Dog has no chill

[truckerdan]

Hi all,
My partner and I adopted a 1 y/o feist 1.5 months ago and love having him. He bonded very easily to us and is super cute, especially when he’s tired and calm. Unfortunately, he is very rarely calm and can go from 0-100 in a few seconds.

He has a lot of energy. We live in a city and don’t have a yard, but we walk him 4-5 times per day, and sometimes my husband will take him on short runs. We also play with him inside, do obedience and trick training, and have lots of chew toys/kongs/snuffle mats for him. We can’t do dog parks or doggie daycare yet because he is dog reactive — we just started working with a trainer on this.

The problem is that if he’s bored for 2 seconds, he will start whining, running up to the window sill and then sprinting to the door (even if we just went outside), or barking. This can happen even after we took him for a long walk, played for 20 minutes and then trained with him for a bit. We try to reinforce calm behavior and have taught him to go to his place and sit as a redirection, but often we just have to put him in his crate because it’s the only place he can chill. This week he has starting whining and pawing at the crate for the first 5 minutes in there but will eventually settle down.

We tried the first day of the relaxation protocol today and he was getting antsy with sitting halfway through. We will continue to work on it.

My questions are:
1) is there any way to help him settle outside of the crate?
2) was your dog ever like this? If so, how did you manage it?

I really want to be patient and recognize that he’s early in his adjustment to us and is also probably in dog adolescence. It’s just been hard to not be able to have him calm unless it’s after 830pm.

We are both working from home for now so he is never in his crate for more than 1-3 hours at a time and no more than 8 hours during the day.

Sorry this is long, and thanks for any advice!!

 

[tanjaw]

@truckerdan My dog was just like this! I found that less walks and more mental activities such as sniffing is the way to go. We completely ditched the bowl and now use frozen kongs, liki, snuffle mats, stuffed bones and games for all food. We had to stop all high energy play for a while until she got used to being calm and learned how to calm down after play. If he’s dog reactive, I would considerably limit the walks right now, as his stress level is probably way too high for him to calm down. Work through the calmness wheel (I’ll link it) and aim for 80% of the day in calmness (I know it’s hard at first, but you’ll get there). Here’s a good resource on teaching your dog how to be calm.

http://absolutedog.s3.amazonaws.com/The_Calmness_Code/Calmness_eBook_07.pdf

 

[truckerdan]

@tanjaw Thank you SO MUCH!! Will definitely check this out.

 

[may161965]

@truckerdan I think you’re on the right track with the relaxation protocol. If he’s getting antsy with it that’s a sign that it’s time to end the session, keep the sessions as short as he can handle and gradually increase the amount of time. You want every session to be successful and totally relaxed. Every dog will have a different amount of time they’re capable of starting with, you don’t have to follow the protocol to the letter. Your first session may only be 30 seconds and that’s ok, just continue to build on it. I read a great book recently “fired up, frantic, and freaked out” that discusses mat training and teaching a dog to relax (very similar to relaxation protocol) so that might be worth a read if you want more information about the methods behind it and a different take on the process.

I would also recommend increasing the amount of enrichment you have available for him throughout the day. Mental stimulation is more tiring and sustainable than physical exercise. Puzzle games, slow feeders, kongs, snuffle mats, interactive toys, etc. There are endless options out there.

At 1.5 months in he’s definitely still adjusting so it may take some a little more time for him to get fully settled in to the new environment and routine.

 

[truckerdan]

@may161965 Thank you! It’s helpful to know that we can be flexible with the protocol. I looked ahead a few days and thinks he won’t be ready for that in a while, but we will keep practicing

 

[em1967]

@truckerdan Just want to second the RP (we started on Karen Overall's soon after bringing home our border collie puppy) - it's such an amazing tool. Go slow, like the other @may161965 said. You want to build it strong, and that means baby steps. Once he's got a good handle on it (like 30 seconds wait), make sure you generalise it to other places - grass outside, a cafe etc. Go slow at these places too, but in our experience, this is where our pup really started to 'get' that being chill meant good things happened.

good luck!

 

[vinayakc]

@truckerdan I agree with all the comments suggesting puzzle Toys and mental stimulation. Have a look at PupPod. My dog will work for over an hour to earn a normal meal of kibble. And then take a long nap.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@truckerdan This is very very similar to my case. I live in one of the biggest cities in the world and it's hard to get adequate exercise. My dog is also reactive because his energy makes hin anxious and that makes him fearful. So maybe that's what's happening in your case as well.

I have never liked crates and my dog has a bed but has never been crated and is almost never chained. I have figured out a few things to help his energy levels.
I walk him around 5miles(8kme) a day, over 3 sessions. During one of these walks we meet a stray dog who is a friend of his who he isn't reactive towards since they grew up together as pups.
I play fetch with him inside the house given size of my apartment but it's an easy way to play even while working. My friends have products like iFetch which also help a lot.
I am teaching him to scent track, I make him sit and wait while I hide a scented cloth around the house and ask him to find it. He tends to find it pretty quick but it helps his focus and that has been a big help. I have made him scent track on walks a few times, he finds this harder and sometimes gets frustrated so I make this somewhat easy.

He got in the habit of begging for play by barking or whining during which time I ignore him, though on occasion I give him a rawhide because I'm in a meeting and can't afford the barking.

 

[vxf5015]

@truckerdan Hey! I have a 4 month old rat terrier and he is exactly the same way, he's finally starting to be more chill. They need tons of exercise and mental simulation. We do two hours in the crate and 20 to 30 minutes out which over time has been very effective. Really important that they understand when its play time and when it's chill time. So take them out play/train and then if they're still hyped put the pup back in the crate.

 

[truckerdan]

@vxf5015 Thank you! That’s kind of been our approach too. I don’t want to over-crate him, but he needs to learn to be calm before he can roam around more

 

[vxf5015]

@truckerdan As long as they aren't in the crate for more than 2-3 hours at a time during the day with a max time of 4 hours you won't over crate them. Most dogs need at least 12 hours of sleep and for super active dogs having them out of the crate for too long will prevent them from sleeping enough due to constant stimulation. If we leave our pup out all day he won't sleep at all and he should be getting 16 hours a day. I used to train malinois and GS in the military and even those big high energy dogs needed to be crated a minimum of 8 hours per day which was required of us by our animal welfare governing agency. Which wasn't hard because after a hard training session they want to go and sleep. Sorry if I sound like a know it all but I was in your shoes when I got my first rat terrier. Even after training working dogs for 6 years the little terriers were tough.

 

[truckerdan]

@vxf5015 You sound super helpful! Thank you. I’m a first time dog owner and just want to get it right, so your perspective is super helpful

 

[vxf5015]

also, I have a 10 y/o rat terrier who is the absolute most chill dog in the world. Complete lap dog. Feists/rat terriers were bred to be outdoor farm dogs but are very adaptable.house manner training is really important. Over time with the crating they will learn that the only time we play in the house is when its with you. You're gonna need anywhere from 3 to 6 months of the 2 hours in 30 minutes out crate training for them.

 

[godismyhonor]

@truckerdan Elevated kuranda beds are fantastic for place training. This is one of my go to's for energizer pups. Sounds like you are doing pretty well. Keep up with place training, and don't be afraid to wait out some tantrums.

You can also try crating in you living space for short periods, being around you and being calm may help. You will probably have to wait some whining out doing this.

Also, try not to let him initiate play. If he whines and bounces around until you play with him, he will likely continue doing this. Try putting playtime on queue, and don't initiate while he is whining or barking.

Some doorway desensitizing may help. Practice going outside like you are walking, put jacket on and all, walk out door, treat, then walk back in and treat.

Less toys inside. No free range food or toys. Chews can be in crate, but outside of this limit his access to playing with you. Also, don't play in areas you want him to be calm. If you want him calm in living area, take him to a different room to play. Environments themselves can be stimulating if they are used to being stimulated in that environment. When playtime is done, give a clear signal. I use 'All done' as mine. I clearly put toy/treats away in his view, and change my demeaner from playful to calm. Regardless of if it seems to work, stop play. Don't play for a bit after saying this. He will get used to it. Think of it as trying to program an off switch. To signal playtime i say 'Are you ready?' or 'want to play?' , play with him for a bit, then 'All done' and toys go away. After all done it may help to put him on leash and just walk around house a bit like you are going about your business. It may help normalize being calm around you. Then back to crate for a little bit to cool off. Once he noticeable starts picking up on all done queue, extend his freedom post play session while he's calm.

Sounds like it's not an exercise or boredom issue, and you are doing great!

 

[truckerdan]

@godismyhonor Thanks for all of these helpful suggestions! I especially like the ideas about setting boundaries around play