Hi,

Yesterday my family and myself adopted a dog. He's a german shepard cross labrado/collie or something, the place where we adopted him from didn't know his mum and dad because he was rescued from his previous owner who kicked him down the stairs, he has a bad front paw now, but apart from that he's great.

He's 1 years 9 month of age, so still has his puppy instincts. I'm wondering if anyone can give me any hints on how to make him tired.

All he does is want to play, we do play with him (not in the sick way :|) for a long time, and take him for walks. But he just doesn't get tired at all. If we tell him to go to his bed and rest, he stares at us and when we move, he moves with us. I don't mind playing with him, I just can't keep it up playing with him for hours and hours and hours on end.

And food, we eat round the tele and he sits there looking at us wanting food. I feel really bad, because I can't give him any as he has an upset stomach (but it's getting better).


Apart from all that, he's settling in fine.

I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum, if it is could a mod move it to a correct one please?

hi,
glad to hear you have rescued a dog, thats great.

Food:
when you eat, whether it is on the sofa in front of the tele or sat round a table, you should always tell him no if he comes near, tell him leave it or go away and dont look at him just ignore him. he will soon get the idea that he is not going to get anything and will lay down and possibly go to sleep. my pup does this already and shes only 9 weeks old.
you should never give your dog food off of your plate and never give them titbits as they will then expect them when you eat and they then may not eat their own food, because they think they will get your food if they wait long enough.

Tireing him out:
all dogs need mental stimulation as well as physical stimulation. there are a number of things that you can try, one of them is to get him fitted with a dog backpack, so when he goes out for walks he can wear it and it wil;l drain twice as much energy than the normal walk. you should get him vet checked first to make sure he doesnt have any back problems and to get him weighed as he can only carry 10% of his body weight maximum. this is a great energy draining method and works straight away, you will see the results and will be more than happy with them.
once you have the all clear from your vet, you can then measure him up and buy a backpack either online or from major pet stores. they cost around £30 depending on where you get them, but they are well worth the money.

hope this helps, if you need any more info then please message me and i will try to help as much as i can.

hi

good luck in trying to tire him out!!!! we have a gsd and a collie both 2 years old and they go out for 3 - 4 hours of walks a day and that doesnt tire them out - they have very high energy levels and can be very demanding always wanting attention..... they have someone home nearly allday so they get plenty of mental situmaltion as well....... the only time they get truely tired out is when we take them to the beach or if we have visitors ( becuase they get soooooooooo much 'new' attention!!!!!)

with regard to the food stay strong and dont give in - maybe put him in a different room when you eat.

if anyone does come up with a good way to tire them out please let me know too....!!!!!!

susie and the gang

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sorry to mention in my other post, the backpack is a mental stimulus and it will make him think that he has a purpose when out on walks, so he will then concentrate more making his mind and body more tired than the normal walk!

First of all well done on taking on a rescue dog - it'll be hard work but ultimately really rewarding. My first bit of advice would be - DONT STRESS He only came to you yesterday, he needs time and patience to settle down - of course if you move he'll follow you, he's in a new place, doesnt know whether he's staying or going and everything and everyone is new and unknown. You need to decide what are your house rules and he has to learn to live by them. If you dont want him on the furniture then he doesnt get on - full stop - dont think it'll be ok just for now - mean it from day one. As for playing games - you need to be the instigator of game playing, not him - when you say enough then thats it - game over. I would look around your area for some good classes that promote positive training methods and try going for the Kennel Club Good Citizens awards - theya re really good fun for you and the dog and you'll make new friends and have someone on hand to help you over problems that will, inevitably, crop up. Best of luck with your new family member - I hope you have years of fun together

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Jo, Nelly, Bhu and Molly
Some people talk alot.................and say nowt

wow not heard of that before the "back pack" will pass that on to a friend who has the same prob with her dog

Thank you.

I do ignore him, but he just sits there and I feel bad. I don't give him anything, because as mentioned he has an upset stomach. He's currently on the James Wellbeloved brand dog food as been told that's the best stuff. I'll try and upload a pic or two later.

Sorry I didnt see the bit about the food - I'd remove him from the room whilst you eat

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Jo, Nelly, Bhu and Molly
Some people talk alot.................and say nowt

james wellbeloved is a good food im sure his tum will be better in no time hun sometimes when dogs have a change of environment they get poorly tums