Alfie (13 weeks) is driving me crazy. He is on the go continuously and nearly always doing things that he shouldn't be. he jumps onto the sofa, he gets down, we click and reward and then he promptly jumps back up again. We have decided that for this we should be offering praise instead of the reward, but it is making no difference.

He has just excelled himself by jumping up on the dining room table a very stern no, and a tap on the nose with a childs slipper and he jumps up again several times

He has had two long walks today and instead of wearing him out it has made him even more hyper. We have a nylabone chewy and Kong that is offered regularly which lasts all of a couple of minutes, when he is back to mischief

The only time he will stop during the day is by putting him into his cage but he is spending more and more of his time there and it doesn't seem right locking him away. Of an evening he is fine and rests happily by our feet.

I did expect these early days to be hard, but this is near on impossible, it has got to a point where i can't leave the room. Good excuse for not doing the housework thou

Any advice will be gratefully recieved

Cathy

Hi

It seems to me that young Alfie has found every button he can push and is finding life one big game, he sounds like Chase who lives on adrenaline and attention and his arousal levels go sky high till he can't cope - like a child on E numbers!

I would try not telling him off (tis still your attention) and not praising him when he gets off the sofa (as to get that praise he has to jump on the sofa) but just quietly remove him without fuss/talking or eye contact if jumping up becomes a boring non-event he should stop quicker although you will have to be very consistent and it may seem to be worse till he figures it out.

At the same time as doing the ignoring you need to remember to really praise the times he is settled by your feet/on his bed etc etc but your praise needs to be quiet and relaxing.

Try to keep all his play sessions quiet so no manic toy chasing/tugging or racing around, lots of quiet stroking with a gentle voice etc etc.

Will try to think of some other stuff you can try too.

what are you feeding him on? I know several owners on here report hyper behaviour from their dogs when fed certain foods - maybe he's a bit sensitive to something in his diet?

I think you have Chip's brother!!!!

I am dealing with the same problem. He is allways thinking of something to get
into. He has been on the counter tops the dining table the bathroom sink.

He is three.

I hope someday he calms down. I do know some of this is my fault in that he doesn't get enough exercise. When he does, he is somewhat better.

I love him for his crazy personality.

Flipping heck, i have to watch the sweets my son has because some of them send him dolally never would have thought i would have to watch the dogs too

Diet is actually another issue that we are having. we have just changed him to Wagg which was what he was on before we bought him. On his first Sunday with us we couldn't buy Wagg so bought Bakers instead. trouble was his bowel movements are very runny, so reverted back to Wagg in the hope this would sort it, but 48 hours later it hasn't so now considering a rice diet tomorrow.

I would definitely steer clear of Bakers - tis full of colours etc. Personally I like diets that are as natural and unprocessed as possible. I feed raw but if I were looking back to kibbles I would look at Arden Grange or James Wellbeloved.

I think Bakers could be one that people have problems with - not sure i've heard of wagg... if you start another thread asking for food recomendations for a hyperactive pup - i'm sure you'll get lots of ideas!

Good luck!

Oh, and please ncan we have a pic of the little man?

Definitely stay away from Bakers, and try to avoid changing his food too often - it can give him more tummy trouble.

Sue's advice is good, hopefully it'll help!

if you can stomach it id def give barf a try for say 3 weeks, my boy when i was looking for solutions to his sensitive tum calmed down loads although it turned out poultry gave him the runs. . alot of his problems as said are attention seeking, a dog would rather have a rollocking rather than be ignored. also he needs mental stimulation 15 or 20 mins of this tires them out far more than an hours run about

Thanks everyone - Bakers now definately off the menu

Barf - sorry being completly think here, what is it?

Mental stimulation - i take it this would be something along the lines of hiding treats

Photo - there is a very early one in the introduce section, but he is now twice the size, i will see if i can get him to sit still long enough for another

probably best to stay away from barf or bones and raw food for a while but your next feed should be hypoallergenic complete food, most brands make one and its entirely down to personal choice and budget as to which one. as for games well he is a gundog so things like making him sit and fetching things back to you, hiding treats under plastic cups for him to find. kong toys the list is endless. what i would say though is a months worth of tough love and showing him whos in charge will prevent a lifetime of problems. he is getting to an age where in a couple of months time hes going to hit the kevin years so you need to train train train esp recall before he learns the secret you dont want him to find out. ie off lead you cant catch him

Kevin years...............OMG........... doesn't bear thinking about

well uve got about another 2 months before he starts them so id probably have a think about it lol

It may be worth PMing Selina, I know she has a really good sheet about games to play to tire out their brains, which is far far more effective than trying to tire out their bodies!
Good luck, keep posting, it'll pass