[lrosen8750]

Hi!

We just rescued a black lab mix about 3 weeks ago. She is about 35 pounds and won't get much bigger. She was found on the street and spent about 1 month at the shelter.

She has the fur of a black lab but her body is really lean and muscular- my vet felt she had back legs like a whippit. She is about 1.5 to 2 years old.

She is really sweet and loving and has made herself quit comfortable here. We are leash training (she is a disaster on a leash) but my real issue is when we go outside in my yard.

I give her 2 walks a day- each lasting about 30-40 min and as her leash walking gets better those 30-40 min will cover a lot more ground- we have to stop a lot now! She also gets to run around my fenced in yard (medium size)to get out the extra energy. All in all she gets outside for approx. 2 hours a day.

My problem is that she has a ton of energy from about 4pm to 7pm. At 6 we go outside and she runs and we throw toys to her and she goes wild! She will growl and play with those toys and have fun! I stand in the yard or on the steps (she likes to know where I am) but when she is really whipped up and wild with her toys she makes a bee-line for me and comes full speed- jumps up, circles me and bites at me (not aggressively but she is so strong and it hurts). I have zero tolerance for this- especially bec. i have 2 kids who cannot handle this kind of play.

I started by 'yelping" then saying 'no bite' but she is so wild that nothing seems to matter at this time. Then I say (scream) in my commanding voice- down or sit. Nothing stops her- tonight she actually started barking at me! I read that you should turn and ignore but she is literally running in a circle around me biting and jumping at me.

How can I stop this behavior?? It's really the worst I have seen in this very sweet girl. If I could get this under control I would feel much better.

Thanks so much!
Lauren

[Lunareclipse]

Lots of walkies and a spray bottle.

[lange]

The easiest thing to do is to not let your dog get to that high a point of excitement. Redirecting or training a dog that is that overly excited is impossible. Yelling, yelping, blocking, moving, and such will only add more excitement to your dogs frame of mind at that moment.

The key will be to stop her from becoming so excited in the first place. You'll want to refocus her energy on something more productive like training or playing a game with you that has rules like frisbee, fetch or a training session. If you wait until she is uncontrollable, then you are fighting a losing battle. Some dogs need more mental stimulation as well. It might help to incorporate some work or mental games during the day also.

There will likely be times where you won't stop & refocus her in time and she'll get overly excited to where she won't listen again; just give a low throated "eh", (no yelling or yelping!) leash her to you, and silently stand there without touching or looking at her. Then when she finally regains her self control back, reward her by playing something new (low key) with her, walking her around the yard or doing something else that she finds soothing & pleasant.