Make him tired mentally?

M

Megibo

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 April 2011
Messages
4,233
Location
usually on my bum ...
Visit site
Need ideas please, my rottie won't stop!
He loves stealing rubbish and clothes and hiding/chewing them. I assume he's bored but even after walks and going over training he still feels the need to find things to chew or muck about with.

The other day i got lost while walking and we were out for about 2 hours, poor sod was knackered. he rested about 5 minutes when we got home and then was looking for things to steal again or mess with in general.

any ideas on what i can do to tire him mentally so that he doesn't feel the need to go and steal things and generally make mess entertaining himself??
 
A nice big butchers bone
More training/games - don't just go over the same old stuff, he is young, you will bore him, lots of short bursts of different things
2-ball fetch
Teaching him to identify objects
Hiding objects and getting him to find them/scent work
There are tonnes of tricks and ideas on YouTube you can try.
This is also why I like crates and dog runs, you can 'put them away' with something for a bit of down-time :o
 
Dylan gets at least half hour of training a day even then he goes mental afterwards, hes such a clown. He doesnt steal though.

Hes learnt

Lay down, dead, sit, stay, paw, roll over, spin left, spin righ, stop (unlike the "gun dog" in the house), I can throw a ball and he waits to be let go, we are practicing find the treat now (Choice of three cups), and working on getting a super heel, He can track in the garden but walks are too exciting to do so.

He just tears around after this and a walk lol.

I buy loads of cheap toys from poundland as he destroys them but takes hima couple of days to do so. I also put him in his crate for chill time, he does sleep in here.


:) They are the same age arent they? 10months?
 
Last edited:
How about one of those snak balls that you use for the horses? I have a rottie and put his food in one of those, he gets it out and then buries it, but he lives outside so probably isnt quite as mad as yours!

How old is he?
 
OH used to chuck our dobe bitch in the back of the car and take her for a drive. Being a guarding breed she was doing a job even when they were just parked up in it. She worked her little brains off watching the passers by etc and it was also an excellent way of educating her about the world outside of the house and garden.

Used to come home tired out;)
 
Thanks all, great ideas!

CaveC: "Teaching him to identify objects/
Hiding objects and getting him to find them/scent work" -how ? I'd love him to do that sort of stuff. :)

Toffee: "Lay down, dead, sit, stay, paw, roll over, spin left, spin righ, stop (unlike the "gun dog" in the house), I can throw a ball and he waits to be let go, we are practicing find the treat now (Choice of three cups), and working on getting a super heel, He can track in the garden but walks are too exciting to do so. " -Nico knows about 8 of those! He totally doesn't understand how to roll over or give his paw though, daft moo. You can pick his paw up and hold it but he won't give it :rolleyes: Erm yes think so, Nico is 11 months on the 12th :D

J17-hes nearly 11 months, does have a snak ball but gets bored of pushing it around and leaves it. maybe need to put some new stuff in it.

katie-good idea!

bells-not sure how i could replicate that ;)
 
Not started object discrimination with mine yet, other than 'kong' which he got by himself :rolleyes: but we play the hiding/searching game that CC mentioned a lot and Loki (GSD) absolutely loves it. He'd have you at it for hours :)

CC probably has a better method of teaching it as she's trained up a dog with a tracking title, but as a stop gap this is how I would and have taught it just as a game for the house or out on walks.

First, get a toy he loves. Could be his kong, a ball, a stuffed fluffy critter etc. Get him interested in the object (if it's his fave this will be easy, he'll want it as soon as you pick it up.) and then tell him to sit, and to wait/stay. Hide the object in a really obvious place, such as just behind the sofa (when the sofa is in clear view to him). Release the wait/stay with 'search' or whatever word suits you. Be all excited about it since this might be a new release word for him, you want to encourage him to break the wait, but in a controlled way with a clear goal in mind. He should rush to his toy. If he doesn't, encourage him over to where you've hidden it (or find a more enticing toy that he MUST have, or a more obvious 'hiding place' :)). When he finds it, make a huge fuss! If parading around with his 'find' is his thing, let him. But remember to train him to give it up to you also- he might be more willing to do this if it's something you can play tug or fetch with once he gives it up.

Once he gets the idea, you can start hiding it in other rooms/out on walks where he can't see and has to make a bit more use of his nose :)

That's how I would do it as a game. If you're wanting to do any formal tracking or scent work later it'd be best to wait for CC or somebody with equal experience to answer, as scenting on the ground etc. requires a little more structure and finesse, and I wouldn't want to steer you wrong :p
 
Thanks Pix that was helpful! No nothing formal just something fun to entertain him with.

Just to prove my point, (well not prove a point but..) I went in the kitchen to get something and found snow...when I say snow the bugger has got a kitchen roll and tore it apart!!! :mad::mad::mad:




















































:rolleyes:
 
*snigger* :p

I'm very lucky as my lad isn't destructive, but he will steal things, purely as an attention seeking habit (my fault for chasing him as a pup to get the nasty objects out of his mouth :rolleyes:). He'll wander into the living room, and poke everyone with his nose to see if they'll pay him attention. If they don't, he'll casually wander about until something forbidden on a reachable surface catches his eye..... then he's off like lightening, gently cradling a pair of glasses :rolleyes:

Mind you, he did a brilliant job on a duck feather pillow once when I left him alone. It took hours and hours to clean up. There were proper drifts of the stuff up against the skirting boards :D These days if I leave him uncrated while I'm out he'll just gather a few things from my bedroom and sit with them in the hallway until I return. Daft dog.

I'd definitely try games in the house (and on walks too, so it's not just sniff sniff run run). One thing though is that you can't just play with a young dog and then say 'game over, I'm bored' as you just leave them worked up. Learning to settle down quickly takes time and a good deal of control for younger dogs (I've found, at least). So say, you have a great walk, with lots of running around and playing with other dogs or playing hide n seek or fetch with you, and then you get home and he's panting away and tired. Don't expect him to just settle down straight away, as his mind is still buzzing and on the go. He might just get his breath back and then be off again :D Try popping him in a crate or his bed with a frozen kong to give him a chance to wind down. It's a bit like working a late shift on a bar, you've been busy busy for hours, so even though your body is screaming 'oh for the love of all that is holy, it's 3am! REST' your brain is still ticking away for a good hour or so after the shift has ended :)
 
Well I came home tonight to find that my pup has done a number on the doormat I bought him to lie on, yesterday, ARGH!!!

Yes, as Pix says, trail something along the ground and get him to find it, that's the long and the short of it! Looping around, doubling back etc.
I still do that with my big dog with the tracking title - training for the more advanced track is laying a track with the wind, not into it (if the dog goes into the wind, then he will just go straigt to the end!), food in every footprint, corners and a bigger pile of food/reward at the end. Food is out of the dog's daily allowance, nothing extra, so he works for it. There's a bit more to it than that but those are the foundations.

Identifying objects, get say, a Kong and a ball and a stick, say one word, point to it, when he indicates it, click and reward, if he gets it wrong, ignore, work from there!
 
Pix said:
*snigger* :p

I'm very lucky as my lad isn't destructive, but he will steal things, purely as an attention seeking habit (my fault for chasing him as a pup to get the nasty objects out of his mouth :rolleyes:). He'll wander into the living room, and poke everyone with his nose to see if they'll pay him attention. If they don't, he'll casually wander about until something forbidden on a reachable surface catches his eye..... then he's off like lightening, gently cradling a pair of glasses :rolleyes:

Mind you, he did a brilliant job on a duck feather pillow once when I left him alone. It took hours and hours to clean up. There were proper drifts of the stuff up against the skirting boards :D These days if I leave him uncrated while I'm out he'll just gather a few things from my bedroom and sit with them in the hallway until I return. Daft dog.

I'd definitely try games in the house (and on walks too, so it's not just sniff sniff run run). One thing though is that you can't just play with a young dog and then say 'game over, I'm bored' as you just leave them worked up. Learning to settle down quickly takes time and a good deal of control for younger dogs (I've found, at least). So say, you have a great walk, with lots of running around and playing with other dogs or playing hide n seek or fetch with you, and then you get home and he's panting away and tired. Don't expect him to just settle down straight away, as his mind is still buzzing and on the go. He might just get his breath back and then be off again :D Try popping him in a crate or his bed with a frozen kong to give him a chance to wind down. It's a bit like working a late shift on a bar, you've been busy busy for hours, so even though your body is screaming 'oh for the love of all that is holy, it's 3am! REST' your brain is still ticking away for a good hour or so after the shift has ended :)
Click to expand...

Good idea :D
yes Nico will parade around with his stolen item and then slink off to the garden in the hopes you'll follow him and wrestle him for it. if you don't...it get's left out there! :rolleyes::D
 
CaveCanem said:
Well I came home tonight to find that my pup has done a number on the doormat I bought him to lie on, yesterday, ARGH!!!

Yes, as Pix says, trail something along the ground and get him to find it, that's the long and the short of it! Looping around, doubling back etc.
I still do that with my big dog with the tracking title - training for the more advanced track is laying a track with the wind, not into it (if the dog goes into the wind, then he will just go straigt to the end!), food in every footprint, corners and a bigger pile of food/reward at the end. Food is out of the dog's daily allowance, nothing extra, so he works for it. There's a bit more to it than that but those are the foundations.

Identifying objects, get say, a Kong and a ball and a stick, say one word, point to it, when he indicates it, click and reward, if he gets it wrong, ignore, work from there!
Click to expand...

Haha! dogs, who'd have 'em!! :D:D

Okay, sorry for my stoopidness, but when you say 'indicates it' do you mean if he looks where i am pointing ?? :o:o
 
Yes, looks at it or touches it. When we are in competition the dog has to lie with the article (which is a small bit of carpet, wood or rubber) between the paws and not touch it or mess about with it but that's a bit advanced at this stage.

If he is a 'I won it, I carry it' type of dog then he might not actually be the worst candidate in the world for, if not Schutzhund, then KC working trials? Might be worth looking into seeing if there is a club near you, the KC should have a list of working trials clubs.
 
Google some mix of Alex the parrot and dog training.
It should give you videos of adapting the way they trained Alex to train dogs.
Abe has about 12 objects down solidly now.
 
CaveCanem said:
Yes, looks at it or touches it. When we are in competition the dog has to lie with the article (which is a small bit of carpet, wood or rubber) between the paws and not touch it or mess about with it but that's a bit advanced at this stage.

If he is a 'I won it, I carry it' type of dog then he might not actually be the worst candidate in the world for, if not Schutzhund, then KC working trials? Might be worth looking into seeing if there is a club near you, the KC should have a list of working trials clubs.
Click to expand...

Ah I see, okay.
Yeah, he seems to be that type. Doesn't want to give it to you though! Sometimes he'll bring it back, drop it a few feet away and charge at you :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top