# Need advice on dealing with an over excited Shepherd.



## dansnow (Sep 26, 2014)

Our situation is this: We have a 2 year old Shepherd we adopted 4 weeks ago from our local SPCA shelter. Java is our first Shepherd, and admittedly the first month has been a bit rocky. We’re learning just how headstrong and high energy Shepherds can be, while he is hopefully learning to trust us to take good care of him.
For maybe 20-21 hours a day things go pretty well. I’m retired while the wife has another year to go, so I walk him, play fetch and so forth during the day. During this time he’s a pretty good natured lovable dog. It’s the early evening hours from around 5-8 that things go awry. He starts getting excitable, to on the edge of out of control, nipping if we don’t play, annoying our 12 year old Setter, barking and jumping. Taking him outside to run, play catch doesn’t slow him down. Even running him with the flirt pole till his tongue is dragging doesn’t stop him. Finally, 3-4 hours later, about when we’re at the end of our patience and frustration is really setting in, he winds down and we can relax.
We need advice on how to weather this phase. We’ve been trying to avoid kenneling him or sticking him outside in the backyard lest he consider his kennel punishment.
We did learn some new information about him from the shelter today. Information I kinda wish they had told us when we were there to adopt him. Don’t know if it would have changed our minds, but would have been nice to know. 
According to the adoption counselor the surrendering family claims they found him as a stray when he was a puppy and kept him for 2 years before surrendering him to the shelter. Based on his behavior, they believe that during that time he was either kept outside or left alone inside to entertain himself. When he’s calm, he does recognize and mostly obey basic commands like sit, stay, down and come. However when he starts to get excited all that goes out the window and he either ignores us or stands and stares. But that we can work with.
It’s learning to deal with the manic phase that is driving us crazy.


----------



## Dr. Teeth (Mar 10, 2011)

The only advice I will offer is more exercise. He sounds pretty normal for a two year old. Early morning is good time to work them hard when its nice and cool. You may need more space for him to do longer runs, a backyard often doesn't do it. Walks won't do it. Obedience training will help you keep control. You just need to burn off the energy he's the equivalent of a 16 year old kid. Have you tried a tennis ball "chuck it"?


----------



## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

I wouldn't worry too much about the past, sounds like a dog that has had little to no structure and could use some rules and consistency. If he is getting enough exercise during the day, then he should learn to settle come evening time. If he is pestering the older dog put a stop to it, same goes when he tries to dictate play with you. Have you tried crating? How about NILIF? He needs clear rules and boundaries, be firm, but fair and he will come around.


----------



## LoveSea (Aug 21, 2011)

Our adopted GSD mouthed and nipped when we first got him. The trainer said to pull hand away and say "owww!" loudly and then ignore him for a minute. He did learn - there were times he would go to mouth our arm & then catch himself & stop. Lots of training for your new boy. GSD are so high energy, but you can definately train him. Place command would work well for your dog. I used to say "go lay down" to both my GSD's when I wanted to sit & relax & they quickly learned it. 

Good luck - I know the first month with a new dog is very hard. Add the fact that you are mourning the loss of your other dogs & that makes it harder. With lots of consistent training, he will calm down.


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Crating is not punishment, it gives him a place to chill out and he is forced to relax.

Sometimes dogs are like toddlers, if they are very tired they get riled up and obnoxious.

Also, you have inadvertently rewarded that behavior by taking him outside to play. He gets all crazy, then he gets taken outside! What a deal!

The moment he gets like that, crate him. Better yet, crate him before he gets riled up. Around the time that he usually does this, get a nice stuffed Kong, throw it in his crate, and let him happily spend time with that, quietly.


----------



## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

Hi, my four month 'wakes' up shortly after 6:30 pm, runs, nips, is crazy. I call it his sh%# and vinegar hour .. So we got for a long long walk, I take a ball, toss it, he runs, by the time we get home (apx 30-40 minutes) he is tired, down for the night!


----------



## dansnow (Sep 26, 2014)

Thanks folks, you give us hope. To be honest, there have been a couple times the past week or so when Lin and I have discussed whether we should consider admitting defeat and returning him to the shelter. The main reason we haven't is because he is such a lovable cuss when he's calm.

This morning he was borderline out of control again. I hadn't had a chance to read these replies yet so I did what I had read about on another thread. As calmly as I could I put his leash on and held him next to me on the couch for a good 15 minutes or so. He was fidgety and nippy but gradually settled to where I could release him.

The NILIF program sounds good, but while he will respond to sit, stay, down but not with a lot of consistency, especially when he's excited, I'll hold off until after we've been through basic obedience training.

Being a pair of stove-up senior citizens, adopting a high energy young Shepherd was likely not the smartest thing we could have done, but we truly want to believe that Java is worth the effort. Being able to talk to folks that have Shepherds and that have 'been there, done that" is helpful beyond measure.

We'll let you know how we're doing.


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

That was a very smart thing to do. Sitting on the leash is a great way to teach them to calm down.

If there is any you can get a treadmill, that would be a really big help for you. Exercise on the treadmill drains them faster than anything else, I have found. Whenever mine gets even mildly riled up, 15 minutes on the treadmill fixes the problem.
Because of a bad knee, which he actually caused, there is no way I can walk or run fast enough to exercise him properly. Flirt pole makes me nervous because he makes too many sharp turns and there is a chance of ligament injury.

These dogs need an outlet for their energy, otherwise, they will find one, and you might not like the way they find it


----------



## LoveSea (Aug 21, 2011)

You seem like a good person who really wants to work with this dog. I know how hard it is. I had many times when I felt like rehoming my dog - he was very difficult in the beginning. He had fear/anxiety issues & even bit a child. I learned how to work with him & he turned into such a great dog. 15 minutes on the leash today, will turn into 10 tomorrow & 5 by next week. You can do it!

Sunflowers has a lot of great advice. I agree about putting him in his crate when he bothers you. Even if he cries, just ignore him & he will soon learn that it is not how he will get his way. You need your down time, it is so important. He cannot rule you - I did the same as you at first & then realized that myself. Mine used to wake me at 6 am & I would say "go lay down" & ignore him & not get up until I was ready to get up. Very soon he learned that & did not get up until I did, even if it was 8:30 a.m.!! They learn fast! They will try to get away with what they can, but they do love structure & you being in charge. They like to know what to expect of them. 

I remember when I first adopted my 2 year old he did not know a single command. My trainer & I took the whole hour to teach him sit. We had to back him against the wall with a treat so that his butt would go into a sit - that was the only way he would get it! After repeating it many times that night he learned sit & was so proud. Then, when he wanted something he would go into a perfect sit, like a statue. He was so proud of himself. He then learned down & place, which like I said was the best. They love commands & it makes them feel good about themselves.

He will learn your family routine fast. Also he may become friends with your 12 year old dog. I had a female mix when I adopted my GSD & the mix was the boss. She let him know what his boundaries were. The first month there was lots of growling, even a few fights I had to break up. Eventually they became best buds. They would burn energy just playing together. My mix taught him so much. Sadly, my GSD died last month of kidney failure. I miss him so much. My mix misses him too, I am sure. 

Please keep up the good work. Keep asking for advice, we love to help.


----------



## Mac's Mom (Jun 7, 2010)

dansnow said:


> Thanks folks, you give us hope. To be honest, there have been a couple times the past week or so when Lin and I have discussed whether we should consider admitting defeat and returning him to the shelter. The main reason we haven't is because he is such a lovable cuss when he's calm. I remember those days. I know how you feel. There were times when I thought I made the biggest mistake of my life by getting a GSD. But of course Mac was a loveable cuss as well  plus I made a commitment to a living creature and that was that
> 
> This morning he was borderline out of control again. I hadn't had a chance to read these replies yet so I did what I had read about on another thread. As calmly as I could I put his leash on and held him next to me on the couch for a good 15 minutes or so. He was fidgety and nippy but gradually settled to where I could release him. Good Job.
> 
> ...


 Java is a lucky boy to have you 2. And you're lucky too.


----------



## Juliem24 (Jan 4, 2014)

Dansnow: my husband and I are also stove up seniors who adopted a young GSD. We got him last December, then endured a very long very cold very icy winter with an 90 lb adolescent who didn't know how to walk on leash without pulling like a locomotive.
(He's much better now). What really helped during the winter when he couldn't possibly get enough outside exercise was to play "hide and seek" in the house. I'd put him in a down-stay, then hide either myself or a treat in a room and release him to "find it". The dog absolutely loved this game, and it seemed he got tired pretty quickly, especially if I were hiding upstairs. Sometimes I would hide his dinner kibble around the house, too. Then, I would do some obedience work, only a 10-15minute stretch, then more hide and seek. It seemed to help, and he would be totally engaged with me because he always had to be watching me. I also would do "quiet time" either in the crate or in his "place", same as sitting on the leash. Still do this stuff, and he frequently tries to ask me to play "hide" by taking a toy and running upstairs with it. He's too goofy to actually get away with hiding it, though. He's loud!


----------



## dansnow (Sep 26, 2014)

Today was much calmer. I took him to a local dog park for an hour this morning. He didn't run much but spent the time wandering and socializing. A session with the flirt pole this afternoon and a walk after dinner. Then when he started to get hyper with the older setter we separated them to different rooms for about 30 minutes. When we let him back in he settled down and went to sleep. What a relief!


----------



## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

woot! glad to see the small success you posted. Read the advice, try things out. It is a great deal of trial and error. It seems a little "time out" was just what your rascal needed.


----------



## LoveSea (Aug 21, 2011)

How is it going? You sounded like you were making progress.


----------



## KB007 (Aug 27, 2003)

Everyone is giving excellent advice! The only thing I have to add is something I read the other day - after all of the play/exercise they actually need more help calming down than before. So that is prime time for a long down stay, few minutes in the crate, or a peanut butter filled kong. 

I have a 2 year old as well, and thought something was wrong with her! I began employing these calming activities after exercise and it worked wonders.


----------

