Posted on 03/04/2016 6:51:46 AM PST by US Navy Vet
...we/I have a German Shorthair Pointer(about 1 Year Old) and this dog is SPAZZ/Psyco/bundle of NERVES, Any ideas on how to settle her down?
Zen.
Have her contemplate a Zen Koan.
You could use one of the old favorites like,
“What is the sound of one hand clapping?”
Or
“Does a dog have a Buddha nature?”
I would come up with a more pertinent one like,
“What is the sound of a dog clapping?”
It will calm her down or she will attain true enlightenment. Either way, you win.
That is exactly how she behaved when herding picnic tables. So sad.
Fetch... lots of fetch. Plus at this age, training.. lots of training.
People need to do just what you’re doing before they get a dog.
Research can save people from getting the wrong dog and it’s possible the best solution to the OP’s question is to find the dog a new home.
High energy breeds of dogs require a high energy involved owner. I’m one of those and have Belgians (perfect for me). We used to be distance runners and ran with the dogs up to 20 miles a day. Obedience, tracking, dog shows and herding rounded out the other activities. If you don’t give a dog like that plenty to do they will find trouble and behavior issues.
There are low key quiet breeds. I had a friend with a basset that was a great apartment dog and good companion. Some of the big breeds are really quiet.
Years ago I had a very energetic Weimariner. She needed to run A LOT but I couldn’t keep up with her due to her long stride and I just didn’t have the energy anyway.
The solution was Dog Tennis.
I would stand in one place, and whack a tennis ball—with a racket—and she would have to run a goodly distance to get it.
She’d bring it back to me, and I’d whack it again.
She got her exercise and I got some, too, but without wearing me out in the process.
I have two GSPs, both female; one is 10, the other 1-1/2 years. First, they are awesome dogs...so fun, smart and sweet! Up until they are 3-4 they are bundles of energy. You must find a place for her to run, run, run.
I used to take the older one to public hunting grounds because running through the tall grass wore her out more quickly:) Also, they both took very quickly to playing frisbie...great exercise.
Teach it to fetch and you can wear them out fairly quick.... They are working dogs so this should be easy...
For the really lazy you get a tennis ball launcher....
Plus...like a baby, keep a set schedule for walks meals etc...
Last is age....until the dog is 2, lack of focus and excess energy is normal....
Like a 3-4 year old boy..... :^)
You said it. Some years ago I bought a pair of Shelties bc they were so beautiful. They were my crash course on working dogs. Nothing was a game for them; everything was a job. Throw a tennis ball, and it was a death match between the pair, to establish which of them was able to successfully do the job.
Shelties don’t require as much exercise as some breeds, but they do require activity that they can interpret as work. I loved those dogs vastly, but I don’t go in for working breeds any more. Too heavy on the maintenance.
There it is!
:-)
Research is essential in picking out a dog. In general hunting and herding breeds are high energy dogs that need a job. Terrier breeds can be even worse. The Jack Russell is notorious for being a handful. I’ve found the Great Dane to be one of the quieter breeds. I also love Mountain Curs. They are hunters but also just a good all around dog. Right now I have a huge Dane, a tiny Jack and a Mountain Cur. Waiting to get another Sheltie.
I love shelties but you said it, they’re serious. Rough collies on the other hand are clowns. Those two look alike but don’t act alike.
pop the dog a valium....I had a dog that had seizure’s, valium after he came out of the seizure help him to walk etc.his muscles were tense after the seizure.
I used to volunteer at our animal shelter. At the time the public was enamored by how cute Jack Russels were. Well you know they can be like Tasmanian Devils. A lot of them ended up at the shelter. They seemed like true terriers, scrappy ratters and perpetually on the hunt.
Other terriers aren’t so wound up. Bull Terriers always seem like calm confident dogs. The ones I’ve known anyway.
SNL had a show once, doggie downers lol.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but for me the rough collie is the most beautiful dog alive. Especially a male blue merle, in full winter plumage—wow!
I’ve never had one, and didn’t know about the clownishness. The extent of my rough collie knowledge would probably be, “Is Timmy in the well, Lassie?”
;)
I’ve had 2 GSP’s complete polar opposites but both unbelievable athletes when it game to hunting birds. One was a calm as a could be and was that way when I picked her from the litter and the other was high powered.
It is all about the training you need to do now. I always ignore my dogs when they come bounding up to me and only recognize them when I want their attention. From that they figure out that not every motion or movement when people are around them is meant as a command to come running up on you.
But then they were active field dogs and I had them professionally trained. The calm one , Lucy, was trained on lead rope and by the time I got Sadie she was trained on shock collar. But out in the field they both responded to whistle commands. Sadie wore the shock collar only in case she decided to bolt off on a half mile run!
Both have since passed along with my love for bird hunting. Don’t get me wrong, they were my best friends and I loved them as much as anything and they brought me and my hunting buddies, and my daughter and wife, years of pleasure and companionship.
Recently we had high winds and a ten foot branch broke off. It's about 3 inches thick on one end. I have her grab that end and drag the long branch throughout the yard. She loves doing that and it also tires her out :) Next I'm going to teach her how to place branches in a pile.
She will be going to a training school in the spring.
Yep, Jacks are in a class by themselves. Jack Russell “terrorists”. A Jack on a mission is a sight to behold. No one should get a Jack unless they are prepared for a life changing experience. Love the little buggers but I knew what I was getting into.
Huh? The question was to settle the dog not agitate it.
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