Comments on: Over Excited Dog: How Understanding Behavior Thresholds Can Help You

By: Mary Catherine Loftis

Mary Catherine Loftis — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 21:18:35 +0000

Hello, not sure if you still check these. Our older dog is constantly over threshold. Legitimately. Removing her further from a distraction would not be possible because she is distracted by literally everything. She has lived in the house for over a year, there is nothing new here. And yet she is still too distracted and does not obey or retain any discipline. We know she is half a very energetic breed (1/2 Plott Hound, 1/2 Staffordshire Terrier), but we run her around in the backyard almost every day to get energy out, and it does not help. Any advice would be appreciated for sure.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 04:29:59 +0000

We have a 13 week old Chihuahua and German shepherd mix puppy . He was taken from his momma at 5 weeks old. He is great with my hubby and will lay on my daughter with Down syndrome. I take care of him all the time but I am the only one he bites and scratches and jumps on and he has actually made holes in my clothes and pulled my shorts down and bites my feet when I take him out . On the leash he jumps on me and bites and growls . I have not been mean to him but put him in time out. He is over thread hold so much I am exhausted ! I have tried all the techniques in the books and the vet told me if still doing it at 7-8 months I need to take him to obedience training! Any help would be appreciated! He lays next to me in bed and cuddles when he is exhausted and finally crashes but I am on my last rope !

By: Janet Prather

Janet Prather — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 13:16:33 +0000

We’ve adopted an 18 month old terrier mix. He’s the sweetest dog and well trained except when company comes over. He gets so excited, he jumps on them and worse, urinates on them. To make matters worse , we are keeping our sons two, much larger dogs for a few months. They all get very excited,but our little terrier is the only one that wets everywhere. We’d put them outside except they just bark and jump on the back door and scratch it all up until you let them in. The excitement from all three dogs I can work with more, it’s the urinating from our little one that is really causing concerns.

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 16:53:56 +0000

In reply to Lynn. I have a 2 yo lab with the exact same issue. Have you found a solution?

By: Colleen

Colleen — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 01:53:02 +0000

Hi, we have a 13 month old border collie we have had since he was 5 months old. He is calm and easily trainable when the environment is controlled or even when other dogs are near by. We are introducing him to the Agility environment and he finds it impossible to watch other dogs run agility. We have had to leave the class since he becomes completely uncontrollable. It is so out of character that it shocks us.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 02:26:45 +0000

Hi, my 3 yo lab has gone through many classes, attended doggy day care and lives with an older dog. He only major issue is walking on leash in the borough and meets another leash walking dog. She crosses the threshold quickly and sounds “viscous” trying to get to the other dog to play. We’ve done distraction, say leave it and keep walking, nothing helps. I now change path as soon as I see a dog/owner. She just wants to play but sounds horrible.

By: Lori Heyne

Lori Heyne — Fri, 10 May 2019 14:54:19 +0000

In reply to Pam. We have the same problem with our dachshund mix rescue. She is over 2 yrs and is a great dog unless we come across deer, squirrels and other dogs on our walk. She then goes crazy and barks and lunges and will not calm. Patiently doing the treat reward when she is calm which is working ok with squirrels and deer, but other dogs...well that’s still an issue.

By: tricia

tricia — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 15:46:05 +0000

Hello Pippa, I’m finding your puppy and recall books absolutely brilliant and they’ve been a great help. Puppy (border collie) is now 18 weeks old and enjoying learning. We are trying very hard to clicker train positvelyHowever we do struggle with the ‘mad moments’. One in the morning and usually one in the evening. The kitchen is pretty ‘puppy proof’ and we’re easy about the things that are in there but …. she tears the cushions off the chairs, and anything she can grab or chew. She has her own toy box but in these moments nothing in there is of interest. We have tried distraction activities (sit etc training games), taking her out for a play, or giving her a Kong/chew. We think SHE may have US thoroughly trained, as our response is one of these nice things. I’m tempted at times to pop her in her crate with a Kong/chew, but don’t want her to end up spending a lot of time shut in there, especially as in the evening it’ll only be a couple of hours or so before she is shut in for the night. We’re both retired so around a lot, and do do a fair amount with her.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 14:26:27 +0000

My dog has an extreme reaction to seeing either me my spouse or the kids in the water playing. He is a big dog and has injured people by swimming to them and scratching them. He loves water himself and will fetch frisbee from a far distance. How can I curb his freakouts?

By: Lois M Shelton

Lois M Shelton — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 02:24:58 +0000

In reply to Sally. Hi Pippa, I just adopted a 10 year old female Pitt/Terrier mix. She is so quiet in the house but when I put her on a leash and take her out of the yard she just will not respond. She is so strong. pulls away. I also have two resident cats that she has not yet met face to face, but did see the first day I brought her home. She went wild and now hangs outside the door of the room where they are now living. It is very hard on them, they haven't been out of the room for 19 days. I am actually afraid to have them meet but feel very guilty keeping them in a room when they used to have the run of the house. Do you think you can give me some ideas? Thanks, Lois