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Excitability

Excitability is a common problem for dogs and puppies under two years of age. The two main ideas for combating this problem involve teaching commands that encourage correct behavior. The first command to teach would be "relax". The command should be spoken in a quiet, relaxed tone, preferably at your dogs eye level, whenever the dog seems to be becoming overly excited. This command can be paired with a bit of light massage. The second command is most effective for dogs that tend to become overly excited when company comes over to the house. In this case, the command "go to your place" would be appropriate. This entails creating a specified place, usually a bed or blanket, where your dog should relax and sit or lie down quietly when you ask him to. This command is taught in four steps: (1) begin by throwing a piece of food or a toy onto the specified area from about six feet away while repeating the command, (2) gradually increase the distance from the specified area, (3) begin asking for your dog to do a down once they have reached the specified area, (4) now, ask for a down-stay and gradually increase the duration of the stay, and last (5) eliminate the food or toy item. After following this step by step process, your dog should reliably run to the specified area in response to the command and perform a down stay until you release them from position.

Housebreaking Your Adult Dog

Housebreaking in an adult dog often involves retraining the dog to only eliminate outdoors. Often, the dog was not properly trained as a puppy in regards to appropriate elimination. Inappropriate elimination is the result of one of three things: marking, attention, or inadequate training. The best advice to solve the problem of inappropriate elimination, is to first analyze what original housebreaking methods were used and if they were comprehensive enough. If you do not feel that the methods were adequate, you will need to start from scratch and either focus on paper training or crate training. Please visit the author's uppyhood page (no longer available) and take a look at the information on housebreaking your puppy. If this is not the case, the behavior is instead most likely a result of marking tendencies or an attention getting behavior. Marking often occurs in unneutered males and can be easily solved by neutering your dog. If you feel that the behavior is a means of getting your attention, I would suggest that you give your dog that undivided attention that they are so intent on getting in undesirable ways. This could involve attending a group dog training or agility class, or setting aside specific time and undivided attention during each day to interact and play with your dog.




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