Harley just got 14 more staples tonight. Last month he got 7 and earlier this summer an other 7.

All those are for playing hard. When he is focused on something he just can't care.

The vet say that he is actualy very though as he just need a bit of skin feeze no tranq to get the staples in. He never yelp also.

I can run, bike, play he still finds a way to get hurt.

How do I keep him from killing himself? He can calm down but when in gears the brain is not all there.

I'm thinking of bubble wrap, bullet proof vest for him

Maybe he's learned foolishness from horses!

What about self control games and teaching him to go in and out of drive? Dogs tend to get hurt when they go full speed ahead without thinking. Kenzi will really rip up her pads playing ball if it's a free for all so I try to change it up and turn it into a thinking game instead of a free for all

For instance instead of just throwing a ball, put him in a down stay, throw the ball into tall grass (or something) and release him to search for the ball - a great combination of physical and mental exercise with training thrown in for good measure!

Come up with ways to make him stop and focus frequently throughout his exercise sessions. Change up routines to keep him on his toes and guessing about what comes next instead of charging ahead to do it.

We can do ob while in play. He will shake all over but hold a stay before dashing after his ball.

Once the ball landed in rose bushes and he got it back. My mistake I did not realize that the ball was in the bush. He just got some scratched from that.

When he goes after the stay he will run into what ever is between him and the ball.

Yesterday accident was when my boyfriend came back from work. Then he just run off like mad and slip, then got right back to crazy running back to me.

There was a bulldoze working at home yesterday, well he did try to go in to say hello to this new person. I call him back, the bulldozer was at work!!!

Most accident happen during free time, run in the wood, free in the yard.

He is not the one to bump or brake stuff in the house so he must have some body awarenees but no fear of pain

Ariane, it sound like he’s just nuts, lol. I think Betty nailed it. He’s just goofy, crazy and maybe watching the horses bounce around helped with that.

Have you tried a tire hanging from a tree? It’s gotta be supervised but oh my gawd can they take punishment from this – and they don’t get cut from the thick rubber.

Ours is high enough that they can’t quite get their paws on top of it so they have to manipulate the lower part, not the heavy chain securing it. And I have a rope dangling from it.

Echo’s not a bite gripper but he loves rope. Not to be confused with tugging, but he will dig in his heels and do a steady pull with his mouth. Vince is vice grip city on this. So as Echo pulls it back (higher) Vince is steadily at it gripping to pull it down. Echo will often let go and if Vince is scoping out a new position and not right on it, it will smack him a good one. This is a 16 inch tire (and that’s just the hole on the inside).

When the tire bounces off Vince, this really intensifies his play. I swear Echo knows what he’s doing. With their high tolerance to pain, and I think I’m even going to go as far as saying, enjoyment of it in Vince’s case and this tire, I think there just might be some masochistic tendencies. (I should try and get some video - the process makes me crazy though :cry

As for self preservation, I think we need to train for the dangerous stuff (that bull dozer just sounds downright scary) and keep the rough stuff as safe as possible.

Is there any chance his eyesight is bad? Maybe the next time you have him at the vet, you could ask for a thorough eye exam on him.

I think that's really a long shot, though. I tend to agree that he's probably just being a typical high-energy, rough-and-tumble young male. I worry about mine sometimes too, when we're playing with the Chuck-It in my tree-filled yard and they get running and are so focused on the balls they're not watching where they're going.

Ariane, I deal with the same thing with Rose. She's come back bloody from a retrieve more times than I can count. Like CJ said, I built a springpole in my back yard that really gets the energy out. I hung a garage door spring and from it have a length of rope with a tire tied. It was great in teaching the "out," too. It needs to be supervised pretty closely -I'll sometimes hold the other end and get a little workout in myself!

love those pictures of your dogs. They are so cute! their names fit them completely. sharon

your high energy and high prey drive dogs remind me of my Cody. When he gets going he is a wild man. He has hurt himself before. Like the other posters have said games with self discipline works the best and he eats them up, he loves them!
(Cody is the little black dog in the picture)
sharon