Our dog Nickie is now 8 1/2 months old (about 65 pounds) - bullmastiff/pitbull mix. We have had him since he was 8 weeks old and have had our ups and downs with him.

Our main problem is he gets so "amped up" when he is outside with us that he won't listen! We have taught him sit, down, wait, watch me, etc. (we have the puppy DVD, the basic obedience DVD, and the aggressive and dominant dog DVD). We always make him sit before he goes outside, sit before he is fed, is not allowed on furniture or bed, etc. etc.

He walks on leash & prong collar with me every morning for a mile. He is not aggressive to other dogs, is just mildly interested in people that we pass on our walks, is basically a pretty good boy!

Am I expecting too much of him at his age? We have not had him neutered yet - was going to wait until he was at least a year old but am wondering if that would curb some of his over enthusiasm.

A week ago we were seriously talking of trying to find him a more suitable home with a younger couple (we are both 60 years old). I just don't want to give up on him after all this time of working with him. It's just that he is so strong when he is playing and jumping up, etc. and won't listen.

My sister was visiting us this past weekend and walked with us two times - she said that I was not being assertive enough with Nickie to show him that it was my walk and not his - after a couple of hard corrections on the prong collar from her, he was walking like a gentleman - not pulling at all. It really made a world of difference when I walked him the rest of the way home - guess I was just giving him a lot of "nagging corrections" instead of correcting to the level of obedience like Ed says.

Oh, another thing - when I have him out of his crate lying at my feet chewing on his toy or bone, he will be fine for a few minutes but then he starts trying to chew on my shoe. One evening when I wasn't paying attention and thought he was being so good & quiet, I discovered that he had chewed through my shoe laces!

Anyway, any thoughts on this wild older puppy and his two tired older owners?

I would start by developing some games with him that tire him and not you, such as fetch while you sit an a lawn chair and he chases a ball and brings it back.

You answered your own question about the walks and the pulling.

The chewing and any other destructive behavior will decline rapidly when he's tired.

He needs more exercise, it seems pretty apparent, and it can be done without wiping out the handlers.

If you can manage TWO of those walks, one late in the day, I think that too would calm your guy down.

Training, too, is tiring for a young dog, and I would make sure I was keeping up with training all the time.... just short bits throughout the day.

Oh, and the jumping up, etc. -- it's much more fun and a lot less tiring to teach behavior you want, rather than say no to behavior you don't want.

So to be petted by a new person (or whatever), he must sit. No attention from jumping. I'd ask others to ignore him 100% until he is following the command you give him for greetings.

I think you can do this.... and pretty easily. You're so far with him, as you say! :>

Thanks Connie, some good ideas! Just tonight after I got home from work, I took him outside on his drag line & prong collar. We walked around the back yard and he investigated everything. Then I got his two favorite outside toys (a squeaky toy and a hard rubber ball). I make Nickie sit while I throw one of the toys and he runs after it. Then when he comes back with it, I tell him to sit but if I don't throw the toy in my hand fast enough, he leaps up at my face. Then I grab the drag line, pulling him downward and say "No, off!" If I just try to ignore him when he jumps up, he won't stop and I'm afraid he will hurt me! I'm just not used to such a big playful dog!

What is your opinion on the neutering question?

 Quote: diane joslin

I make Nickie sit while I throw one of the toys and he runs after it. Then when he comes back with it, I tell him to sit but if I don't throw the toy in my hand fast enough, he leaps up at my face. Then I grab the drag line, pulling him downward and say "No, off!" If I just try to ignore him when he jumps up, he won't stop and I'm afraid he will hurt me!

I think that if you ignore it 100%, or turn your back, that behavior will fall away. If it's absolutely unrewarded, there will be no benefit to the dog. The thing is, though, that excited attention to it is a reward..... so I remind myself of that. Another thing I've done is to move forward into the dog when he's in my space so that he loses his balance and is on the ground with a "What the heck just happened?" look.

I have gone so far as to knee a bigger dog who is persisting in being up in my face, too, and it works pretty fast to demonstrate that that behavior is not productive to the dog. By this I mean lifting my knee to block his chest.

But turning my back has always been pretty successful when the dog wants to play; my back is useless to him. :>

I would always remember not to reward the unwanted behavior with a toss of the toy. The game does not continue until it's on your terms. Ever. One time of rewarding the wrong behavior undoes a lot of times of not doing it, because it teaches the dog that "Sometimes this works, so I'll try it."

Thanks Connie - I'm also going to try your suggestion of adding a second walk with Nickie when I get home from work. I hadn't tried that before because the advice of this board was that a mile walk was more than enough for a pup of his age.

Another factor will be the hot sidewalks in the evening here in Las Vegas (temps are already approaching the 100 degree mark). The pads of his feet still seem so soft and I sure don't want him to burn his feet! We have no option of walking in grass except in our own back yard.

Also, do you have any opinion on the neutering question?

 Quote: Diane Joslin

Thanks Connie - I'm also going to try your suggestion of adding a second walk with Nickie when I get home from work. I hadn't tried that before because the advice of this board was that a mile walk was more than enough for a pup of his age.

OH!

I'm sorry. I misspoke..... I didn't pay enough attention to the age of the dog.

They are right.

Is there any way to drive to a grassy area for the second walk? I think the puppy folks will speak up if I'm wrong, but I believe that walking and playing on soft surfaces are safe.

I'm with you, too, about avoiding hot concrete with any age dog.

I see now why you mentioned a walk on lead around your own yard. That was a good idea of yours. :>

There is another thread going on at the moment about training incorporated into games. IMO, this is ideal for tiring a high-energy dog, because mind-work is tiring.
http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=142466#Post142466

P.S. Do post back about your progress. I think that draining frustrated energy with games, structured exercise, and training is a huge factor in having a mannered companion dog who is happily tired enough not to resort to destructive chewing, digging, and so on.

Another thing that may work Diane is to step on the drag line and when he tries to jump at you, he will self correct. A few of those and I'm sure he will stop. Also, don't let him see you step on the line, just slide your foot over it.

Also...to add. You and your partner may want to go to a grassy field as Connie said, and tie a fun toy to a 30-50 foot rope. Make sure the toy is heavy enough to toss back to each other. This will tire your pup out and not you guys!

When I was fostering my dogs littermate the 1st week, it was too hard to walk them together so I'd be kind of tired from running with my dog, then take the other. We did this for the second dog and it gave him a great workout! After a week I was able to run with both of them, but that method worked great and only tired the pup.

 Quote: Alex Corral

Another thing that may work Diane is to step on the drag line and when he tries to jump at you, he will self correct. A few of those and I'm sure he will stop. Also, don't let him see you step on the line, just slide your foot over it.

Even better, Alex.

I've certainly done that with new dogs who wanted to jump on other people greeting them on walks. You're right; it works great.

I do step on the drag line when it is where I can get to it. Unfortunately, when Nickie is running full speed at me, the drag line (by its very nature) is trailing behind him, therefore, I cannot step on it! I'm sure you realize that this all happens in what seems to be a split second (he is so very fast).

We are close to a couple of schools with grass, etc. but unfortunately the rules always are posted "No dogs allowed on school property". Dog parks are definitely out for obvious reasons.