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The more we train, the worse she is inside

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Scott Cmelik

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Okay this is starting to really torque me off big time. My 7 month BLF has never been a great house dog, she is very active and doesn't like to lay still inside. When she was a young pup I didn't do much as far as "training" went, just some puppy drills inside. Now that we are starting to do quite a bit more actually training, formal OB, just started hold, running marks, her behavior in the house has gotten horrible. It seems like the more we work the worse things get. She will pace and pace and pace, I will take her "down" and she will lay down like she is suppose to but only for about 10 seconds and then she is up and moving again. I have to get mad and be slightly physical picking her up and putting her back where she was and tell her down to get through to her that she just needs to lay down and then she is only down for a minute or two before she is up and moving again.

I am getting very frustrated with this, I really figured when I started doing more mentally stimulating training she would calm down in the house alittle bit its not happening. I feel like I am constantly getting mad at her, and you can tell her body language inside is showing that she is scared to do anything but she still just paces.

any suggestions on getting her to just relax?
 
#2 ·
The more you work her the fitter she gets so it takes more to burn of that energy and now you've given her a job and she wants to go out and do it it's a lot to ask a 7mo old to be still for very long you should be glad you have a dog that has the energy to do field work they grow up fast so enjoy her while you can.
 
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#4 ·
Can you PM me her breeding? Some dogs JUST don't make good house dogs....
 
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#6 ·
I had a very active young dog like this. She needed a consistent schedule in the house when not training and had to learn to have an off switch.

I used the crate in the house so she would not pace or cause trouble. When she was out we worked on short games, obedience and play.

When we were done with that she went back in her crate with chew toys and or kongs. By the time she was 1 year old she had learned the routine and could chill for longer periods of time in the house.

There are also a electronic devices called the Manners Minder or Train and treat that are remote controlled food dispensers that folks are using for all kinds of training . Might be helpful in this situation??? worth checking into. I don't think they are cheap but might keep you from tearing your hair out.

Might want to google them.
Best of luck.
Kim
 
#7 ·
Put a lead on her and tell her down when you are sitting for a spell. Keep your foot on the lead, so you can correct her if she decides to get up. Mine was the same way and still is, unless I tell her DOWN and mean it. I guess the verbal command eventually soaks in.

In the meantime, the correction at least gets the point across that she stays down when told and for an extended period of time.

It drove me nuts too. This tip worked for me.
 
#8 ·
I also have one dog like this and when in the house, she goes straight to the crate otherwise she will refuse to settle down. Even when in the crate it takes her about 30-60 minutes to just even sit down and stop panting because she works herself up. Honestly she is happier just being outside so some days I just put her in our dog yard or kennel run and she is a happy camper. Other things we have tried is a short leash on her and when I am at the computer, I slip the leash around the leg of my chair so she HAS to lay down. When laying down next to me I will "calmly" praise her an give her a good rub or scratch on the head. I try to do alot of positive reinforcement when she is doing the right thing in the house and behaving.

However, with everything I have done, I personally do not think this particular dog of mine will ever be the "true" house dog that will just have the perfect off switch as she is always panting, looking around and what not and never just settles. The more you show your frustration, the more your girl may pace or show nervousness or not be comfortable inside as she sees it as a negative area and she is maybe unsure of what she is doing wrong. I also believe some lines just don't make great housedogs.
 
#9 ·
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Discussion starter · #10 ·
Laura McCaw said:
I also have one dog like this and when in the house, she goes straight to the crate otherwise she will refuse to settle down. Even when in the crate it takes her about 30-60 minutes to just even sit down and stop panting because she works herself up. Honestly she is happier just being outside so some days I just put her in our dog yard or kennel run and she is a happy camper. Other things we have tried is a short leash on her and when I am at the computer, I slip the leash around the leg of my chair so she HAS to lay down. When laying down next to me I will "calmly" praise her an give her a good rub or scratch on the head. I try to do alot of positive reinforcement when she is doing the right thing in the house and behaving.

However, with everything I have done, I personally do not think this particular dog of mine will ever be the "true" house dog that will just have the perfect off switch as she is always panting, looking around and what not and never just settles. The more you show your frustration, the more your girl may pace or show nervousness or not be comfortable inside as she sees it as a negative area and she is maybe unsure of what she is doing wrong. I also believe some lines just don't make great housedogs.
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Laura,

I think you are on to something. I do think my frustration has a lot to do with it and I really try to keep my emotions in check but there are days where it just drives me insane. This is also a dog that will go to the window if she hears a bird outside, or if the house creaks just a litlte she will get up and check it out and heaven forbid that I talk on the phone.

I crate her quite a bit but I think I am going ot start utilizing it more and try keeping things more structured when she is out hopefully to keep her mind busy.
 
#11 ·
It's better that she's in her crate than having you constantly nag at her while she's just being a high energy sporting dog puppy. Only have her loose in the house when you can give her your full attention & patience. She'll outgrow it eventually but probably not until she's fully mature.
 
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#13 ·
Good lord......She's a 7 month old puppy. I don't care if she's a basset hound. They can be annoying and they will be for another year at least.
 
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#14 ·
Sounds like you have a very high drive puppy. Getting angry at her won't help. Check out the puppy here and maybe yours won't seem so bad, LOL. The exercise pen, however, might be a good alternative to spending hours in a crate while indoors. Keeping her outside more might be a good idea until she's older.
 
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#15 ·
Longgun said:
It sounds like she needs more exercise.
deb
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X2 My 22 month old has been getting AT LEAST an hour of real exercise every day for quite a while. I really try to work his legs off at least five days a week. Otherwise he gets into mischief. He is a pretty high energy guy and fifteen or twenty minutes of retrieving simply gets him warmed up. I used to run fourteen to eighteen retrieves using the red charges and the long distance dummy with a retriev-R-trainer followed by hand thrown dummies and then ended up with a number of runs after an aerobie thrown to roll and bounce along the ground. That was good until he got to be about sixteen months or so. Since September I have been taking him along for my workout where I go about five miles and then do a few retrieves. In the afternoon we often go back out and train for another thirty minutes or so. That keeps him from just driving me crazy around the house.
 
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#16 ·
How much physical activity is this puppy getting?

How many hours per day?
 
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Discussion starter · #17 ·
Jeff, I would say an hour or better most days. The more she gets the more she wants and the worse she acts. Even when I first got her as a 8 week old pup we would go for walks, on more than one occasion we would go for a mile or longer walks and would always stop in the park and run around so who knows exactly how long the walks were. By the end of the walk her tounge would be hanging out of her mouth and she went from walking out front to walking way behind, you could tell she was tired, until we got home and she got a drink, then she was bouncing off the walls, literally she would get running so fast she springboarded off the walls.

its crazy, i have never had a dog quite like this, even the english setters we had when I was growing up never acted like her.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Paul "Happy" Gilmore said:
Good lord......She's a 7 month old puppy. I don't care if she's a basset hound. They can be annoying and they will be for another year at least.
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I agree Paul, and if it were normal puppy behavior it wouldn't bother me at all but this is like nothing I have ever seen with any pup before.
 
#20 ·
The crate is your friend, as is plenty of exercise. She may need even more of that than she's getting. The other thing you can do is hook a leash to you...and the other end to her. That way, she has to stay with you, go where you go, and not tear the house down. ;) Do you have a fenced yard where she can play?
 
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