I have a 2 year old american staffy / boxer that I've had for about 1 month. He gets 2 walks a day: each walk is 1 hour and covers 2 miles. For the first 3 weeks, he was fine. This last week, he's starting getting random fits of hyperactivity. Without warning (maybe he's showing signs I'm not picking up on), he'll get extremely hyper and run around fill tilt and possibly hurt himself.
The first time, we were wrapping up a walk in the rain and I was letting him shake himself dry in the loading bay of my apartment. I thought I'd let him burn some energy and dry off by having him run circles around me while on leash. He was quickly out of control and running wildly to the end of the leash and pulling me, then doing the same thing in the opposite direction. He settled down on his own.
The second time, he seemed hyper after our walk so I gave him a treat dispensing ball to feed/expel his energy. After he'd finished, he started acting hyper (rolling around on the bed and acting goofy). I figured I'd help him burn some energy via tug of war. He always drops the rope when I tell him (because he's too worked up) and I make him sit/wait until I give him the command and we start again. He got the rope from me (he's not good about returning his toys/fetch) and went nuts! Never happened before during tug of war. He raced around the apartment and was going to hurt himself, me, or break something. I had to yell at him to get him to stop.
This weekend, I'm visiting family with the dog (ferry trip + car ride). A bit stressful for him no doubt, but he's seeing lots of people and things. Today, he had a training session in the morning, kibble dispensing ball (20-30 minutes of entertainment), then a 50 minute walk with a long line on a country back road (old logging road in the forest). We got back to the start point and I decided to go a bit longer. We started heading down the half of the trail and he went nuts! He ran full speed to the end of his leash, then back past me, repeatedly. He was not listening, he was reaching the end of the leash and being pulled a bit. I once again had to yell and hold the leash hard. He was pulled, wiped out on the ground, and even slipped a foot out of his harness because he'd pulled it loose.
I can't have him doing this: it's dangerous for him and myself or anyone else nearby. He often gets hyper after a walk (chases his own tail and is excited), but never this hyper. I'm not sure why he gets hyper after walks or gets these random bouts of extreme hyperactivity.
I want to understand why he's doing this and how to prevent it. I'm concerned our walks just aren't cutting it for him, but I can't let him off leash because he can get DA. I hoped the long line would help by giving him some freedom to sniff around more and maybe we could play fetch in a park (I'd have to teach him fetch first though).
The first time, we were wrapping up a walk in the rain and I was letting him shake himself dry in the loading bay of my apartment. I thought I'd let him burn some energy and dry off by having him run circles around me while on leash. He was quickly out of control and running wildly to the end of the leash and pulling me, then doing the same thing in the opposite direction. He settled down on his own.
The second time, he seemed hyper after our walk so I gave him a treat dispensing ball to feed/expel his energy. After he'd finished, he started acting hyper (rolling around on the bed and acting goofy). I figured I'd help him burn some energy via tug of war. He always drops the rope when I tell him (because he's too worked up) and I make him sit/wait until I give him the command and we start again. He got the rope from me (he's not good about returning his toys/fetch) and went nuts! Never happened before during tug of war. He raced around the apartment and was going to hurt himself, me, or break something. I had to yell at him to get him to stop.
This weekend, I'm visiting family with the dog (ferry trip + car ride). A bit stressful for him no doubt, but he's seeing lots of people and things. Today, he had a training session in the morning, kibble dispensing ball (20-30 minutes of entertainment), then a 50 minute walk with a long line on a country back road (old logging road in the forest). We got back to the start point and I decided to go a bit longer. We started heading down the half of the trail and he went nuts! He ran full speed to the end of his leash, then back past me, repeatedly. He was not listening, he was reaching the end of the leash and being pulled a bit. I once again had to yell and hold the leash hard. He was pulled, wiped out on the ground, and even slipped a foot out of his harness because he'd pulled it loose.
I can't have him doing this: it's dangerous for him and myself or anyone else nearby. He often gets hyper after a walk (chases his own tail and is excited), but never this hyper. I'm not sure why he gets hyper after walks or gets these random bouts of extreme hyperactivity.
I want to understand why he's doing this and how to prevent it. I'm concerned our walks just aren't cutting it for him, but I can't let him off leash because he can get DA. I hoped the long line would help by giving him some freedom to sniff around more and maybe we could play fetch in a park (I'd have to teach him fetch first though).
Understanding and Prevening Random Fits of Hyperactivity/Excitement
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire