# How to calm puppy down in house



## JoMichelle (Jan 20, 2012)

Winter almost 4.5 months old now. We're doing great with toilet training and socialising.

She is still crazy though, ALL the time. She will not sleep anywhere other than her crate, and when she gets overtired she just bites and jumps constantly and refuses to sleep. I can't let her in the same room as my kids as she constantly climbs all over them, snapping at their faces, jumping up at them etc. After exercise she is worse than ever because she is tired. She is more crazy in some rooms than others for some odd reason. One of those rooms is my study, meaning I can't get any work done at all when she is awake. Nothing. My life feels like I'm just waiting for her bedtime so I can get things done. At the minute I have a deadline to hit, which means today she has to spend 6-7 hours in the crate (with breaks of course), but there is no other way I can get it done 

At puppy classes she is completely over the top crazy too. She makes me look like I've done no training with her at all. I think it's excitement to see the other puppies. I'm trying to arrange play dates, she's had one and we have another tomorrow. 

Is it just her age? Is there something I can do to help?


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## medapatt (Mar 15, 2012)

I have the opposite problem. Minka turns 5 months old next week and she is an angel in the house. Outside is a whole other issue. She jumps and nips and barks constantly when we are outside. I enrolled her in a training class but it's one on one training as I didn't think she would benefit from big classes. Hopefully the classes will work for you and the training will start to sink in!!


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## mwiacek10 (Nov 8, 2010)

Think of her as an over tired 3 yr old. She needs breaks and just doesn't know how to go about it. Put her in her kennel and force the break/nap on her. It wil get better.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

One of the reasons I do NOT recommend GSD's for busy families with kids is exactly due to circumstances that you are in. NOt that I don't love the breed. Not that you aren't doing your best.

But it's because many GSD puppies really are 'harder' to raise than other breeds. It's just true. Hey, we have a sticky for bite inhibition because of just one of the GSD puppy behaviors. 


There are things you can do, but it's hard with a really full and busy life full of children. Because alot of it has to do with one on one time with focus training and puppy learning to calm itself. Have you looked at the 'engagement' training information?

I am quite sure you are exercising your puppy, but how? I know for me, long distances of OFF leash activities work best. The puppy can pace themself. But it's a few hours of time in a new place with new sights and smells and mental activity. I just walk and the puppy does all the 'work'. And when I get home I can get 2 days of much better behaved puppy.

But it IS hard. And the puppy DOES want to play rough and hard and jump up on people/kids. 

Have you contacted your breeder with specific recommendations on raising their pups?


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## JoMichelle (Jan 20, 2012)

Thanks for the replies!

She does have breaks. Right now she is in her crate whining and barking, she is tired but she knows I am in the house, and is once again over tired lol.

The biting is not so much of a problem, I think she knows she shouldn't do it. I can see her almost thinking about it sometimes before or after she's done it. We can get her to stop, but it's just the constant climbing over people and jumping on us. I can't hold a coffee in my hand without her trying to knock it away so she can have it. I wouldn't dare try and read a book or study while she is around.

Unfortunately there are no safe places near us where we can walk for a few hours off leash. She does get exercise but I suppose our walks in the city are quite boring for her. We went to a country park a few weeks ago for the day and she was in her element. Running around in woods and streams with the kids. She met horses and cows and lots of people, it was so much fun. Restored my faith in why we got a dog, despite how hard it is at times (like now). 

Do you think establishing more of a routine might help? At the minute her exercise schedule is all over the place, depending on when I have time and energy. Do you think perhaps an hour at the park, twice a day at a set time might help? Now that the nights are lighter we could go in the evenings, I'm thinking that keeping her on the leash during our normal walks might not be the kind of exercise she needs.


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## Angelina03 (Jan 9, 2012)

mwiacek10 said:


> Think of her as an over tired 3 yr old. She needs breaks and just doesn't know how to go about it. Put her in her kennel and force the break/nap on her. It wil get better.


I agree. When Rocco gets like that, I put him to bed. We don't always put him in the crate though, for this. If we are in the living room, I tie his leash to the furniture and I tell him to lay down. He'll lay down on the floor (or his bed) and fall asleep.


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## JayneA (Jun 11, 2002)

The other thing I would try is to make her work for stuff. Get a treat ball like this Rosewood Soundbites (Dog Toys) Paw Print so that all of her food comes out of this.

Hide her dinner in the house or garden and make her work to find it.

Basically anything you can think of to try and tire a puppy mind including trying to do some one-2-one training with her in short sessions each day.

I often hear of people walking their dogs for ages and the dog not seeming tired, and basically getting more hyper (possibly because the body is tired but the brain is not?) and they are getting fitter and fitter able to handle more and more physical exercise.

I always try to tire my pup's brain before their body.


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## BlackJack (Jun 23, 2011)

I can give mine a empty water bottle which keeps him busy for about hour. Anything other than that, he is pure distruction, so far the only thing he doesn't want to carry off or bite, is the TV remotes or cell phones. I am not sure how this happened, anything else he will claim it, put it up high, he is jumping for it or climbing like a cat if he wants it bad enough.

We have been keeping his toys in a tupperware box, as of last week he has discovered how to open this and take what he wants out of it.


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## RocketDog (Sep 25, 2011)

I DEFINITELY think a little bit of a routine helps. If people don't think dogs can't pick up on that, try telling that to the dog who's owner works all day and religiously plays ball with them when they get home. That dog is always waiting by the door when that owner comes home! 

The park sounds great--can you go there more often? I know when mine was your age (and he's only 9 months now) it was just like having a newborn. I got up early to get done what I needed to get done and then exercised, trained and fed pup. Then a small rest. Then again. Then a rest. Then again. Then rest and dinner. Then training and a bone. SIGH. I just kept telling myself it's only temporary, that some day he would grow up and settle down. He is much more manageable today.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

BlackJack said:


> We have been keeping his toys in a tupperware box, as of last week he has discovered how to open this and take what he wants out of it.


Yup, did the samething when mine was a pup then watched that little bugger go over to the box, put his mouth on it, stretch down & open it! He has knows how to open doors using the handle & even knows how to turn the faucet on outside and helped himself to some water. My husband and I just stood there in shock watching him, THEN had to redirect him because we don't need him turning it on! LOL

GSD puppies are ALOT of work but with the proper training, patience, strong leadership it's so worth it, the result is an _outstanding_ partner & companion.

The entire family must be on the same page. The children must also be taught.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

your pup can't be in the same room as the kids
because she's all over them. you can't read a book
or have a cup of coffee because your pup is all over you.
i think instead of putting the pup in her crate
you should let her out of the crate and work
on house training. she needs to be around the 
children so you can train her how to behave when around
the children. act like you're going to read a book but
use that time to train. let the pup hang out in the house
but use the time she has free roam of the house to train her.
done avoid doing things with the pup loose in the house.
you can't house break a pup if it's in a crate or
blocked in an area of the house.


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## GSDMUM (Aug 18, 2011)

JoMichelle said:


> Winter almost 4.5 months old now. We're doing great with toilet training and socialising.
> 
> She is still crazy though, ALL the time. She will not sleep anywhere other than her crate, and when she gets overtired she just bites and jumps constantly and refuses to sleep. I can't let her in the same room as my kids as she constantly climbs all over them, snapping at their faces, jumping up at them etc. After exercise she is worse than ever because she is tired. She is more crazy in some rooms than others for some odd reason. One of those rooms is my study, meaning I can't get any work done at all when she is awake. Nothing. My life feels like I'm just waiting for her bedtime so I can get things done. At the minute I have a deadline to hit, which means today she has to spend 6-7 hours in the crate (with breaks of course), but there is no other way I can get it done
> 
> ...


Perhaps a tranquilizer gun?? JUST kidding! I needed one on my Brandy who finally calmed down at 3 yrs old. Then she was a wonderful, calmer dog. My new pup is still very active at 8mths old but has calm periods unlike when she was your pup's age when she went non-stop crazy too. I had to buy many different toys that engaged her mind, the best one being the kongs of different sizes. She loves the wobbler and it keeps her busy for a half hour to get the kibble out. A smaller kong filled with peanut butter and frozen will keep her busy too. I bought so many items to try in order to get some time for myself that I could have opened a dog toy store. Mine still rips up linoleum and tears softer toys apart but it does get better with the craziness.


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## GSDMUM (Aug 18, 2011)

I could never take naps when mine was 4 mths old and I didn't expect to do so or to do much of anything else but now at 8mths after some fun activity she is happy to nap with me for a few hours. I have other issues with her to work on but the rambunciousness does get better.


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

It's threads like these that _really_ make me appreciate my adult GSD rescue!


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## JoMichelle (Jan 20, 2012)

Doggiedad, I think you're right about training her to be in the house. I feel aweful about crating her so much and wish she could just hang out with us all the time. I am home almost all day most days, but I have to study. How would I go about training her to be calm whilst in the house?

At the park yesterday evening, we met another dog and his dad (I find the dog "magnetism" funny, dog owners who are complete strangers are drawn to each other). He told me that there are a group of people who bring their dogs to the park at a particular time each day. So we're going to crash their group today. Also meeting someone for a puppy play date this morning, so I think Winter will be a tired dog today!

I'm going to try and exercise her an hour every morning and two in the evening, at out local park where she can run off leash. She has a ton of bones and chew toys. Do you think it's unreasonable for me to drag her dog bed into my study area, give her lots of chews and fill her kongs up, and make her stay in her bed for a while? 

Perhaps I should save her favourite chews for when she is in the dog bed. 

What can I do at home to engage her mind? We do the usual training, but she soon gets bored and starts going crazy. I like the idea of hiding things around the house for her to find, but I'm not sure how to get her to understand their are things hidden for her?


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Mine is 6.5 months and I thought she was crazy at that age too. It probably wasn't her at all..it was all me and my lack of patience Oh she has her moments, but I took a real good look at her so that I could understand her...as funny as that sounds!! Since the exercising does seem to make them over tired and they react just like a over tired child, I've cut back on physical exercise and do more mental exercise. Every night we do some kind of training. I spend time with her one on one then I get my other dogs going too and they all love it. I do believe I'm lucky in the fact that she does have other dogs to play with all the time and it keeps her very busy She is able to lay down and relax when everyone else is, she is finally sleeping at night instead of chasing cats Their minds are just busy busy busy...but they work through it eventually. I look at her now and how wonderful she is and laugh about the times when I thought she was going to drive me crazy Oh yeah I forgot that my house looks like romper room for dogs...toys everywhere and she takes full advantage of that!!!


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## JayneA (Jun 11, 2002)

With the hiding start small in one room, put some dry kibble on the floor and let her in the room and tell her to 'find it', help her out by showing her various different places to check and then lead her to it slowly. When she finds the stash tell her 'good find it' in a calm voice. Progresively make it a little harder (hide something under a cushion or a toy, or behind / on a chair etc but always use 'Find it'. You can do quite a few reps of 'Find it' in one go!


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Personally I would kill the idea of puppy play dates. Life will be much easier if she sees another dog as some boring entitiy and I would have one or two toys that YOU play with her with and the kids do not have access to.

I have a wild one too and have to wear him out throughout the day and he is crated more than I like. Because my mother is in a wheelchair and fragile, evening family time is on lead and he has no opportunity to violate "house rules" which are to be calm and controlled. The more calm and controlled he is the more out he is with us.

Find it is a GREAT game that one looks good. [my pup is a cadaver dog in training so he gets a lot of reps finding training aids with play after each find]

I agree the mental work sometimes wears them out more than physical. Actually the more physical you do with them the more they want. [though they need a certain amount]. If she is "Tired" after excercise you may be overdoing it.


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## JoMichelle (Jan 20, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. But I'm confused. I've been advised on this forum to actively seek out opportunities for her to play with well behaved dogs. 

So she shouldn't be tired after exercise? Oh, I must be overdoing it then  I guess that's our trips to the park out of the window lol.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Different schools of thought. I agree with time with well behaved adult dogs but puppy free for alls get them to excited about other dogs to me. ...........Same thing with excercise I guess. I want to always quit with the dog wanting more.


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## JoMichelle (Jan 20, 2012)

Okay thank you, I understand what you mean now. I appreciate you giving me your own opinion, whether or not it conflicts with others. 

Winter has been very fearful of other dogs, she is getting over it now and having so much fun, which is why I'm encouraging it. She is getting to the point though of every time she sees a dog, anywhere, she is desperate to play with it. Do you think this will fade a bit? I'm hoping the more chance she has to play with dogs, the less of a big deal it becomes. We actually don't have much choice to be honest, the best place to walk off leash is full of other dogs so we can't really avoid them.


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## BadLieutenant (May 9, 2010)

Not much advice except to just hang in there. My GSD more or less had a leash attached to her all the time for her first 8 months. And practice NILF (Nothing in life is free) Never heard of it prior to this site and it definitely helped. She is 2 1/2 now and almost perfect. I remember reading posts about these well behaved GSD at 3 years old and thought it would never happen. It does with good training. Good Luck.


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## Laney (Feb 12, 2012)

I just do my best to give my puppy (8 months) lots of different things to do throughout the day. Jobs, exercise, training, etc. We go different places on hikes, or to new parks. He gets an hour of exercise in the morning (jog or fetch at the park), then he either goes to doggy day care (about twice a week), stays home while I go to school, or comes to work with me. Then he goes to the dog park for a couple hours. And we always go on a long walk before bedtime. 
Being around other dogs and exercising him a lot does not make my puppy more hyper, it works for us. He always comes home (and wants to play a little) but will lay on the couch while we make dinner, do homework, chores, etc. We have bones for him to chew on which keep him busy (and not destructive). Maybe this works because I try to keep him mentally stimulated throughout the day so he will be tired at night and ready for bed. But there's no doubt in my mind that the physical exercise wears him out.
Good luck!


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