# Anyone have a super mellow pup with high drive...oxymoron?



## mbuczkowski (Feb 24, 2015)

OK... I am not super new to GSDs since getting my white one as a puppy 4.5 years ago. He was an accidental litter and has weak nerves. About 2.5 years ago I started looking to get a black GSD and wanted to make sure he was balanced.

In that time I have fostered and trained other gsd pups. So, one thing I have noticed in comparison...my pup, Loki, (now 8 mo old) is so mellow. He is happy to chill on the couch after a few min of training or playing. This actually has me concerned. He has always been pretty chill but is a monster on the training field. 

While most people think this is a blessing...I want to make sure he is 100% healthy. I scheduled a vet visit and xrays for this Sat. 

I do not run him hard, try to stay off concrete/asphalt, feed RAW with supplements. He shows no signs of pain, sickness, etc. Am I being overly crazy about him and his health?


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

High drives do not mean hyper. Sometimes (often) high drive is sandwiched with a hyper busy dog but the two are not one and the same.

If you teach and condition calmness in the house you can usually have that in the house and still have that dog turn it on in the field.

It's possible to have a hyper dog with low drives for prey/toy/food. They just run around in an excited mindstate


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

My female is the laziest house dog and is a psychopath in training.


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## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

Yes, this is a very good thing. My dogs are this way as well. They are so easy going at home that I forget how amped they get when its time to work. It really wonderful to live with dogs with an off switch.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

robk;6581682 It really wonderful to live with dogs with an off switch.[/QUOTE said:


> I second this.....
> 
> 
> SuperG


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## HOBY (Aug 12, 2013)

robk said:


> Yes, It really wonderful to live with dogs with an off switch.


 I 3rd it.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

My female is a lump on a log in the house and will work until she drops dead.


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## mbuczkowski (Feb 24, 2015)

How old are your pups? If older...were they like this in the less than 1 yr old range?


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Mine is 2 1/2 now.....probably had the on/off switch developed by a year or so....not confusing this with a simply tired pup.

However, I do recall exercising the heck out of her to mellow her out and make her much more manageable in the house when she was a year or less.

Currently, I am working with her to keep her composure when she sees the obvious signals or hears the words which mean it's go time outside. Example, winter time...jacket goes on near back door, she knows it's frisbee time in the backyard...or flat collar goes on...it's time to explore or go for a car ride etc. She's to the point now where she remains still but has this much softer whining noise, reeking of anticipation and energy...like a champagne cork ready to pop. The drill is and was...the more wound up she got inside, the slower I would proceed...she got her crap together per the command..even for a moment...it was a " yes "...and I would continue...I'm guessing it was fairly easy for her to connect the dots.

SuperG


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

My boy is very mellow at home and different on the training field. Not that I would call him super high drive, but way more than you would expect out if him if you saw him at home.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

My female is 15 months. She's been like this most of her life, though it did take some "teaching" that we chill in the house when she was younger. She was always very mellow, but could get really wound up once something got her going.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Baillif said:


> High drives do not mean hyper. Sometimes (often) high drive is sandwiched with a hyper busy dog but the two are not one and the same.
> 
> If you teach and condition calmness in the house you can usually have that in the house and still have that dog turn it on in the field.
> 
> It's possible to have a hyper dog with low drives for prey/toy/food. They just run around in an excited mindstate


This.

Like many others are saying, mine also is a super lazy foot warmer inside, but flips his insane energy on in training. And then right back to being lazy when I ask him! 

Since he demos in the store and I go rapidly from doing training performances to helping people around the store, I have a trigger word "Enough" that pretty much stops him in his tracks at this point. I conditioned it from when he was very young and it comes in super useful! But it's always interesting to see that snap in the eyes from bright and energy fueled to docile and following around quietly on the leash. And then back again with a "Ready!" It can be very useful to put indicators for your dog to mark exactly when exciting things are going to happen and when exactly the docile, calm behavior will be rewarded.


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## mauser1 (Feb 24, 2015)

My puppy is only 5 months now, and has been this way since I got him at 8 weeks. He's very mellow at home and mostly just wants to sit and chew on a bone or something, sometimes he'll bring a toy and want you to throw it once or twice but then he's done with it. But if we are training or when he goes to the dog park he's almost the exact opposite. During training he has a very energetic but focused nature, and at the park he is really big into wrestling for hours on end. He's still not much of a runner. He'll actually access the situation and lay down to wait until other dogs are closer so he can attack again.


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## robk (Jun 16, 2011)




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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

The dog should at least have drive to do work. Even at home, if I'm doing obedience my dog won't just leave and go lay on the couch. If I stop doing things, then sure, both will just relax, but as long as I'm asking them to do things, they're doing things.

I would imagine this would cross over to the training field. Is your dog high drive when you're doing obedience or tracking on the field? Or is the dog just a monster during protection? If that's the case, it points to you just not being fun enough or doing something wrong during your training/play sessions. The dog should always want to engage with you if you're asking for it. A dog that can only get up for protection is clearly showing you that it will work in that venue (highly stimulating) but not really work with you because you're not enough fun or rewarding enough.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

This is Kaiju's default place inside. Taking up bed space, staring at me and willing me to rub his belly some more.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Kopper is super mellow in the house as long as I take his ball away.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I have a moron...I mean oxymoron.


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## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

My young male is more like a bull in a china shop right now... I waiting, very patiently for the day he's a couch potato for more than 10 minutes..

Kougar has finally found his off switch at 3!


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## mbuczkowski (Feb 24, 2015)

Jax08...too funny.

martemchik...if I pick up his ball or tug and ask to play, he is ready. I have had to tone him down in protection because he looses his mind, eyes dilate, and he screams. He is being taught that he doesn't get a bite unless he is calm. He is up in OB and tracking...but not to the same degree as protection. I can probably do better myself in that aspect. 

In group walks, it has been commented that he is the easiest to walk (with the exception that he wants to scratch his neck due to the pinch collar). If we stop for any period of time, he lays down. He doesn't go crazy over other dogs or people petting him. 

I am just glad that there are others on here that seem to have the same or similar experience. I contacted the owner of his dad and he said he is just the same. Mellow in house and on point in the field.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

My male isn't high drive in protection but he is very high drive in herding, he lives to train and work but he is the laziest house dog I've ever had which works out nicely when I'm sick.. I do not want a 'busy' dog but still want drive, I think that's very much possible.


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

"Mellow" is not a word that comes to mind when thinking about Halo, but she does have an excellent off switch. She's good good drives, but since she's our first working line shepherd I can't say if she's _high_ drive, or just higher than we've experienced before.

At flyball she does go from laying quietly in her crate, (even close to the ring and near other dogs that are going nuts), to a screaming lunging beast when we get ready to race.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

mbuczkowski said:


> he looses his mind, eyes dilate, and he screams. He is being taught that he doesn't get a bite unless he is calm.


Somebody once told me many years ago...once you get your dog to understand it takes longer for him to get his way by being a jackass...they come online.


SuperG


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