiness to challenge that reliability with even more freedom. (left alone unsupervised) In spite of his energy levels, he has days where he's mellow and content just being a couch potato like most of my Dobermans before him. The other day I couldn't get motivated, I used every excuse to curl up and watch movies. In spite of it being Fires most active time of the day (morning after a long nights sleep), he curled up on his dog bed beside me and slept. He was calm all day, sleeping most of it.
Today, I have a different dog sbeside me. As much as I couldn't explain his extra level of calm the other day, today I can't explain his extra level of energy! But he's been Crazed since the minute he woke up! Counter surfing, running through the house, jumping on my bed, whining when I closed him in the bedroom with me, and the final straw...He Leaped over the couch!Something he's Never done, although when he was younger he did often leap onto the couch to sit beside us. (*he is no longer allowed on the couch) I finally put him in his crate. It's raining out, and I don't have time to put him through some indoor exercise. If I had a new chew toy on hand I might have opted for it. I don't feel crating is an option for manic energy but today it was the only option I could cope with. I'll make up for it later. He's going with me while I run errands, might be watching the football game with me if it's not raining too hard, and then has his private training with me before I teach class tonight. However had this been a day when he would be required to stay home for hours, I would need to address the manic energy now!
As I often hear from dog owners dealing with similar situations, I thought I'd share some options. I do feel that sometimes the dog who runs wildly around without focus, only becomes crazier if allowed to engage in that behavior. This isn't a proven fact that I'm aware of, just an opinion I have based on my own experience. That said, a dog who wants to run (or jump, or bark) is doing so IMO to release pent up Stress. Not Energy, Stress! (same with the dog who chews excessively) My first choice of assistance for these types of behavior is exercise for the body and mind. Lets first release the stress by engaging in an activity similar to how the dog reacts on it's own. Rather than allowing the reaction, the activity is Directed by you and becomes an Action. If the dog jumps wildly on you or over furniture, teach it to jump on command and direct it over some makeshift jumps! If your dog runs in wild circles (my first Doberman did this); Take it jogging, train it to run beside your bike, hire a runner for it, or train it to lunge on a line in circles around you (like horses are trained to do). If your dog likes to bark, teach it to bark on command and tell it to bark! After 10-20 min. of rousing, stress releasing exercise engage the dog in some exercise for it's mind. Obedience commands work well if they've been taught in a positive way. Tricks are a good substite, or hide and seek (toys or food), or anyone of the numerous puzzle toys now on the market. Finally, present the dog with a toy to occupy it and further allow it to release it's stress if it so desires. This is where a chew toy or food toy comes in. Kibble Nibble, Buster Cube, or Kong work well. Natural bones/beef bones are a second option. Compressed Rawhide only if your dog doesn't ingest too much of it. If you've followed through with the stress releasing exercise, the mind engaging exercise, and the additional choice of a chew/food toy and your dog goes back to wild behavior follow through with time outs if you can do them without turning them into a frustrating session of "catch the dog". When the dog is relaxed and calm And entertaining itself it's allowed to remain out with you. If the dog engages in wild behaviour or attention seeking, it's taken to it's time out area (dog proofed room, or crate) until it settles. It is important to allow the dog back in main area with you when it relaxes in order for it to learn to remain relaxed when free in the house with you.
Hopefully the next day Fire decides to be crazy...I'll have time to follow through with this program myself. It does work, and is the reason why Fire in general is free in the house whenever I'm home. But dogs like humans are not perfect and the young ones will have days when you just don't understand their behavior! :-)
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