My dog is too hyper

[vidlaura]

Hi me and my fiance just adopted a beagle pointer mix. We also have a Shepard/Lab mix (17months old) and a cat (2 years old). We got the new dog about a week ago as a playmate for the shep/lab mix. She has a lot more energy than the shep and I'm wondering how we can get her (the beagle/pointer) to calm down. She jumps on the dog, and chases the cat. She is very friendy, I just think that whoever had her before us had her as an only pet. She has to have all the attention.

 

[szecsuani]

I'd say you just don't have to take care of her if she is trying to make you play/take care of her.
You only have to listen to her if you want to, this way, she will learn that she achieves nothing with "being so hyper"


But maybe there are some more clever ideas here....:msngiggle:

 

[hockey390]

This may not help much, but as time goes on, all of the animals will become (or hopefully will become) more comfortable around one another, and know each others boundaries. Some dogs naturally want to chase cats, and cats will naturally run away most of the time which enforces the dog to chase more. "Look! when I run at the cat it starts to play tag!" That sort of thing.. As for always wanting to play with your lab-mix, I would suggest letting them settle it for themselves. The lab is probably used to being the only dog in the house and now there is someone trying to steal his thunder. Make sure you give them all equal attention, but in time they will figure out they are all there to stay.

Hope this helps a little, sometimes I start to wander off topic..

 

[tx_cowgirl]

First and foremost....EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE! Lol. I agree with Szecsuani and Hockey's suggestions as well. Also, they're both quite young! This is puppyhood. When Zeke was a pup, he tested his limits with much older Rusty, who was 4-5 years old when I brought Zeke home. Rusty tolerated some things, and warned him when he was crossing the line. They learned how to act with each other, and how to interact with other dogs. It just takes time. The older your pups get, the more mature they will get, and therefore they will grow out of the hyperactive play(part of it). Let them play. They're pups! =) Just make sure that it never gets too rough, and I would actually discourage the jumping....if he learns to greet every dog by jumping on them, he may jump on the wrong dog someday. When he jumps, give a firm "Ah-ah!" This may or may not discourage him. If it does, praise him when he looks at you rather than jumping on the other dog.
I would also discourage the cat-chasing...it can turn into a habit, and the cat doesn't always enjoy it. Mud, being a Border Collie, needs something to do frequently. If she doesn't get enough physical/mental stimulation, she stalks my cat. Doesn't chase him, just follows him around obsessively...I fix this by saying, "Ah-ah!" in a firm tone, and offering a game of fetch instead. Simply telling the dog not to get rid of its boredom on the cat doesn't solve anything...so I give her something else to do rather than stalking the cat. Hope this helps! :dogsmile:

 

[CollieMan]

It will come as no shock to the locals here that I also advocate exercise, exercise, exercise....

A tired out dog just doesn't have the energy to run riot. Nor does it have the pent-up energy and frustrations that naturally come about through a lack of exercise. I think it's important to burn up mental energy, just as much as it is to burn up physical energy. Teaching new tricks or behaviours is obviously an ideal way to do this. Ten to fifteen minutes of training can work wonders for a high-energy dog.

How old is the Beagle mix? I'm presuming that it's quite young if the Shepherd is allowing it to jump all over it without reprimand. I'm pretty sure that there will come a time when the Shepherd gets tired of it and it will issue a correction to the Beagle mix. That correction will be worth a thousand of any corrections you could even dream of making, and so I'd let that particular relationship take care of itself.

I'd also be expecting a fair amount of mischief if the Beagle mix dog has just been introduced to the home. I think they like to test what the limits are, what they can get away with, who is the disciplinarian, who are the ones who can be easily manipulated, and so forth. I always keep in my mind that as friendly and as loving as they all are, they're always looking to see how they can take advantage of any given situation.

What I would warn against is shouting at the dog or chasing it around if it gets into mischief. That's attention, which, you can be pretty sure, is what the dog wants. Take the pay-off away and the behaviour usually fades of its own accord in time.

 

[vidlaura]

The Beagle mix is 1 year old. The Shepherd doesnt have a mean bone in his body. He doesnt stick up for himself. When we first got the Beagle I gave each dog a rawhide bone. The Shepherd mix started eating his and the Beagle started eating hers. Well about 5 minutes later the Beagle took the Shepherds bone and the Shepherd let her take it. Whenever the Shepherd tried to get the bone, the Beagle watched and would growl and/or bark at the Shepherd ifhe went near either. The Shepherd backed away and was scared to eat his bone. Lately the Beagle has been a little better with sharing, but she acts as if shes top dog even though the Shepherd was there first. We got the Shepherd from someone off the internet who couldnt take care of him anymore, we have a feeling that he was abused. He is also scared of certain men.

 

[CollieMan]

How long have you had the Beagle mix?

 

[vidlaura]

We have had the Beagle mix for about 2 weeks.

 

[CollieMan]

Ah, well, in that case, I wouldn't be in the least bit concerned just yet, and I certainly wouldn't begin to think that any traits she is showing right now are permanent traits.

I think it's more a question of the dog finding out where the new limits are and what it can get away with. As I said before, I wouldn't get too hyper in how you react to the dog, because it may well be that she is seeing how easy it is to get your attention. But I would be firm about the rules from the start.

I'm pretty sure this will calm itself down after a few more weeks.

 

[emmasmamma]

Dogs have a "pack" mentality. The beagle-mix is trying to figure out where he fits in the pack. Once you have established yourself as the "head" of the pack through setting boundries, the other other two will work out their own pecking order. It may turn out that even though the shepard is older and been there longer, the beagle mix may wind up in a higher place in the order. Though it may not seem fair, they will be more comfortable with what they work out. Allow them to do so as long as one is not causing harm to the other. ( ie: drawing blood or breaking the skin with correctional bites)

 

[vidlaura]

No way will they be harming each other. They play together nicely. Sometimes I think the Shepherd mix doesnt realieze how much heavier he is than her, and I get scared he might step on her the wrong way. But they are both very gentle. The biggest problem I had was in the beginning with the treats, the Beagle mix hasent growled or barked at him since. The Beagle mix still gets very jelous when we give the Shepherd or cat attention rather than her. I'm sure she will adapt.