I adopted a 2yr old GSD. 3/4th German lines with 1/4 American.

I've written before dealing with her mouthing/biting and have got that under control. Now I want to talk about her habit of pacing.

Since coming into my home she has paced. If uncorrected, there is no stopping her, she cannot calm herself down. I know this is not an issue of not enough exercise or lack of attention.

She gets plenty of exercise and I have to crate her a few times a day just so that she has some peace and quiet from all the attention she gets from my family.

This is how she acts:
When the house is calm, she is calm ... there is no problem. Once the children come home or if there is a lot of activity in the house ... she begins to pace. So this means that she rarely paces during the day when I am home with my husband and 3 children, but she paces like crazy when my other 6 children come home from school.

When the whole family is home, she is being played with, loved on and talked to a lot. But when the kids are doing their own things she will pace back and forth always ending with pouncing on her shadow.

The odd thing is that she seems to love pacing, especially when she is in my bedroom. She only goes there when it is time to sleep and if left to herself ... she will NOT stop. When in my room she has this huge doggy smile on her face as she does this, sometimes she goes faster and faster. I thought I could handle this by just correcting her, stopping her, redirecting her ... but I was wrong. She looooves pacing.

I am thinking that for her, pacing is rewarding with the exceptions where she cannot stop herself and drives herself into exhaustion (which I do not allow her to do).

My thoughts are that she might have been in a large kennel growing up and began pacing as a form of entertainment.

Her behavior is quite good. She is very balanced otherwise and good around people, kids and animals.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks

 Quote: tam haga

Since coming into my home she has paced. If uncorrected, there is no stopping her, she cannot calm herself down. I know this is not an issue of not enough exercise

How do you know that? I have to ask because that would be the issue 9 times out of 10.

However it started, however much she may enjoy it, nothing that takes that much energy is going to be as likely if the dog is tired. For me, increasing structured exercise and the frequency of short training sessions (tricks, basic ob, everything) always = Step One with a dog engaging in compulsive behavior.



JMO.


eta
I should rephrase that first paragraph. Maybe it was not the original issue, but it's still Step One for me on the road to dealing with it.


Edited by Connie Sutherland (02/07/2011 07:33 PM)
Edit reason: eta

Hi Tam,

What comes to my mind is that what you consider enough exercise, may not be enough for your dog. Playing and attention from the family intermixed with being crated for some peace and quiet honestly doesn't sound like she is getting regular, consistant, tongue-hanging out workouts.

HONESTLY - what do you consider enough exercise? NOT trying to put you on the spot - just helping you work through this. Walks on leashes generally don't count.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

How do you know that? I have to ask because that would be the issue 9 times out of 10.

How do I know that she will not stop? The first two days, I allowed her to go and go and go. I have never seen this issue before and wanted to analyze her behavior. Upon arriving to my home, her owner (a GSD breeder who breeds working lines and trains schutzhund) told me that this is something that she does.

I figured I could handle this since the dog will be by my side all day, every day.

 Quote: barbara schuler

Hi Tam,


HONESTLY - what do you consider enough exercise? NOT trying to put you on the spot - just helping you work through this. Walks on leashes generally don't count.

Hi Barbara! )
Other than last week's blizzard, she runs a mile with my husband, goes out with up to three different boys to run around the house (we have an acre of land), throw sticks, balls and play tug after school. When I say this ... I am not saying that three boys are playing with her at the same time, they play with her individually. The dog has been a great addition for the kids who want nothing more than to play play play after school.

Not many dogs get as much interaction as this dog gets. She is really a great dog. My 7yr old boy has a toy special for her so that she can drag him all over the house. They do this a few times a week. My 5yr old daughter has total confidence in herself to train the dog to "sitz" and "platz" etc. She takes Eva every day and trains her on a short leash. My 2yr old literally lays and climbs all over the dog which is why I crate her. If I didn't, then the dog would never get any sleep during the day.

As for the thinking, "A tired dog won't pace". That was my thinking. This is why I waited and observed her before posting this problem.

I researched dogs and found that there are in fact some breeds that have endless energy .. but that is not typical of GSDs. I am afraid my dog just can't help herself. I mean she actually seems thankful at times when I put her on a short leash in order to get her to stop pacing.

I don't know ... I'm tired right now. )

I had one of those, chase his shadow and barked at it whe there is action around but not directed at him.

Once I figure out what caused him to pace, I could control it and reduce it by getting him in high drive with me before the "event". That mean run, play, tug, train and tracking.
I get him physicaly and mentaly tired before hand.

He can play fetch in strech of 30 min at a time in high gears.
I even got to get him to run while I bike in the riding arena when it is too cold to run outside.

But when the even arrives he can "take a rest".

Basicly I try to get the high drive energy out on my terms but as soon as he start to pace I stop him.

 Quote: tam haga

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

How do you know that? I have to ask because that would be the issue 9 times out of 10.

How do I know that she will not stop? The first two days, I allowed her to go and go and go.

Tam, I THINK Connie's question was in regard to how do you know she gets enough exercise, because 9 out 10 times a dog shows this behavior, it is due to inadequate exercise.

With all the activity in your home, I can understand how it would appear that she gets more exercise than she needs. Just reading you have 9 kids makes me DOG TIRED and I'm not even there!!! However, a working line dog is a different creature than the regular dog; their needs are very, very different. I would suspect that the breeder who told you about her behavior, who has Schutzhund dogs, wasn't working THIS dog regularly... just an assumption.

She might be telling you she needs about triple the formal, regular exercise she is getting (not counting the playing with the kids)... at least triple.

That boggles my mind.

I am going to need time to figure out what to do if more exercise really is the case. WOW.

"This is how she acts:
When the house is calm, she is calm ... there is no problem. Once the children come home or if there is a lot of activity in the house ... she begins to pace. So this means that she rarely paces during the day when I am home with my husband and 3 children, but she paces like crazy when my other 6 children come home from school."

Does this clue sound like it could perhaps be anxiety rather than lack of exercise (if those are, in fact, different things)?

The fact that she can self-calm when the house is calm seems relevant. Could 9 children provide more stimulation (not less) than she needs?

Would she benefit from additional quite time in a crate--assuming that she's getting all this exercise, maybe she just needs some "me" time. I've also read good things about compression shirts that can help some nervous dogs self-calm.

Just rambling. But It seemed worth discussing.

I do relate to anxiety more than extra exercise. I am not ruling out exercise ... I am actually thinking that both issues should be dealt with. But you are right Tracy ... the fact that she is calm when the house is calm does say a lot.