# Excitable whippet



## gsmith86 (May 24, 2012)

We have a young male whippet, he is now almost 11 months old. We are having a few problems with him at the moment and we're really trying to iron these out as we are expecting our first baby in less than 8 weeks now. I have posted on here before as we were considering rehoming him however after much advice from people on here we have decided we couldnt do it. 

If anyone could give us any advice on any of these problems then we would be really grateful. 

Firstly, he is crate trained, and at the moment he is spending a lot of time in his crate as he just causes mayhem when he is out. I feel that this is a vicious circle as, because he is in his crate a lot he get so excited when he comes out he is a nightmare. When he gets excited he just seems to lose all control of himself. We have 2 other dogs who are a bit older and generally just chill out for most of the day once they have been on their walk. However Oscar, our whippet charges around and jumps on the other dogs trying to engage them in play fights. I realise this is most likely due to his age and is something we will grow out of but is there anything we can do to try and calm this down or stop this now? 

Secondly, he loves people so when we have visiters, again he looses all control of himself and just launches himself at them. He never jumps up at us anymore as we did a lot of training with him on this but when other people come he jumps at them and he's like a bullet and can hurt. When he gets so excited it's like all of his training goes out of the window. Usually when people come i put him on the lead to say hello and after the initial 15 mins he usually calms down. But is there anything we can do to try and calm him down during this initial period? 

He is also like this on walks. When he see's other people he completely ignores me, makes a beeline for them and again launches himself at them. It's got to the point where I take him out seperately to places where we are unlikely to see other people, i realise this isn't teaching him anything but it just make me so on edge when I walk him in case we see anyone else. 

If anyone could give us some advice on any of these issues we would really appreciate it. At the moment I just dont really know what to do and as a result we avoid these situations to try and avoid stress and this isn't really doing anything to try and solve the issues. 

Thanks

Gemma


----------



## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

What food is he on? It's surprising just how big an effect food can have on behaviour. And how much exercise does he get? Have you tried giving him things like stag bars, stuffed Kongs, bones when you want him to settle?

As for the jumping on people, I'm having the same problem with my Lab. People bloody encourage him and he's more than happy to oblige. I've been taking Spen to places where he's likely to get attention so that I can work on having him sit to be made a fuss of. Of course that sometimes means being seen as rude by walking away from someone who refuses to insist on him not jumping up but I can live with being thought rude lol. Do you have friends who'd help you with it? I used friends and willing strangers to help with my last dog. They'd go to pet him and if he jumped up they'd turn and walk away until he was sitting again. After many repetitions I had a dog whose backside was firmly on the floor.


----------



## Phoolf (Jun 13, 2012)

What training tools do you use? Treats, kibble, toys? My pup is big and was very boisterous round the house until I watched a clicker training video by kikopup on youtube and got an idea to calm her behaviour down.

For your situation when he is out of his crate is there any way to separate him from the other dogs so you can work with him individually? What I did wit my pup was completely ignore her when she was jumping, attention seeking, being mental etc. and after a day or two she got the message, she just wasn't getting any eye contact or attention, verbal or otherwise, from being a terror. After a few days when I was sitting on the sofa and my pup would sit down and be calm a treat would magically appear between her paws, then after a few minutes of her still being calm another one would fall from the sky and land between her paws. After doing this and conditioning her that calm = good/treats she now no longer is exictable in the house, she doesn't do anything but walk round nicely and sit at our feet. How well behaved are you other dogs? This could be a factor and if they're not calm then it would be hard to calm this one down.

As for visitors the same could apply, if you feel alright about it instruct all visitors to ignore the dog and greeting him until he is calm and sitting down nicely, only THEN can he get attention from the newcomer. Most people who come round to my house won't do this and it's really frustrating, even if they don't give the dog attention they end up saying 'NOOOO' whenever she jumps up or something else, which is also giving them attention (a lot of people just dont get this at all!!). However, I have some friends who are happy to just stand in the middle of the living room for a few minutes with their arms crossed completely ignoring the pup. The difference between how she acts when getting what she wants and not getting what she wants is night and day, if she gets the attention for bad behaviour she persists being naughty with those people around, if she is being ignored properly by the people she'll be calm and sitting within 30 seconds.


----------



## Owned By A Yellow Lab (May 16, 2012)

I have a very excitable Lab who also goes mad with happiness when people visit. When I first adopted him, he too would go zooming over to other dogs to try and play.

My advice is:

1 - keep him on a Flexi lead or long line when you are around other dogs at the park etc. Practise recall. You need to break the habit of the racing over to greet other dogs and teach him that a calmer approach = freedom, off lead, to go and play.

Try and get him to sit for a treat before letting him off to play with other dogs. Or the 'watch me' command is REALLY helpful for excitable dogs. If you'd like more details on this either PM me or say so on this thread, I can tell you what I did with my Lab, it really does help.

2 - re visitors:

Tell everyone to totally ignore him when they arrive. Make sure they ONLY pay him attention when all four paws are on the ground. It's vital that everyone is on the same page. Even a firm 'no' or 'down' = attention so if he jumps up tell people not to say anything but to literally just turn their backs and walk away.

I tried keeping Dex on a lead when people first arrived, but found it just made him more excitable.

How much exercise and training does your boy get? Sounds like he might need a bit more stimulation, either physically or mentally, which would help to tire him out a bit more


----------



## gsmith86 (May 24, 2012)

He is on Tesco's own brand tinned meat and mixer. I take him for a big run every other day and the days in between i take him on a lead walk to practice his walking on the lead. 

I give him toys in his crate which he is really happy with, but find that giving toys when all 3 dogs are out in the living room causes a bit of trouble because they then just all try and steal each others. 

I think this is the main problem, people usually flap their arms about and I think this just encourages him. As I say he never jumps at us any more as we have used the exact ignoring technique you are describing and he knows he gets nothing from us by jumping up. I think I just need to be a bit firmer with our visitors. 

I dont really have any friends with dogs nearby, do you think it may be worth while asking someone at the park or advertising for a walking buddy or 2 to try and get him used to behaving well with other people?

When he is out of the crate and on his own, away from the other dogs, he's fine. But when they are around he just wants to play with them. The other 2 are very well behaved and calm. Often he will settle down but the minute I leave the room, to go to the toilet or get a drink he will start jumping on the others. 

I think trying a flexi lead may be useful. When we walk somewhere where there are no people, he is brilliant, i always make him sit and wait while i take his lead off and he is good at recall, but when there are other people around it all just goes out of the window. 

I have heard some conflicting advice about exercise. 1 - as he isn't fully grown i'm cautious not to over exercise him in case he hurts himself. 2 - I have heard people say that giving too much exercise will only serve to make him even fitter and as a result have even more energy and will find it harder and harder to wear him out?


----------



## Phoolf (Jun 13, 2012)

I think partly this is due to his age, he should get less playful over time and possibly even in the next couple of months or so you'll see a big change as he matures. As for his diet I'm not going to bash you incase you're buying own brand crap for financial reasons but could you afforrd to buy him a better food? I've no idea whats in the own brand stuff but I can't imagine it's all that good or healthy compared to other food out there. I was cautious with exercise initially but eventually I kind of figured the whole 5 minutes per month thing is ********. If my pup was only 'exercised' for 30 minutes per day on a lead she'd have about a dozen behavioural issues. How much exercise does he get per day? At his age he should be alright to be exercised like any regular dog imo.


----------



## gsmith86 (May 24, 2012)

He has been on tesco's own food for a while (and this is due to financial reasons) and at each vet's visit they have commented on how healthy he is and his muscle tone. When we adopted our malamute x Lab she was extremely underweight and we discovered she couldn't eat dry food as it gave her cronic runs, so she has been on tesco's meat and has got up to her ideal weight and is doing really well. So I'm not concerned that the food isn't healthy for them but do know that some food can have certain additives that can make a dog excitable to will look into this. We did try them all on James Wellbeloved for a while but they really didn't get on with it at all. 

As I said I do take him for a big run every other day. As i mentioned in my initial post, I am expecing in less than 8 weeks and when the baby comes I don't know if we will be able to walk him any more often than we do now, so i don't want to get him used to having big long runs every day and then for this to stop when the baby arrives as i feel that this will make him worse. Everything I have read about having a baby says to get the dogs used to having less attention from you in the months leading up to the birth. So my main concern with giving him more exercise is that it will make him more fit, and more used to more exercise and then when this is more than likely reduced in a couple of months his behaviour could get worse. Which is defeating the object. This all wouldn't be so much of a big deal if I wasn't expecting a baby, i've been through all this with my other dogs, and persevered, but I want to try and get his behaviour more manageable now as i fear we will have less and less time for him when the baby arrives.


----------



## Phoolf (Jun 13, 2012)

Is there no way for your OH to help out with his exercising? To be honest I know your situation is difficult and you will probably have your hands full with the baby but dogs should really be exercised every day, how long is his run he has every other day? Maybe you could try and cut down the time so that you can go out every day instead? A tired pup is a happy, calm pup after all so the more exercise the less attention seeking he should be.


----------



## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

The problem is if he's not getting the exercise and mental stimulation he needs then he's not going to get any better. It's all very well people saying cut down the attention etc but if by doing that the dogs needs aren't being met it's only going to result in problems.

Do you do any training or anything with him? I've found a few short training sessions throughout the day along with a good long walk really help keep my Lab chilled out. While it's true that the more physical exercise you give the fitter the dog is likely to be we do need to make sure they're getting enough. 

As for the food...well I put Spencer on Wagg a few weeks ago after running out of his normal food. Never, ever again. He was horrendous. Literally bouncing off the walls, couldn't settle, couldn't focus, constantly pestering us, pacing around etc. After a few days back off it he was back to his usual self. It may well be worth trying a change of food with your dog. However, it's still dependent on his needs being met. I knew Spen was usually fine with the amount of exercise and training he gets so food was the obvious culprit in our case.


----------



## gsmith86 (May 24, 2012)

If I could walk him with my other dogs, he would get more exercise, that is why i was looking for advice on how to get him better when he see's other people so I can take them all out together to the woods near us. But at the moment we have to walk him seperately as he is too much trouble when we come across other people. 

I do realise that he needs to be exercised every day and I do often feel guilty that I don't give him as much attention and time as he needs, but as I said, when the baby comes, we won't have the time to give this to him, so want to get him used to it. This is the main reason why we have considered rehoming him, as I feel I am being unfair in not devoting enough time to him. So i feel a bit stuck with this. 

As i said, i've been through all this with my other dogs, so it wouldn't really be an issue if it wasn't for my pregnancy. But this obviously does complicate things and I am concerned about making his bahviour worse.


----------



## Phoolf (Jun 13, 2012)

Have you tried him with a gentle leader or EZ walk harness at all? I know this calms a lot of dogs out when on walks and it should make him a lot easier to handle, even if he's excited he couldn't be jumping all over people with something like an EZ harness on.


----------



## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

Why do I always miss all the whippy posts!? 

Firstly, I know you've said about the food, but honestly - you wouldn't believe how much difference it makes. Merlin (5 month old whippet) is fed on Acana and it has really changed him.

Have a look at these links for different food ideas (it's not always as expensive as you think) Which Dog Food.co.uk

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/194976-wet-dog-food-index.html

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/189896-dry-dog-food-index.html

Second, how old was he when you got him? and how much socialisation did he get?

Merlin was soo socialised, came everywhere with us and met lots and lots of people/things, but is still very people/dog orientated and does exactly the same beelines for them, but not too often anymore (we are working on it), but even now the more he sees the better he is becoming. It just takes time.

It just seems to unfair to keep him in the crate a lot of the time, especially as sofa's are the comfiest place for whippets 

With regards to the visitors, do you have a lot of people coming in and out all day? This would help, as it wouldn't make people coming in such a big deal - although I can't talk as Merlin thinks people coming round is GREAT! But we don't have anyone close by that we can practice with!

I would also treat him for being calm. What's his recall like? Is he let off-lead for a run, or is it all on-lead. If Merlin was kept on lead he would have masses of excess energy - off-lead tires him out lovely!

He is still very young, but to be honest it is important he gets the time and attention he needs, before he grows up into a not so great dog.

Also where about's are you? If you're anywhere near cambridgeshire I may be able to help in some way


----------



## Sarahferret (Apr 25, 2012)

I'd say having a chance to free-run everyday might help. It doesn't have to be a long time, 10 minutes on the days he does more lead walking would be enough. Whippets need to run! My girl is 15 months, due to a toe injury she's on limited excersise and can't run, and the difference in her behaviour, manners and willingness to listen is immense. She's an excitable nightmare at times at the moment, whereas she's usually content to chill out all day while I'm at work (she comes with me).


----------

