# Crazed adolescent!!



## Alegria Cebreco (Jul 25, 2007)

I need help. Rade (13 month old) is driving me CRAZY!!! He's been bouncing around like a lunatic, and is completely out of control :evil: . In a matter of two days he's managed to rip out my nose ring (and it bleed alot), ripped my brand new glasses off then proceeded to step on them and scratch them all up, snagged my earring (industrial bar that I just got pierced) cut my neck with his nails in one of his crazed episodes, knocked me over in the mud and poop (I was the least bit thrilled), jumped the fence, bit my friend in the butt (purely prey driven but is still unacceptable) and has been out of control. He wont listen, it takes him like a minute to actually down, and wont stay. All obedience has been thrown out the window. 

I am at a loss. He is not the type of dog that can act out of control and if he keeps up this way it can be detrimental to his future. 

Could this random outbursts be caused by the new puppy in the house? Please, if anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. 

Ally


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## Jennifer Marshall (Dec 13, 2007)

Is he getting the same amount of exercise, attention, and mental stimulation that he was before you got the new pup?

Quite something to be able to rip out your nose ring, snag your earring, bust your sunglasses, knock you over, jump a fence, and bite someone. 

You say he is out of control, what measures are you taking to control him and the behavior?

If you are not already, put and keep a lead on him so you can control him. How was he able to jump a fence, out of curiosity? Unsupervised going potty or.. ? Long lines are your friend. 

Do you correct the behavior or.. ? If so, how?


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## Kayce Cover (Oct 30, 2007)

This is a common problem, at least at Wood Green Animal Shelters, where I am affiliated. At this age, the dogs can easily get wound up, and may never come down except when sleeping. 

This is a big problem in shelter settings, where the constant barking and passers-by keep the dogs aroused and escalating.

Good news is, we start teaching Conditioned Relaxation and usually get dramatic relief in as little as 15 minutes. We teach the Conditioned Relaxation using a combination of deep, undulating massage, constriction of the body and slow, gentle tension on the skin, which we pair with the word "Easy". We name the relaxed state "Easy" and we name the opposite state "Alert". We work until we can get the dog to voluntarily go from one state to the other. The only reinforcement is the touch and praise (no food is used). Most dogs quickly relax, voluntarily. However, if the dog does not relax right away on his own, we continue till he does relax. 

This simple exercise seems to give the dog a conscious awareness of his mental state, and of the state of relaxation. It also gives us vocabulary that allows us to ask for whichever state we need at the moment. 

This exercise is part of the protocol of "Perception Modification" which has saved the lives of many dogs.

Good luck. I had a shepherd who was very much like this when I met him at six months old. He grew into an incredibly fine dog and a brilliant worker.

Regards,
Kayce


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

Sounds like alot more exerise might help, also. Dragging a tire or something might be a better choice than something that is too stimulating like chasing a ball, etc.


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## kim guidry (Jan 11, 2008)

Yep, I think exercise is in order. If you are not able to get some long walks/runs with him you may want to consider getting a treadmill for him. :-k You will have to start it at a slow speed and encourage him with food treats. If he is spooked by the noise and movement of the treadmill, leave it running and ignore it, he will get used to it. But never leave him alone while he is on it. He is also trying to demand your attention right now. He does not care if it is good or bad, he just wants attention. Well, if that is what he wants, make him work for it. Make him sit, stay or down before you pet him. Hide his toy and encourage him to find it. Yes, he is an adolescent,but you need to find a way to bottle his energy and use it to your advantage. You can turn this around and make it a positive think so the bond you have can get stronger. Have patience, get him moving and try to get a set routine so that he knows what to expect. Good Luck.


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## kim guidry (Jan 11, 2008)

Yep, I think exercise is in order. If you are not able to get some long walks/runs with him you may want to consider getting a treadmill for him. :-k You will have to start it at a slow speed and encourage him with food treats. If he is spooked by the noise and movement of the treadmill, leave it running and ignore it, he will get used to it. But never leave him alone while he is on it. He is also trying to demand your attention right now. He does not care if it is good or bad, he just wants attention. Well, if that is what he wants, make him work for it. Make him sit, stay or down before you pet him. Hide his toy and encourage him to find it. Yes, he is an adolescent,but you need to find a way to bottle his energy and use it to your advantage. You can turn this around and make it a positive think so the bond you have can get stronger. Have patience, get him moving and try to get a set routine so that he knows what to expect. Good Luck.


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## kim guidry (Jan 11, 2008)

Sorry guys, I didn't realize it it the post quick reply button two times:-|


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## Al Curbow (Mar 27, 2006)

It sounds to me like you have a respect and lack of training problem. Don't you also have a gsd puppy? The dog is simply acting like a dog, you need to teach it what you're looking for behaviour wise or it will continue acting like a dog. I have a high drive 14 month old and he already figured it out, so it's not to early. Even a "prey driven" bite on your friend was easily avoidable. Put a leash on the dog and show him what's appropriate behaviour, he'll figure it out,
Good luck, 
AL


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## Kyle Sprag (Jan 10, 2008)

Is this for Real?


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## Alegria Cebreco (Jul 25, 2007)

Thanks for the advice!! First off I would like to say that he has episodes, he's not like this all the time. I think the main issue, is everyone in my household undermining me. The reason he jumped the fence was that my friend let him out, after I specifically told her to leave him alone in his crate, its a shame that I have to lock my cages up now. And when he mouthed my friend (wasnt a full on bite) I corrected him. 

The other stuff wasnt as important (I cant have a dog jumping the fence), but it practically happened all at once. I was taking puppy out to the kennel and Rade came out and I put him in a down stay. Walked towards the kennel and Mace peeded outside so I praised him, Rade thought I was talking the him and went crazy. He did the earring, nose ring and glasses thing all at once. It all happened so fast and by the time I realized what happened it was over, and I was pissed, and Rade sensed it and laid down and rolled over, his apology. Its my fault, he is a very high drive dog and needs more exercise then I provide him.


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## Alegria Cebreco (Jul 25, 2007)

Kyle Sprag said:


> Is this for Real?


Yes, do you have some sort of problem with it? :-?


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## Jennifer Marshall (Dec 13, 2007)

Alegria, everyone in the house undermining you is a big problem. If it is your dog you should be the only one saying what happens, who handles the dog. Don't know your living situation but this needs to be worked out with your family members.

This doesn't sound like a dog problem it is a handler problem. A problem of the handler not being able to control the dog and not providing the dog with the structure, consistency, exercise, and stimulation that is needs.

Not trying to pick on you, use this in your argument. If he is your dog they have no say. If it isn't resolved now with this older dog it will carry over to the pup and cause more problems with having more than one dog with a lack of structure.


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## Chris Jones (Jan 26, 2008)

High drive dogs are miserable pets if you aren't going to provide outlets for those drives. What do you do with him as far as exercise, play and training?
:-k


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## Alegria Cebreco (Jul 25, 2007)

Thanks for the advice!! My family does not understand the damage they are causing with Rade. When i correct him its like "OMG your evil, he's just a puppy" blah blah blah but we had a a couple of days ago, and I made them a presention, had a power point and everything, trying to describe Rade's temperament, drive, genetics, ect. I hope I got through to them.

Another issue is that my friend is living with us (her and her mother got evicted) and Rade does not like her. I guess he sees her as weak, and tries to intimidate her. I swear he gets some kind of enjoyment from it, although he does get a good correction for that behavior. And recently her mother (who was living with her sister) got kicked out and the dog had to move in too. And thats really when Rade started acting up. It was a female, 5 year old dacshund. And Sarah my friend keeps telling Rade what to do, and he looks at her like she's crazy. I think she has also enforced this negative behavior. I've told her many times to not tell my dog what to do, but I guess everyone knows more than Ally. 

He's doing much better now. I went back to the basics, thethered to me, or in his crate. I re-reinforcing all his commands/expected behaviours.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I think you hit the nail on the head. He's still a teenager right now and there's just too much flux going on in the house with people and dogs coming and going. Can't blame him too much for acting out. Give him as much structure (meal times, play times, work times, exercise times, etc) as possible and up the exercise. The more you give his little teenage brain to think about, the less obsessive he's going to be over the new weird things going on.


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

No advice on the training - but dealing with the family members and friends, I've been there myself. 

It's a tough one, because with older family members (parents, grandparents, etc) you tend to either go submissive, or amped up, and the dog would be an idiot not pick up on that. So he knows either you're not in charge (and whoever IS in charge lets him get away with stuff, undermining your position) or you are tense/excited which he will respond to by getting excited and wild himself.

Powerpoint, lectures, pleas, did not work. Been there done that. What worked for me with family was a calm explanation, this is a dog that will be trained to attack people so do you really want him to be a mannerless jerk when he learns he can bite you and win. Dumbed down, I know, but that was the only thing that got through. They leave the training and handling to me, now.

With friends I am usually more calm and in charge, which works better with the dog - although I did nearly lose one good friend over it. But, we eventually made up, and he's not going to get a chance to do anything stupid that would get him bit, so it's all good.

I handle the dogs, period.


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## Alegria Cebreco (Jul 25, 2007)

Thanks Maren, I have been giving him as much structure as possible. Alot of things have been going on (my aunt fell out of her wheelchair broke her legs, busted her jaw, and its been very stressful as she needs an intense amount of help). 

Anna my family is rediculous, arrrggg!! Rade has proven to them multiple times that he is not a dog to play around with. I dont know what has to happen for them to fully understand what Rade is all about. He's only 13 months and I can only assume as he gets older, his agression will become more intense. Him going crazy with me when I'm outside is not that big of a deal, in comparison to the damage my family is causing. I love playing with my dogs, and dont discourage jumping (although he got carried away on those ocassions, but thinking back its my fault as I've somewhat encouraged the jumping). With my other GSD who was a "working dog" it was completely different because he wasnt a liability like Rade is. One of my friends calls Rade a "loaded weapon". Completely different than Ryot. Like I said I dont know what has to happen for them to understand Rade's temperament. I even have to lock my crates when I leave :-s .


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

I can tell you, it took a bad bitch-fight for my folks to really understand what Candy was all about. This is my softie "good dog" who they insisted can't be a pit mix because she is so nice tempered. (I know, WTF:-o ) Nothing I've tried to explain about her had made a difference.

They let her out in the yard with Inka, one nice sunday when they were here. The girls hate each other. It was very graphic, bloody, intense, and they got to learn firsthand that water, yelling, and trying to grab the dogs, did not affect them in the slightest. After I broke up the fight, Candy had a few scratches and was pretty full of herself, and Inka was the one traumatized, and injured, even though she'd provoked the fight. Mmm, yeah, maybe the "nice dog" has to be treated with a tad more forethought and caution... But there's nothing like the sense of helplessness and the adrenaline rush for speeding up the learning process...

Ugh. I totally agree with locking up the crates.


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