My 6 month old male Rottweiler is great 95% of the time, but about once / day he will get all wound up in the house without provocation and will bark, put his butt in the air in a playful manner, "orbit" (run down hall, around living room, etc..) and if ignored he'll nip. I've tried ignoring him and walking away, but he'll sneak up and nip my ankle/leg. I hear a lot on this site about how you shouldn't alpha roll, but until recently I've done this and it worked to settle him down. I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing, though. A small pinch and "no" seems to not affect him at all. Maybe i'll keep a leash on him and if this happens give a leash correction? Please let me know what I should do.
Also, he likes his cage generally, so I try not to put him in there as a punishment ever (so that he continues to like it). If he acts this way should I put him in his cage?

Sounds like a rowdy, physical pup. You have to remember that if you had not removed him from the litter, he'd have 4 or 5 littermates to wrestle and fight with almost constantly. That energy has to go somewhere. What is your exercise and training schedule with him currently?

Heck, sounds like any dog without quite enough physical outlet.

I have a Pug(!) who did it, in a top-speed multi-lap race around the coffee table every afternoon, when I had a broken foot.

In a dog the age of the O.P.'s, folks in our club call that the zoomies, and they view it as a reminder about draining off frustrated energy.

Our current foster mutt gets the "zooms" at least once a day (he's a year old). Man I wish I had that kind of energy. He's a an Akita/GSD mix, and my son's Border Collie can't come close to keeping up with him in the "zoom" state. He acts like he swallowed a quart of rocket fuel - it's a blast to watch - the sheer joy they get out of running, cutting, jumping - oh, man I need to get it on video sometime.

My dog will zoom if he doesn't get out enough in a day...luckily with the summer her I've managed to have not one "zoom" this season since his literally put him ON walls.


I'd add in some extra activity where he gets to run as fast as he can. We use frisbee at this house as well as a frisbee/speed obedience mix

Ours gets the zooms outside, and it's regardless of how much exercise he's had earlier (he gets an early morning walk/run every day). He's still crated or tethered to me inside. Too many other creatures running around my house.

I love the zooms. Those are "happy times" in our yard.

Thanks for the answers, guys. I walk him 2x per day.. Once in the morning before work (fast paced 1 mile) and once in the evening (fast paced 3 miles). I didn't want to give him too much exercise while he's growing. Could I step it up a bit? He is always lazy in the morning and gets wound up at night. I come home at lunch to let him out and feed him - should I get him a walk in at that time too? Thanks!

 Quote: Ryan Rubel

Thanks for the answers, guys. I walk him 2x per day.. Once in the morning before work (fast paced 1 mile) and once in the evening (fast paced 3 miles). I didn't want to give him too much exercise while he's growing. Could I step it up a bit? He is always lazy in the morning and gets wound up at night. I come home at lunch to let him out and feed him - should I get him a walk in at that time too? Thanks!

Ryan, it's a challenge to keep them exercised, and I definitely hear you about too many miles on those growing joints. Others will chime in, but I'm trying to keep our guy at or under what you are doing for the same reason, and he's a year old. Is swimming a possibility? Are there any other dogs around he could romp with on occasion (more of a whole-body exercise rather than pounding pavement). I would guess his rowdiness is before the evening walk, right? It's difficult, but possible to move the walk up a little (before supper???) That way, he'd be more relaxed during your meal - you'd be eating later, but might be worth it. Weighted backpack?

Dogs need more than the physical. With just exercise, they build up stamina and could just go further and further without tiring. It helps to build in some mental games/training time that can MENTALLY exercise the dog as well. There was a recent thread in which a Malinois breeder listed a number of games and activities that she uses with her Mals - maybe someone will come along and link it for us?

Definitely a change in routine is in order, though. That's alot of energy you are dealing with, and you'll never squelch it with dominance alone. That dog of yours is a worker without a job right now.

Ryan, I just reread your post and saw one other factor that may be contributing. It doesn't sound like your pup has earned the privilege, through calm behavior, to be loose in the house. I remember Ed Frawley has discussed that most of his dogs are two years old or older before they get "house privileges." Our yearling foster mutt is too rowdy with our cats, so when he's in the house (unfortunately alot these days because of the heat), he's tethered to me on his leash and a prong collar. It's actually helped him alot, and given lots and lots of opportunities for further guidance and socialization among the family pack. He earns lots of treats and "good boys" for calm, submissive behavior, and gets an immediate correction if he tries to lunge at a cat. His indoor behavior started improving almost immediately when he saw that he got to come out of the crate and walk around with me (or sit by my chair as I read, watch TV, or whatever).

With smaller pups an Ex-pen can help. Not sure one would contain your big guy. Some folks use a tether in the house attached to the wall or a heavy piece of furniture. We found that a tether helped some with our guy, but just increased his frustration when there was alot of activity in the room.

If you haven't seen Ed's "Building a pack" video, I'd highly recommend it. Also, the "Raising a working pup" video might help.

 Quote: rob abel

There was a recent thread in which a Malinois breeder listed a number of games and activities that she uses with her Mals - maybe someone will come along and link it for us?

I will :-)
Inside Games

The post is about half way down the page.

Ryan, do you have a yard? One thing I do with my pups is teach them "inside voice" and "outside voice", although it really isn't a vocal thing LOL But it's the same concept as kids learning the inside vs outside voice, if one of my dog gets the zoomies, and I'm not laughing at them to hard, they are told to go outside. The can zoom out there as much as they want, and when they are done they can come back inside.

If you don't have that option, and your pup is getting the zoomies at the same approximate time each day, I would consider a walk at that time or some other form of exercise. Also, does your pup get any off leash time? A brisk walk with a human really isn't that much exercise for the average dog, not when you consider if you take that same dog somewhere and turn them loose while you walk the same distance/pace, they will cover 3 or 4 times as much ground, and probably at much high speeds. And it's important for a growing pups body to be able to really stretch out and RUN on a regular basis. If you can, I would try to make at least one of my walks to a location where the pup can be turned loose (safely and legally :-) ) to really stretch out and run.

As far as working the pup to much, I let the pup decide. You need to be careful you aren't pushing them, and I do pay attention to what surface we are on (try not to exercise all the time on pavement), I don't encourage them to be launching off really high places, but otherwise I let the pup tell me what they want to do and when they have had enough. Raising them in a bubble can actually be as damaging for their body as encouraging to much, they may not develope correctly, but also the lack of use can lead to injury when the dog does suddenly ask for 100% from their body. Like someone who doesn't exercise often, then goes out and tries to really "kill it", and ends up with an injury.