How to manage extreme enthusiasm?

[DoubleB20]

Need some help, I know most of you folks are focused on pointers, I am too, as I have a new Vizsla. I also have a male lab, that's about 20 months old, I've had for about a year. Background - I got him from a couple that had him in an apartment and as he grew he just out grew them. He's from an excellent bloodline and is a hoss. When I got him, I had no serious intentions of anything more than just a family pet. I've had Chessie's in the past, but I lived on the farm and hunted every available second - before work, during lunch, after work,...needless to say I was a bird hunting fanatic. After farming went south, we moved to the city (DFW) and hunting priority fell low down on the list (I hate city life). Anyway, this lab is well-behaved, retrieves like a maniac, and that's my the genesis of my "issue". I've joined a local HRC, and an becoming interested in hunt testing, etc. I don't know how to channel all this dog's energy and enthusiasm so he becomes a reliable, dependable hunting partner. Seems like his enthusiasm is both good and bad. Can anyone give me some advise to channel his energy into fruitful training sessions and eventually successful hunting. He knows what to do, as far as obedience, but he just can't help himself. I tell him to sit and throw a dummy - he starts to break, stops him self then shivers and shakes with excitement, sometimes barking and whining until he gets to go. Many times I have to stop the training session because I just can't get him under control. I realize my expectations may be too high - I'm very much Type A with "perfectionism" issues, so if things get too frustrating, I give him a hug and put him up for the day. I try to train for half hour, 5 days a week and have been at this for couple of months. One more question, he's friendly and my own kids and all the neighborhood kids love to throw stuff for him to fetch and he'll do it as long as someone will throw something - but there's no discipline in their throws, as far as making him wait, etc. in fact, he takes off while they wind up and he's usually there to catch it in the air. Should I stop allowing them to play until I get him more under control? I don't want to "break his spirit" but he needs some discipline. He's obedient, but sometimes hard-headed - I'm thinking maybe force fetch is exactly what he needs at this time - thoughts? Advice? Sorry this is so long - thanks for your help. You folks are really knowledgeable and I trust your advice.

[kiddcline]

I've got a lab that is 6 almost 7 months.

She has a lot of energy as well. The trick with her was putting her back on a check cord and working on heel and come. I also put her back on the training table to have more control over her. When she does something good I wood softly say "good" and pet her on the head. If petting her on the head made her hyper I would only talk to her gently.

You want to make sure your dog knows that you are the one in control so when your lab gets out of hand put them back on the leash and on the table. It takes time but it works for my dogs.

Good luck.

[tenbearsviz]

DoubleB20, This is how I handled a similar situation. I have a young vizsla that when he is excited, he is a jumping bean. Anything that he interprets as interaction with dad (me) gets him hopping and jumping. It was difficult to get his attention at first because he was so enthusiastic. I had to weigh out the value of getting firm in obedience vs letting him be crazy. I opted to let him mature mentally before getting firm. I found what he liked to do that brought him into focus.... by focus, I mean what does he really concentrate on. For example, I tried to teach him "whoa" to stand still.... Ya right! Goofy dog dance time... until I put the food bowl down.. Focus was clear. Cool, I found something that stopped the ants in his pants and took advantage of it. After whoa worked with the food bowl, I took it to his favorate toy in retrieve games. Whoa before he could have it.. He knew there was a prize when we did it by the food.. It transfered over to toys and now to birds.

My advice... Let your dog mature. Dont go to hard to fast. Find focus points and exploit them. Give it lots of excersize to burn off the "zoomies" and settle the happy feet.

Have fun, keep it positive. He will tell you when he is ready to learn.

Just my opinion... others will differ.

[dhondtm]

I agree with the above post. Take your time and get them lots of exercise before you start your training sessions. I always work on recall first, then i can take them out to large fields and let them run a lot of energy off and I know I can call them back in with out any worries.

[DoubleB20]

Thanks, I was training first and then exercising - duh. I'll switch that around and see how that goes. I also noticed that if I put the bumper in my back pocket he was crazy to get it out, but if I hold it in my hand, it does focus his attention and helps a lot. He will recall from anywhere, so that's a good thing, big run and then training will be my next attempt. He is very strong, I've had all kinds of dogs from rottweilers to yorkies, this lab is hands down the strongest dog I've ever seen. One fellow training friend said to just step on his check cord and he'll stop - yea right, you'll end up looking at the sky if you do that. I should enter him in those strong man contests and see how far he can pull a train. Thanks for the advice - keep it coming.

[Terry]

I have a strong lab like that also...and have ended up on my back a couple times, and face at least once.

On the bright side, he is was very concerned about me when I hit the ground!

[gonehuntin']

DoubleB; exercise won't help a dog like that at all. You can't exercise the dog before you put him in a hunting blind or a hunting test. Get him under control. To do that work him on tight, demanding drills where the dog must pay attention or make a mistake. Were I you, I'd get Lardy's or Grahams tapes, study them, and train accordingly. This is an extremely involved topic which requires a set or tapes or a book and that's why I'm not going further into it here. A dog like this MUST be continually challenged in every thing he does.