# Too excited in the house



## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

We have 2 8 month old shepherds. One male, who is mellow and one female who is a crazy, excitable, attention hog. We exercise them by jogging them both and having them play fetch in the backyard for an hour a day. A few times a week we also take them to the dog park, which they freakin love. However, when we let them in the house they get way too excited. They run around and jump all over everybody and the furniture and get into fights (which they never do outside) and bump into walls and knock stuff over. So my husband has pretty much banned them from coming in. They have kennels in the garage that they sleep in and we spend time with them outdoors. I know that keeping them outside will only make this problem worse if we ever do let them in, the longer theyre out of the house, the more excited I think theyll get about coming in. I want them to be indoor dogs, how do I get them to a point where they dont come in and do that? because as long as they are like this in the house, my husband wont let them come in. the times we have let them in, they dont ever get to a calming point over time. anyways, I need to tips on how to get them to calm down when theyre inside relaxing. and please, no rudeness, I am asking for tips and advice, not judgement and critisim.


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## Laney (Feb 12, 2012)

I have an 8 month old male GSD and he is always VERY excited when we let him inside when we get home. He used to jump on us and try to lick/snap at our face. All I did was ignore him until he calmed down and followed our commands. I wouldn't touch him, let him play with his toys, or let him go into any other room until he laid down. Once he is down I pet him and then usually play with him for a few minutes to take his mind off the fact we just got home. Usually after 5-10 minutes of playing he forgets why he was so excited and usually grabs a bone and lays down. It also usually helps when my boyfriend and I both greet him at the same time so we only have to go through this once (otherwise he calms down and then gets excited again when he sees the other one of us). He knows the routine now...the second I open the door to let him in now he rolls over onto his back and waits for a belly rub 
I'm not sure how this method will work with two puppies, but hopefully it helps a little!


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## kennajo (May 20, 2011)

I've got the same problem. What is working for me is tethering him to me. Not the best solution but until a better one comes along....


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

marinehoney said:


> I know that keeping them outside will only make this problem worse if we ever do let them in, the longer theyre out of the house, the more excited I think theyll get about coming in.


Yep.



> I want them to be indoor dogs, how do I get them to a point where they dont come in and do that? because as long as they are like this in the house, my husband wont let them come in. the times we have let them in, they dont ever get to a calming point over time. anyways, I need to tips on how to get them to calm down when theyre inside relaxing. and please, no rudeness, I am asking for tips and advice, not judgement and critisim.


The easiest thing to do would be to bring them in on leash, and keep them leashed until they calm down. That's going to take some time and effort on your part and your husband's too most likely, but this isn't something that's going to be magically fixed without some pain (figuratively). 

When coming into the house is routine and no longer a novelty the excitement should abate. They may still be excited when they first come in, mine usually are, but my dogs will calm down after a few minutes. Because we don't have people over often they're very excited when we have company, so we leash them and put them in a down stay until they calm down, and then let them off leash. It's a PITA, but I just don't have guests frequently enough for it to not be a big exciting deal for them. 

Doing this with one dog at a time would have been much easier than with two, but you have two, so that's what you'll have to deal with if you ever want to integrate your dogs into the house. It's going to take some time and persistence, so I hope your husband is on board and willing to be patient.

One thing you can do if you haven't already is to get each of them a mat. It doesn't have to be fancy, even a cheap rug is fine, just something to use with a "place" command, and then you teach them to go to the mat and reward them for hanging out there calmly. It's not difficult to teach, but it would probably be easier to work with each of them individually first before trying it with both dogs together. And you might need to have them on leash, while someone sits on the floor with them to reinforce good behavior with calm praise and an occasional treat.

Have you done any training with them yet?


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

I would just bring them in and keep them in. If they are used to being outside in less than comfortable conditions of course they are going to freak out inside.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Isn't this the female that is in heat??
How are you avoiding the male breeding her? When did you get the male??


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## jakes mom (Feb 29, 2012)

Hi marinehoney

Our GSD and Dalmation behaved just like this, but only if we were in the room with them. 

They did the same in the garden, they would play in the garden, but only if the door to the house was open, or we were outside with them. If we came indoors and shut the door, they wanted to come back indoors.

Are you dogs like this? If so, we found the following worked. But you must be very consistant and be prepared to be patient for an hour or so, if necessary. 

We did this: As soon as they started running wild and play fighting in the house, we left the room and shut the door behind us. Once they realised we had left, they would normally stop running wild and wait for us to come back in. So we'd wait outside the door, ten seconds only - no longer, and go back in. 

If they started again - we left again. Waited for them to go quiet, waited another 10 seconds and returned. 

You must only leave it ten seconds after they go quiet, before returning to the room, otherwise they will not associate you leaving and returning to the room with their behaviour. 

Right, so the second they start zooming, leave the room, wait for quiet, wait ten seconds and re-enter the room. 

Now you need to be patient and be prepared to do this time and time again, until they get the association. 

Don't forget, you must leave the room the second they start zooming, or they will not associate you leaving the room with their behaviour. Wait for quiet, wait ten seconds and return. 

Good Luck
Sue


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

msvette2u said:


> Isn't this the female that is in heat??
> How are you avoiding the male breeding her? When did you get the male??


Wow, you're right - looks like they got Thor last week, AFTER Rogue went into heat. :thinking:

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/introductions-welcome-mat/178312-meet-thor.html

This is spectacularly bad timing, and I don't see it ending well. Rather than worrying about two large rambunctious dogs in the house the main concern here should be how to prevent an unplanned litter. Unless Thor has been neutered, or a litter isn't exactly unplanned...


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Female is in heat?
Say it isn't so.
Have you considered taking them inside separately?


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> This is spectacularly bad timing, and I don't see it ending well. Rather than worrying about two large rambunctious dogs in the house the main concern here should be how to prevent an unplanned litter. Unless Thor has been neutered, or a litter isn't exactly unplanned...


 
*THOR IS NEUTERED EVERYBODY!!!!!!!*
A-hem....but that is not what my post was asking...thanks for the "concern" though! 

Thor has had a LOT of training he was in a Schutzhund club up by cherrypoint. He listens well and does alot of tricks and commands. The only time I ever have a problem with him is barking on walks (not so bad) or getting excited with Rogue when coming in the house. I LOVE the idea about waiting outside the door for them to calm down and also the mat idea! They do have their kennels and if I am patient enough, Thor always goes into his without having to be told too many times.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I second the tethering idea. This is what I've always done with fosters, puppies and new dogs. 

For now maybe you can bring them in one at a time and then kennel one (inside the house) while the other is tethered to you?


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

Sounds like you need a trainer to come into your home and work with the dogs. It sucks that the dogs get punished for human errors. Two puppies at the same time is never a good idea. People romanticize it but what you are witnessing is the reality of a poor choice. I'm surprised a well trained dog involved in SchH is that uncontrollable??


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

marinehoney said:


> *THOR IS NEUTERED EVERYBODY!!!!!!!*


Whew, great! We don't know until we ask, and you'd be surprised, we did have someone recently who had an "oops" litter between her two dogs that were littermates because she assumed that the male wouldn't be interested in breeding with his sister. Just because something seems obvious to you, or to me, or to someone else doesn't mean that it's obvious to everyone.  Don't be surprised if he's still interested in her even though he's neutered, Keefer was humping Halo every 5 seconds when she was in heat, and he'd been neutered for years by then.

So, it's good that Thor has had some training. Have you worked with Rogue much? Has seen been to an obedience class? With two dogs it's much, much, much easier to separate them and work with them one on one, without the distraction of the other dog first. Once you've got each of them reliably responding to commands separately, it's also good to work with them together. I spend a lot of time when I bring home a new puppy just marking and rewarding them for side by side sit or down or watch commands. The real training happens separately, but they also need to learn that they have to obey me even if it's more fun to play with each other. 

Remember, whatever you reinforce is what you're going to get, so if they only get attention when they're being annoying they're going to continue being annoying. It's important to notice and reinforce when they're actually being calm and quiet too!


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## Shaina (Apr 2, 2011)

You also took on the very challenging task of having TWO puppies in one house. It is not fair to them that they be left outside because of this.. puppies are going to be rambunctious. That is why people on this board preach to new owners about only having one pup. It is overwhelming at times. I wish you luck, I know I couldn't do it.


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## mysweetkaos (Sep 20, 2011)

8 months is a tough age even if you just have one. I would recommend doing crate and rotate in the house for a while. Make sure to work on each one with obedience seperately. I would do that for a couple weeks until they are staying calm one on one in the house. Work on the training of "a place" during that time. Then I would work up slowly....one loose in the house, one tethered to you or a fixed object in the house. We tethered Sherman to the pantry door with a 6 ft leash....his "place" was within reach of that area.

I commend you for taking Thor in and avoiding him going to a shelter....but that was the "easy" part. It is going to take a lot of time and patience and you and your husband both being committed to working on their training in order for it to be successful.

Good luck!


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Thor is *not *uncontrollable, neither one of them is, I never used that word. They are both just very hyper as soon as coming into the house. Thor does great on his own but Rogue kind of has a way of rubbing off on him a little bit. Since yesterday we have been taking them in together but we go straight to their kennels. They lay in there and get treats after 15 seconds of laying, it has worked wonders already! Then I or my husband, or both of us give them the attention they want. Its funny how they keep switching back and forth from both of us lol. I was going to try to shut doors and leave them in the room for ten seconds until they calm down, and then come back in and try that way, but plan A seems to be working very well. They are learning that they come in, go to place, relax, get a treat, and then get snuggles and loves. Here is another question though, is it good to use kennel as place? or should we make it another area in the house? I know that your not supposed to use kennel for time out, but will having it as a place spot have any negative effects?


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## mysweetkaos (Sep 20, 2011)

Not sure about the negative effects. We have found that after about 18-24 months they are so much more laid back.....we don't really have a designated "place" after that.
Only problem I could see is if you didn't always want crates around. Kaos never had one until his arthritis got so bad, he needed somewhere he could go to be alone. I just always told him to go to bed when I needed him out of the way for a bit.
Sherman has a place and a crate. Place is used for daytime calm downs and much to my husbands dismay is actually a chair in the living room...crate is for overnight or other unsupervised times...for example when I leave the house. When he gets older we will probably just take the bed from his crate and have it in the same spot the crate is now.....hopefully with the idea that I can eventually just tell him to go to his bed if he gets crazy.

I do think crating them for a few minutes after bringing them in helps. We do that with Sherman, kind of like a transition. As soon as he lays down I let him out.

Hope some of this makes sense...


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Okay  the crates are in the garage. So they come in through the back door, straight through the kitchen and into the garage to their crates. I am amazed at how fast they picked it up! Its like they wanted a few mintues to settle down! smart dogs


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I would up the exercise and not allow any ruff play in the house. When we brought Lakota home all she wanted to do was play ruff with Kiya, it was cute at first but that "cute" was very short lived as she started to grow. As soon as she would start play biting Kiya "Oh no no no, quiet" and give her a toy to play with. It took a lot of persistence but she got it. When my dogs come in the house they normally just go lay down some where.
You could try putting 1 crate in the house and rotate who gets locked in the crate until you restore "calm" to your house.
The more they are kept out of the house the less they will learn how to behave properly.


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## mysweetkaos (Sep 20, 2011)

marinehoney said:


> Okay  the crates are in the garage. So they come in through the back door, straight through the kitchen and into the garage to their crates. I am amazed at how fast they picked it up! Its like they wanted a few mintues to settle down! smart dogs


I know they can be unsightly...but is there anyway you could move the crates into the house? My thinking is that way they learn to lay down and rest in their while there is stuff going on around them in the house. May be faulty logic on my part....but if they are crated in the garage they still wouldn't associate calm time with the house......

I will say too the more they are inside the less of "a treat" it is, so they are less excited. When being in the house loose is no big deal, it's no big deal....does that make sense?


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

kiya said:


> The more they are kept out of the house the less they will learn how to behave properly.


I think you are right on the dot. My husband would just rather give up but i am the one with the patience. and they will be trained. :blush:


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

mysweetkaos said:


> I know they can be unsightly...but is there anyway you could move the crates into the house? My thinking is that way they learn to lay down and rest in their while there is stuff going on around them in the house. May be faulty logic on my part....but if they are crated in the garage they still wouldn't associate calm time with the house......
> 
> I will say too the more they are inside the less of "a treat" it is, so they are less excited. When being in the house loose is no big deal, it's no big deal....does that make sense?


 
Yeah it does. thats how we act when my husband gets home so rogue wont pee. lol. if we dont act all exited neither does she.


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## SiegersMom (Apr 19, 2011)

It will take time and patience One-on-one may help too. Let one cool out in the crate and work with the other..then trade. Then bring them together and as they get better they can be together more.

BTW...I love how the thread tried to go all over you for your dog being in heat. I never saw where you even mentioned that so it was a bit out of left field to me
Good luck.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

marinehoney said:


> They are learning that they come in, go to place, relax, get a treat, and then get snuggles and loves.


PERFECT! :thumbup:



> Here is another question though, is it good to use kennel as place? or should we make it another area in the house? I know that your not supposed to use kennel for time out, but will having it as a place spot have any negative effects?


If you're going to have the crates in the garage then I think it would be good to also have a spot in the house to relax on. I use "go to bed" for my dogs to go into their crates in our bedroom at night, and then a separate mat command. Usually though, I don't really care where they lay down as long as they DO! My husband's "place" command is a loud and frustrated "FIND A SPOT!", which means stop bugging me, go away, and chill somewhere.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

SiegersMom said:


> BTW...I love how the thread tried to go all over you for your dog being in heat. I never saw where you even mentioned that so it was a bit out of left field to me


It was in this thread: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/health-issues/178081-there-shame.html


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## Rallhaus (May 17, 2011)

only let one in the house at a time and practice an extend down.....keep on leash and place a small rug or doggie bed next to the couch.

use clicker training.......
click and treat for the dog touching the rug, then click and treat when dog puts foot on rug, then click and treat when 2 feet are on rug, then when all four are on rug, then when sitting on rug, then when laying on rug........ dog will understnad that laying on the rug is the correct behavior when in the house. 

this takes a week or so.....

take turns with each dog with it's own rug.... eventually you will have both puppies on their own rugs and a calm home.


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## SiegersMom (Apr 19, 2011)

To Cassady's Mom--As I searched through past threads I did find it...but it did seem a bit out out of place if someone only reads this thread. Thanks for the link 

Hope all goes well and she learns a lot along the way


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

SiegersMom said:


> It will take time and patience One-on-one may help too. Let one cool out in the crate and work with the other..then trade. Then bring them together and as they get better they can be together more.
> 
> BTW...I love how the thread tried to go all over you for your dog being in heat. I never saw where you even mentioned that so it was a bit out of left field to me
> Good luck.


 
some people get too caught up on what I previosuly posted and try to find ways to get on to me about them and link them all over my new threads, its immensly frustrating when im genuinely looking for answers and ideas for the question I asked.


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## Rua (Jan 2, 2012)

marinehoney said:


> some people get too caught up on what I previosuly posted and try to find ways to get on to me about them and link them all over my new threads, its immensly frustrating when im genuinely looking for answers and ideas for the question I asked.


Yeah, what's up with people doing that to each other? It's a habit a lot of people have gotten into that only serves to derail threads and put people on the defense. Besides, I could have swore you had posted in another thread somewhere else that Thor was neutered anyway? If they want to go digging they should at least be thorough .


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

I think I did post that too. Its just funny cause Thor being neutered really has no bearing on why he gets excited when coming inside lol.


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

My guys relaxing in the house!!! And princess Rogue in her hot pink diaper. I really do appreciate everyones help! and this is the reason I stay on this site! :wub:


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Rogue is heading over to steal Thor's bone! lol


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## Rua (Jan 2, 2012)

marinehoney said:


> I think I did post that too. Its just funny cause Thor being neutered really has no bearing on why he gets excited when coming inside lol.


I know. All you can do is have patience I guess. Your questions will be answered eventually once the witchhunt is over. haha 

Love those pics. The red underwear on Rogue is hilarious. I'm so nervous for when Juno has her first heat. I've never had a dog in heat before....when I had my Doberman Rogue, she was fixed at a really early age so I never had to deal with any of that.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

well they look pretty calm and comfy in the house now 

Since it sounds like your the one with patience in the family, keep doing what your doing, as they mature they'll settle more. Right now it's like having two teenagers (one with hormones running!) in the house. 

I agree with keep letting them IN the house and work them, the more you do it, the more they'll chill out, if you just banish them to the garage, it teaches them nothing, and as one said, it won't solve your 'in house' rambunctiousness (is that a word?LOL)

Anyhow, keep doing what your doing if it's working.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Both are adorable


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Rua said:


> I know. All you can do is have patience I guess. Your questions will be answered eventually once the witchhunt is over. haha
> 
> Love those pics. The red underwear on Rogue is hilarious. I'm so nervous for when Juno has her first heat. I've never had a dog in heat before....when I had my Doberman Rogue, she was fixed at a really early age so I never had to deal with any of that.


Oh dont be too nervous! Rogue became really vocal right before her heat and then the bleeding was pretty bad so I got her two diapers (pink and purple) and liners (dont waste your money on dog pads they are the exact same as people pads haha) and it works wonders. only problem is getting her to settle down when I am putting it on or taking it off.  but after a little over a week now she is doing a lot better with them.


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