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by SitasMom on 14 July 2009 - 16:07
Drives defined
The four drives outlined by Volhard include prey, pack, fight, and flight reactions.
The prey drive includes those behaviors that highlight hunting and foraging behaviors. Dogs that hunt and kill their toys (or objects of clothing, pillows, etc.), chase anything that moves, steal food, stalk the cat, and pounce on toys or other animals are probably high in prey drive.
The Pack drive involves a dog's affinity for humans or other dogs. A dog with a high pack drive cannot get enough of his people; he barks or cries when left alone, solicits play and petting, likes to touch, enjoys grooming, and loves the sound of his master's voice.
The Fight drive is defensive and indicates a dog's self-confidence in stressful situations. A dog with a strong fight-defense drive stands his ground, walks high on his toes, guards his territory and his family, may guard his toys and food, tolerates petting and grooming but does not really enjoy these activities, enjoys tug-of-war, and seems ready to fight.
The Flight drive is also a defense drive and indicates a dog's lack of self-confidence. A dog with high flight drive is unsure in new situations and may hide behind his person, is stressed when separated from his person, crawls on his belly or urinates when reprimanded, and may bite when cornered.
by SitasMom on 14 July 2009 - 17:07
One of my dogs goes crazy when he's let out of his crate.....even if he's been in the crate for only 10 minutes.....He barks, whines, cries, jumps up on me, runs in circles, he also jumps on , pushes, and play bites the other dogs for attention.......Trying to distract him is not working, it doesn't matter if he's the first or last let out. I've tired to leash him and take him directly for a walk......he's still too wound up to pay attention for a good while.
When he is left free in the house and I take another dog outside for training he barks the whole time and when we come back into the house he does the same crazy dance.
Does any one have any suggestions on how to tame the wild beast?
by Slamdunc on 14 July 2009 - 18:07
by SitasMom on 14 July 2009 - 19:07
He's 9 months old and is doing OK with obedience.......
We do obedience every day, he will heel, sit, down, stay, retrieve. He will focus one a ball for up to 2 1/2 minutes without breaking.
When a pack member is missing, he gets very excited.....and when the member comes home he becomes even more excited....
by PatriotAmanda on 14 July 2009 - 20:07
by SitasMom on 14 July 2009 - 23:07
Today he almost broke my finger. He was jumping up and I was trying to push him off. After about 5 or 10 minutes he be becomes his good ole self, looking for someone to throw a ball (over and over and over.....). But that first few minutes is very trying..........
by TashaGSD on 15 July 2009 - 03:07
Also obedience at the gate ....dog must be calm and in a sit before you are released...no matter how many times you touch the crate and they move..... be patient .... he will start to"get it". You can even get them to the point as someone else said they will lean into the gate for the leash to be attached through the fence or come out immediately into a sit for the leash to be put on.
Another thing with the over exurburance is I will sometimes immediately stuff a toy into their mouth ....it puts the focus on the toy and not jumping up on me...if I want I'll let them burn off some steam tearing around the yard with the toy and then they don't immediately "go after" or "tag" one of the other dogs out of excitement.
Also when you go you can carry a nice sturdy walking stick and hold horizontally in front of you....if dog jumps it whack "itself" on the stick and it only takes a couple "whacks' before they stop themselves mid leap and give you the space and turn their exhurburance outwards.
by TessJ10 on 15 July 2009 - 13:07
slamdunc & Tasha are right - it is an obedience issue. He is "doing OK" with obedience, but obedience isn't just the sessions where you have him out and are teaching sit, platz, etc. Obedience lessons are all the time in the coming in and going out.
Don't let him out until he lies down in the crate and holds the down when you open the door. Don't "try to distract him" when he's let out. Take him right into a command. For instance, you can heel him right outside and then play with him or reward him with a ball or whatever. Set it up so he's only in the crate for a few minutes so he doesn't have to relieve himself. So when you open the door, slip a leash on him. If he jumps on you or goes nuts, tell him Sit. If he doesn't, correct him. He must learn that he needs to obey your commands not just during training sessions but whenever you tell him.
Remember that now he is in the habit of spinning and barking and play biting when that door opens. It will take a little while to get him out of the conditioned response that "out of the crate" means go nuts. Use your training. He knows "down," so say "Down" and don't open that door until he Downs. He most likely will leap up as soon as your hand reaches for the door. Stop, take your hand away, even walk off a couple steps & turn your back. He will learn that breaking the down command means you don't open the door.
by DebiSue on 15 July 2009 - 18:07
Sitasmom,
It is pack mentality/separation anxiety at work. Your dog is simply saying you are the boss with this greeting. I agree with the rest but I know from experience that even getting him to down calmly doesn't mean he won't go ballistic as soon as he has the chance. My 9mo girl acts like this when I come home from work. She isn't crated because my husband is home so she hits me the minute I walk in the door. It is very difficult to ignore such an onslaught but that's what I try to do. Do not push him away, this is interpreted by your dog as an invitation to play. I do not make eye contact, I don't speak to her. I come in and put my purse down and when she jumps at me I turn my back. If you can ignore him, he will sit down and calm down in a few minutes. I dread coming home from work because of the commotion. I'm weary, I want to put my feet up and relax but that isn't gonna happen for a while. It is wonderful to have someone who is so happy to see me when I come home but give me a break! I have tried to tell her to down or sit and stay but she is so wound up it doesn't last and if I try to make her she just rolls over and paws at me and play bites at me. I've had to alpha roll her a couple of times as she tends to correct me when I am correcting her and I won' t have it. She's pretty good any other time but I sympathize with you, homecoming isn't what it ought to be. I'm hoping it's a phase she is going through. For a while there if I left for even just a minute it was chaos, yipping, crying, raising hell. We have just graduated to being left alone, uncrated for short periods of time. She has figured out that we will be back so the separation anxiety thing has passed. Now if I can just convince her a simple tail wag will do...
Funny story...last night when I came home she was in another part of the house and came on the run. She hit that laminate floor and it was like watching the ice capades. She didn't fall but she sure did skate across that floor to get to me. Hard to ignore that! LMAO. I'm thinking of having my husband put her in the crate before I get home so I can at least get in the door and can try TessJ10's idea of down and calm before I let her out.
Good luck!
Deb
by TessJ10 on 15 July 2009 - 18:07
To clarify on my exploding-out-of-the-crate GSD, the down until after the door is open and I say "ok" , means that he will then fly out of the crate, but it has steadied him. It gives me the choice now of either allowing him to fly out of the crate when I say ok, or else I don't say ok but say "Hier" and then of course he has to come straight to me and then we can proceed in a quieter manner.
Now that he has that down pat, I can just say Easy, Easy, and he knows he'd better not come flying out and leaping all over me and the other animals, but needs to conduct himself like a reasonable person. MOST of the time - LOL. He gets plenty of no-holds-barred romping so it doesn't hurt his drive to have him be reasonable in the house.
At protection training though, I do NOT make him lie calmly until I take him out of the crate. He knows if I come up to the crate and say Pas Auf! big fun is about to be had and I let him be wild with excitement. But that's because he's a n00b in protection yet.
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