Crazy Dog

[Vikingoo168]

I have a 1 year old GSP(still a puppy I know) he has an awesome prey drive, has been professionally started, hunts well and understands all the commands associated with finding, pointing and retrieving birds. I would say he is an overall good bird dog with a lot of future potential as he matures/grows, but here is the kicker... He goes crazy when he is not focused on a task such as finding birds, pointing, retrieving etc. He listens well and understands all the given commands but cannot sit still in the meantime. He is very well exercised and goes to work with me daily so I know that he cannot be bored because we are always doing something together. It is really starting to become annoying that he cannot chill unless it is night time and he is on his bed at home... I do not give him any attention when he has his freak out moments and always praise/pet him when he has finally calmed down to try and reinforce that type of behavior, but he just doesn't seem to get it. He has been this way since 6 weeks old when I got him and I have seen no improvement. I know GSPs are a more active dog but I see other GSPs his age acting calm so I am wondering if there is anything I am missing here??? Might just be his personality but I sure hope it changes with maturity... Any advice to help him along would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

[ultracarry]

Crate him in the truck at work..... Crate him at home, crate him when you feel like it, add a bark collar if he gets loud. All should pass . Give him a bone in his crate if he is calm and you feel like it. He's not a one year old child.... He's a dog and should be treated like one.

Just my .02

[Vikingoo168]

Crate him in the truck at work..... Crate him at home, crate him when you feel like it, add a bark collar if he gets loud. All should pass . Give him a bone in his crate if he is calm and you feel like it. He's not a one year old child.... He's a dog and should be treated like one.

Just my .02

I crate him all the time... He does very well in his crate with very minimal whining and will stay in there with the door open until he is told to come out. When he comes out all heck breaks loose though... I have a crate at home, at work and have a dog run set up at home so he does know he is a dog. I have another dog that is very calm and they are always together when home and do not come in the house until the evening and even then they have to stay on their beds unless i release them so I think they know they are dogs very well. I guess it will just take time...

[ezzy333]

It sounds a little like a form of separation anxiety. I think if you look back over the year you might find this started when he was separated from the rest of the litter when he was 6 weeks old and didn't have the 2 to 4 more weeks he needed to gain a little independence before being taken away. So you became the mother figure and that has been reinforced by you being with him all of the time rather than him learning that his crate was the security place in his life. I think now you are going to have to crate him and leave him for short periods to start and then gradually lengthen the time you are separated so he can begin to learn he will survive when left alone and also that he can sleep while you are busy doing other things. But like most things the longer you wait the harder it gets and I think it will take some time now at his age.

Ezzy

[Sharon]

Bingo! That's it.

[CDN_Cocker]

Some dogs are just slow to mature. My cocker is almost 2 and is just starting to lay down around the house (albeit only for a few mins at a time) but is still quite a pacer. At a year old he was almost unbearable to be around because he had so much energy - no amount of training or exercise calmed him down. Think it just comes with the territory of owning a gun dog. Have faith, he'll settle eventually. Just keep training and exercising - consistency is key. He'll cool his jets sooner or later.

[Tooling]

6 weeks? Not a great start but that is of little diff at this stage.

A very good sense of humor is pretty much a requirement for owning a GSP.

Keep your cool b/c your dog knows how to read you like you can not even fathom and whatever you are feeling at any given time will be picked up on and felt by the dog - especially anxiety and frustration.

Good luck w/him...in the long haul it will be worth it.

[Donnytpburge]

Have you tried putting the dog on a stake out chain?

This works for me, but I start them on it early.

Db

[Vikingoo168]

6 weeks? Not a great start but that is of little diff at this stage.

A very good sense of humor is pretty much a requirement for owning a GSP.

Keep your cool b/c your dog knows how to read you like you can not even fathom and whatever you are feeling at any given time will be picked up on and felt by the dog - especially anxiety and frustration.

Good luck w/him...in the long haul it will be worth it.

Got him at 8 weeks my mistake... Don't think it really makes a difference now.