Quote: Al Curbow

Jennifer,
When the pup gets amped up it's a good time to do some basic motivational obedience! How old is the little monster? He sounds fun. And Mike is right about the cat thing, lol. my pup figured out the cat is fun to get and is now obsessed with eating him, PITA.

He is fun!!! He is a good pup, really very few problems, not destructive, understands potty training, is affectionate with us and getting better with strangers. Just a good little guy.
With more energy than I have ever encountered in a pup this age and he is so resistant to corrections, I guess hard is the word for it.

I have tried to redirect this to motivational training, but his brain has shut off during these times and he is too wound up to focus on anything other than run chase pounce bite. We either go go for a quick walk or if I know hes tired he goes into the crate with his kong to sleep.

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I dont allow him loose near the cats, but I cant stop the cat from coming near him.. the cat will either put the fear of CAT into him or learn to keep his distance.

Put the cat in another room when the pup is out.

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In the evenings we all hang out. They are primarily pets so I need them to be friends, it makes my life much much easier.

I would limit interaction with other dogs to MAYBE 2 or 3 minutes a day or every other day. While it seems much easier for them to all be friends, its a pain in the ass when he is 18 months old and cares more about being with the other dogs than listening to you.

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Scruff shakes, and belly rolls only escalate it when he is out of control. So im not sure what im gonna do with my little guy.

At 14 weeks old none of this should be neccesary.

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He still wont sleep in the crate at night, so he has been sleeping on his bed on the floor next to me, no accidents or problems so far, so its working for now.

What do you mean he still won't sleep in the crate? Put his ass in the crate, whether he sleeps or not, thats where he should be. Since when does a puppy have a choice in the matter?????

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He has a snack and then we walk a mile to a mile and half in the morning to get the willies out, he is rarin to go the entire time, but I dont rush it, we go slow and stop to sniff and check things out along the way. Yesterday we spent about 45 minutes following the mailman and slowly decreasing the distance until finally he wanted to meet him and sniff his hand

This is WAYYYYY TOO MUCH!!! 14 week old puppies should be running around in the back yard chasing bugs, no structured walks, definitely not on hard surfaces. And what is this about a snack? How many times are you feeding him a day, and what does this snack consist of? 14 week olds should eat 3 times a day, full meals in each sitting. No exercise after food or water, ever, for as long as the dog lives.

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the mid-day walk is shorter but faster, we do about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile.
Then he crashes again until 2:45 when its time to go pick my son up from school, generally we walk again and its 6 blocks total round trip.

The morning walk is already too much for a pup of this age, and you are doing it multiple times a day?? Too much! He might be an energizer bunny, but his joints are not ready for this.

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But after about 4 tosses he just looks at me like "well if your just gonna keep throwing it!" A retriever he is not!!

If he gets bored after the 4th throw, then stop at the 3rd throw. Quit while you have success, and dont let him get the habbit of running away with the ball or playing keep away. At 14 weeks its not usually that bad, but wait till he is 6 months old and won't come anywhere near you when he has the ball. Don't let him develop that habbit, put him on a long line and reel him in if you have to.

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Then around 930 or 10 he starts getting spastic, over stimulated and onery and he cant seem to settle down and sleep.

This is the "puppy witching hour".

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But another walk seems to help. I dont know if its the fresh air or the change in scenery or what but it does seem to help. then evening walk is shorter.

Again, see previous 2 comments about over-exercise.

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Sometimes there is another walk thrown in there when he is just being a total spaz, but they are spread out and not too long at once.

Again.........

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So maybe not quite 3.5 but it is between 2 and three total throughout the day

Still too much. This is exercise distance for a 12-14 MONTH old not WEEK old.

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I always make him stop before he wants to, and he never seems tired or resistant to it.

This is something you need to learn with a high energy dog. If I let my dogs decide when to stop, they would all be dead from heat stroke now. Quite literally, I am not kidding. They would rather kill themselves than stop.

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He is 14 and half weeks now.

At 14 weeks he should be chasing bugs in the grass, and still crated ALOT. The joints are not set, the growth plates aren't closed, the ligaments haven't tightened up yet, and he is still a rapidly growing pup.

And YOU should be the one deciding to put him in a crate, a dog does not have a choice in the matter, they go in a crate at 8 weeks and they deal with it.

We walks on grass and I really wouldnt call it structured, I walk on the street and he walks on the grass next to me.

I will shorten the amounts and the distance, like I said above he will run himself if im not doing it, either doing laps around the yard or zoomies up and down the hallway, but at least that way I know im not overdoing it.
This morning we walked 4 blocks. And he has not been to sleep yet, He just had lunch and is chewing his kong in his crate so hopefully he will sleep now. Hopefully

We are working on the crate, and yes I agree most pups go in at 8 weeks and deal with it, they cry and then they stop and its all ok.
But this little guy was shaking, vomiting, urinating on himself and thats a different thing than letting him cry it out. I work from home so I am able to spend more time acclimating him to it.

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

We are working on the crate, and yes I agree most pups go in at 8 weeks and deal with it, they cry and then they stop and its all ok.
But this little guy was shaking, vomiting, urinating on himself and thats a different thing than letting him cry it out. I work from home so I am able to spend more time acclimating him to it.

Vomiting, etc., from being crated?

Total panic within a couple of minutes, to the point of throwing up etc, he doesnt do that anymore but i have been working everyday and adding on time and giving him his kong only in there, and he eats in there, and when he goes in on his own with the door open to lay down i reward him big time.

We're getting there.

I am confused why a puppy you raised from 8 weeks old behaves this way with the crate. Who is the breeder? What breed is he?

 Quote: jennifer lee

I will shorten the amounts and the distance, like I said above he will run himself if im not doing it, either doing laps around the yard or zoomies up and down the hallway, but at least that way I know im not overdoing it.

Letting a puppy run, jump and explore while you are out with him on soft ground (not concrete, asphalt ect...) is perfectly acceptable since they can gauge themselves.
Structured exercise like agility, jogging ect... is what needs to be avoided.
I take Ember on long walks around our 80 acres with rest breaks in between. She gets to do whatever she likes as we walk.
On the way back to the house is when I hook her up and walk her on-lead. This way she is tired out enough to pay attention to what I want (and my pocket full of yummy treats).

I do this twice a day with her as well as easy games of tug with the bite rag.

The rest of the time, she is in her crate or tethered to me. She does get about an hour of "free time" in the house and we do little things like work on sitz, platz and place (standing in between my legs), but that is about it for now.

I am anxiously awaiting going to a Michael Ellis seminar so that I can get some assistance on what to do with some other "issues" that I am having with her.

Even though she never seems to tire, I know that she is tired. Kind of like the toddler that fights going to bed.
If I have not given her enough exercise, she protests her crate a bit. But she sleeps through the night when I have tired her out enough.

You have to find that balance of what best suits your pup. My pup probably needs more than a more laid back puppy, just as I am sure there are other pups out there that may need a bit more......


I hope that makes sense.....

As far as the crate issues.....small amounts of time, letting him out when he is calm and quiet with a much liked reward then gradually building the time frame should help.

How big is the crate? If it is too big, he may have too much space to be able to calm down and relax and if it is too small he may be uncomfortable in there.

Ember has a "medium crate" to where she can stand, turn and her head does not hit the top. But she will stay in the large crates if I need her to, without protest or accidents.

He is a husky, it was not a good breeder, I took him knowing the issues and risks involved and then reported the breeder..
It was not a puppy mill or obvious physical abuse, but neglect for sure. His momma was sweet and friendly and I liked her personality a lot, The dad was friendly enough, he came over and sniffed me and let me pet him and say hi but wasnt really interested in us.

The pups had little handling, were horribly shy except for Fargo, were filthy, and kept outside in a 6x6ish pen with dirt floors which was not cleaned nearly as often as it should have been.
He had some intestinal parasites and he is very shy with strangers and new people, but overall we have had very few problems considering the circumstances. He is learning to be ok with other people, his tummy is cleared up, and he is quick to learn, eager to please, growing like a weed and understands potty training very well for a pup who left outdoors in their own poo/pee. He is just VERY high energy and the crate has been a challenge.

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Edited by Jennifer Lee (01/11/2008 12:04 PM)
Edit reason: typos

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Letting a puppy run, jump and explore while you are out with him on soft ground (not concrete, asphalt ect...) is perfectly acceptable since they can gauge themselves.
Structured exercise like agility, jogging ect... is what needs to be avoided.
I take Ember on long walks around our 80 acres with rest breaks in between. She gets to do whatever she likes as we walk.
On the way back to the house is when I hook her up and walk her on-lead. This way she is tired out enough to pay attention to what I want (and my pocket full of yummy treats).

When we walk it isnt structured either, we do a little work here and there on being controlled, basically i walk in big circles to try and alleviate some pulling.

He is on the leash but that is only for safety, he only gets to be off lead in the back yard or when we can go to the playground up the street that is fenced in.

We sniff, we sit, we watch.
Stuff like following the mailman for 45 minutes at pups own pace until he was comfortable enough to actually approach him.

Being a husky chances are he will nearly always have to be on lead unless it is a good fence, and even then he may have to drag a line so I can catch him. I know a few who have been trainable off lead, but very few, and i just dont know if i will risk it after Levi.

We have a 4 foot lead for walking near traffic that we dont use much for him right now. Then the 6 foot that he wears in the house all the time and on most walks. And a 20 foot drag line he can wear at the regular park or when we start taking him to the lake. 20 feet is long enough for both some freedom and for me to be able to catch him should his instincts kick in.

I never thought that anyone was going to catch on regards the distance the puppy walked, But Mike did
I still do not take my Pups that distance about one Mile for Fred 14 months old, for me is far enough as he trains at a club four times a week
Young Goran coming 7 months Old One Km twice a day. sometimes only once he also goes training four times a week, but does only no more than 10 minutes work each session,
Fred has had his Joints X-Rayed about a month ago, it will be a couple more before we get results, I will not overwork them whist they are growing, the old saying is 'More Haste less Speed'
But we all differ and who is to say what is right