So I've been working on Reese's hyperactivity. She does get daily exercise. She is walked for 45 minutes to well over an hour every morning( depends on what time I have to work ), then biked in the evening, plus play in between.

She used to spin and dance around uncontrollably when I traveled from room to room, panting like she is stressed and generally acting anxious, excited and knocking into things. That is under control to where she will walk calmly next to me. Still, she gets this way when being fed, let in/out of her crate, going through doorways, riding in the car, etc.

She will not go through doors without sitting and being told OK...but after being told that, she will make a rude, excited mad dash, often knocking into me or anything else in her way. Blocking her from this charging seems to just confuse her. This goes for being fed as well. I have tried standing there and giving her nothing until she calms down and eventually she does but she jumps RIGHT back into that state of mind when shown she can eat and I don't feel it is helping.

The same deal for car rides. I pick up keys, she starts to pant and act stupid. I wait, she finally calms down. We go outside, she gets excited at the car. Wait again. When she's calm-which can take a while at this point I open the door, she sits then is told she can get in. Bam..she is instantly up there and won't leave this state until we get back, no matter how long the drive. Anxious heavy panting and darting glances in all directions but excitement too. She won't calm down. I guess I could sit and wait in the car without turning it on, but I have sat out there for over half an hour waiting on the BF and she didn't stop.

Do I need to up the exercise? I can easily do so. Should I be more patient and keep waiting her out over and over?

how old is she?

And what type of mental exercise do you do with her?

I could spend all day walking/running Kira and she is still ready to go...spending 15 minutes training obedience and 20-30 minutes doing agility is what works for us. The "thinking" tires her out!

Have you used marker training with her at all? (Thinking click and treat for calm behavior would be good for her...)

She's a year and a half old.

I have to admit I haven't been training her alot, at least not like I used to-which was every day. Still proofing her on her sits/downs under heavy distractions as she is getting really good at it. A bit of heeling in the house as I'd like her to do so off-leash eventually for fun.

Yeah, I do marker training with all of her commands. It's how I was able to get her solid focus. She will stare at me so long it's kind of unsettling sometimes..hah.

Hm..Maybe I should start teaching her some neat tricks and see if that helps her state of mind. She loves to work and is really fun to train because she is so intense with her desire to please.

 Quote: Heather Perring

She's a year and a half old.

I have to admit I haven't been training her alot, at least not like I used to-which was every day. Still proofing her on her sits/downs under heavy distractions as she is getting really good at it. A bit of heeling in the house as I'd like her to do so off-leash eventually for fun.

Yeah, I do marker training with all of her commands. It's how I was able to get her solid focus. She will stare at me so long it's kind of unsettling sometimes..hah.

Hm..Maybe I should start teaching her some neat tricks and see if that helps her state of mind. She loves to work and is really fun to train because she is so intense with her desire to please.

what I do with mine are find it games, agility and advanced Obedience like the focused heeling excercise, just walking around ain't going to cut it. I also will put them in a down stay and walk about a hundred yards across the pastures and then call them and reward with their ball. tug and find it games are grat for rainy days

Thanks for the replies guys.

I always think about downing her then walking a long ways away and calling her but Ed was talking about in his video not allowing them to move at all until you get them yourself because they might 'hear' you tell them to get up and break it when you are far away. Do you ever have that happen?

I tug with her and that seems to tire her out but what about the find it games? How do you teach that? It sounds interesting.

 Quote: Heather Perring

Thanks for the replies guys.

I always think about downing her then walking a long ways away and calling her but Ed was talking about in his video not allowing them to move at all until you get them yourself because they might 'hear' you tell them to get up and break it when you are far away. Do you ever have that happen?

I tug with her and that seems to tire her out but what about the find it games? How do you teach that? It sounds interesting.

I think Ed says that you should go get the dog MOST of the time. That doesn't mean you have to go get the dog for every down/stay.

Have you tried giving her a job? Get her a back pack and slowly add weight to the pack, by adding water bottles.

I play a find it game with my puppy.
Her favorite toy is this stuffed mallard duck that quacks. She has learned the name of the toy, "duckie", so when I tell her to get her duckie she will go get it.

Then I started to up the game a notch by letting her watch me hide it behind some pillows while she is in a sit stay. I then tell her, go find the duckie! Off she goes pushing the pillows aside to find the duckie.

Then I upped it more by hiding the duckie when she can't see me.
She has a blast looking for it and is so happy and excited when she finds it she runs back and shoves the toy into me wagging her tail wanting to do it again.

Good times!

I have a friend who plays hide and seek with his dog in the house using walkie-talkies. He puts her in a sit stay with one receiver next to her, takes the other receiver and hides somewhere in the house. Releases her using the phrase, "Find Me". He says it's never taken her longer than 5 minutes to find him, no matter how clever his hiding place.

You might also want to start teaching her to track. That's a great outlet for an active mind.