How much do they really change around 1 year old?

[adam247]

@mikail Behavioral issues rarely get better with simply time.
They need knowledge, consistent training and proper exposure in a safe way.
If you are not in contact with a trainer I would strongly suggest you try and reach out. Even just joining some Facebook groups. Sharing your successes and failures to people who understand, can offer support and critiques, can be great.

If it were me I would be reaching out to a trainer, to at the very least do an acessment. That way you'd know if her needs are something you can provide long term.
If right now your just hanging on by a thread your possiblly doing more harm than good in the long run. The older and more engrained the behaviours are the harder time you (or a new owner) will have changing them! Just because she isn't the perfect dog for you does not mean she isn't the perfect dog for someone else.
I've gotten two dogs from similar situations, where the owner just couldn't manage, and I couldn't have been happier. They were both perfect in my eyes and household! It's out there and again there isn't shame in rehoming, it's the kindest thing people can do.

I'd be heartbroken if the previous owner wouldn't have placed mine with me. Sometimes I would think back on the life they had, where the owner was fustrated and at their wits end (rightfully so), the dog was being more and more isolated for safety, and slowly shutting in on herself. She went from extreme fear aggression, redirected aggression and pure panic; to a fully confident, titled sporting dog and very best pet.
Her previous owners were in no way abusive or neglectful. They were just inexperienced and had a very difficult dog. She was perfect for me and I stayed in contact with her previous owners for her whole life.

 

[mikail]

@adam247 That’s a really personal story, thanks for sharing! It’s helpful to know trust rehoming can mean a better life for both of us.

 

[chrischan]

@mikail I got a 1.5 year old boy, and he's NON STOP all day long ball ball ball, wrestle wrestle, run run.... He's constantly ON.

We also have a 5 year old female that chilled way out at 3 years old. She will actually chill, sit around the house with me, lay on the deck in the sun, dog stuff. Haha

But honestly I don't know what I would do without two of them to play with each other. Multiple times a day they'll be running around, wrestling, digging. We live on 10 acres and I work from home so they have lots of space and freedom.

 

[thisissosad]

@mikail Mine nearly seven and still a crackhead.

 

[godisgreat100]

@mikail ACD’s aren’t like normal dogs who go through a crazy hi-energy puppy phase for a year & then mellow out - they’re always frenetic hi maintenance animals. I thought my heeler would mellow out in middle age but he didn’t seem to or maybe I just didn’t notice. ha. He slowed down maybe when he hit age 9 or 10 or 11. Now he’s 13 & deaf and going blind so he’s slowed down a lot. But every heeler can be different so yours may experience a reduced energy level as she ages. Ya gotta run ‘em! Of course these dogs were bred to be on a ranch & not as house pets. Hang in there.

 

[patric]

@godisgreat100 My guy Pete self rescued at about 2 years old. One day there was this terribly abused, bleeding from a gash around his neck, on 3 legs with chemical burns on his face heeler near death in the sheep pen. Just horribly abused by someone who I'd like to hurt. I loaded him into my wife's SUV and took him 30 miles to our Vet who spent 5 days saving his life. That was nearly 9 years ago. He has been Mr. Supervisor and my best buddy. He had a cataract in his left eye so he was visually impaired which led to getting kicked by a Yak calf and losing his eye and upper canine tooth. He looks like a Pirate now. That hasn't slowed him down much though. Being a lifetime rancher and having herding breeds all the time I avoided ACD's because of their reputation for being stubborn and hard to work with. I'm just hooked on this breed now and will always have one for my personal companion. My wife is a Corgi trainer and competes with the cute "not" little rascals. People think they are soooo cute but make no mistake they are Tasmanian Devils in dog suits.

 

[neener99]

@patric That is so amazing, he found the home you both needed. The first heeler I ever knew well was a good friend's who found him in a dumpster at three weeks old. He was the best, a traveling dog and so smart. What is wrong with people sometimes?

 

[danero99]

@mikail Mine didn't start to mellow out until she tore her ACL around 6.

 

[rickel]

@danero99 Did you get surgery done?

 

[hongmin]

@mikail Our chihuahua/acd mix is turning four tomorrow and he is so different from the tiny devil he was as a puppy! My legs got so bruised from being bitten that my doctor started asking questions. I started walking around with a long tug toy (that reached the ground when I held it) so that he would bite that when I was walking and not the back of my legs! We also did dog daycare, lessons with a private trainer for the reactivity on walks, and lots of tennis ball time. Encouraging him to get a toy when he was over stimulated really helped too. We also practice tricks to work on getting him to pay attention to what we are doing/asking and not just make (questionable) decisions about things on his own.

I would say he started calming down closer to two, but around one was when we started with the trainer because at that point we knew we were way over our heads. I’d encourage you to find a trainer who has experience with herding breeds - it really made a huge difference for us in helping to understand our little guy and build our relationship. He was adopted to us as a terrier mix, and we had never had a herding dog before, so we’ve had to learn a lot.

 

[komani]

@mikail Our oldest ACD is turning 4 in April and he is just slightly starting to chill a little bit. With five full days of day care every week.

 

[mikail]

@komani yikes, this is what I’m afraid of!

 

[komani]

@mikail I hear you, but… he’s also the sweetest most loving boy. Totally worth it. You just have to plan on draining their batteries daily.

 

[search4peace]

@mikail they mellow out around 2 1/2 years. at around 18 months they'll settle down a little and become more adult, less pup ,

 

[adisciple]

@mikail Mine Bruno is 1yr 3 months and he hasn’t calmed down at all.

 

[dlyssesuouglas]

@mikail My 16 month old is still crazy. But my husband and I were reflecting tonight on how we’ve come so far since a year ago. He has his ups and downs, improvements and regressions. Overall he’s learned a lot, but the energy is always there. You also get used to it!

 

[iggyjr22]

@mikail Our pup has a pretty strict routine so she's pretty easy to manage. She knows each day what's happening and when and is perfectly content with the set up we have. The first year is rough with getting things set up and all the biting, but that stopped.

She's two now and still needs a ton of play, but she knows when that will happen so she's pretty chill doing the things she'd rather not do, like wait for play time or take an afternoon snooze. She knows right after it's frisbee time! Be consistent. They catch on.

 

[mikail]

@iggyjr22 Mind describing your routine, loosely? Mine gets bored after an hour of downtime and is asking to do something (ANYTHING!) again after two hours.

 

[iggyjr22]

@mikail It's not necessarily a routine for her, it's just our routine and she knows what to expect. Like, two days a week I work in the morning and she's home alone and goes in the crate for a few hours. She knows by the shoes I put on that that's what happens. And when I open the freezer to get her frozen peanut butter kong out she runs to the crate. Obviously ,when I get home it's play time. She gets frisbee at the park. After frisbee at the park I usually take a little snooze but then she gets to play again. Usually ball/frisbee in the yard or in the living room. Then we have dinner and after dinner she gets to play again, this is when she gets to "wrestle". Which means play fighting with me, or my spouse. She keeps a toy in her mouth so that she doesn't actually bite. The other days of the week she gets park time with the frisbee after I do the things I need to around the house, while she follows me around to get things done. Sometimes she lays down and pouts, getting impatient. She knows when I put non work shoes on she's probably going to the park. When I fill the water bottle for her she knows for sure! She gets a good workout at the park and then it's lunch. Then playtime in the living room or yard, nap, dinner, wrestle, etc.

We also do treats for tricks a couple of times a day. They are so smart and can learn a trick really fast. She knows all the basics (sit, roll over, shake, spin, speak, whisper) now that she's two she's learning more patience with wait and stay.

That was long. And I'm not sure if that's what you are really looking for. Your pup is young. Still in the feral stage. But, that is definitely not too young to learn tricks. Watch some YouTube videos on how to train them to roll over or shake or whatever seems fun. Use high value treats to get them to pay attention. It's really does tire them out. We also freeze bowls of treats sometimes layered with broth or water and that gives her something to work on for a while. You can Google that too.

Keep your own routine consistent and add the pup in all of your daily plans. This is so much like having a toddler. They require a ton of attention, but they will get used to your life if you make sure all of their needs are met a long the way.

Honestly, these dogs are not easy. It's way more than I wanted to take on and had some regrets even though I knew what we were getting into. But, I can say at year two, I'm happy we have her. She's the smartest dog I will ever own. Mostly because I will probably never do it again! Ha! But, I'm glad we are doing it. It's very rewarding to finally get them to a place where it's working.

 

[elijah13]

@mikail Does she have a job? Our 1yo has a couple jobs around the house and I've been working to turn her climbing into my lap while WFH into mini breaks for us both. Her main job is herding the chickens out of the mini shelter and into the coop every night, then checking the nesting boxes for littles that try to roost in there. We do that right around dusk so during the day I had to find her other jobs to get like she's doing something. We do perimeter walks and check for coyote trails and loose chickens (two notorious escapees). We check on the barn cats and she confirms both are still in there. It takes about ten minutes and every time we come back inside she's content to settle down for another hour having "done her job". It's annoying at times but she does a good job at getting me from hyper focusing at my work desk and getting some outside time every day. Back to back meetings is when the leash comes out and she's leashed to my desk so she feels like her job is to be on the leash. She's weird.

I have no real suggestion on the mouthiness and reactivity though. We haven't tried to train away mouthiness though we do require gentle mouth. Frankly I love it about this breed, she's incredibly communicative with her mouth and it helps me know what she needs. Reactivity and resource guarding has flared in the last few months so we are aware and watching it, correcting as needed.

Do you incorporate unstructured destruction time? Might sound odd but pretty much any cardboard box on the floor by the mud room door is fair game in this house. They know at any time they can grab a box and tear it apart without repurcussions. A nuisance to clean up all the pieces yet totally worth it in my mind. A lot of dogs can get destructive when bored, especially heelers, so having a safe outlet for ours has been awesome. They also get every toilet paper roll (a prize to be carried around and taunt each other). And if a toy gets destroyed I let them keep the carcass rather than throwing it away until it becomes complete scraps. A destuffed snake stuffed animal is the current fave to carry around and whip.