[Pinky1]

Good afternoon everyone,
I'd be really grateful for any advice about a ridiculous level of excitement from my 2 dogs before we walk them!
In a nutshell: we have 2 dogs, a 4 year old mastiff (Lola) and a 2.5 year old crossbreed ( Ned) both are rescue. We have had Ned for a year and a half , and despite being very challenging for the first few months we have made good progress with his separation anxiety, destructive behaviour and other bad habits and he's a lovely dog ( proof that you have to be patient , and most issues do get better!)
Exercise is , as with most dogs' issues, the key to keeping Ned calm and happy , so we always walk him before we go to work ( the dogs are left from 8:15am until lunchtime when I come home from work for almost an hour,then for another couple of hours in the afternoon till husband comes home at 4pm ish and they are fine and happy, mainly sleeping or eating a Chew etc)
However, the morning walk is such a cause of excitement I don't know how to counteract it. We get up at six thirty and from the moment they hear any sign if life from our bedroom, they are in a frenzy of whining, pacing, panting, weird howling- you name it! It's not what I would call normal excitement !

We make them return to their basket and sit calmly till we put their collar on etc but it doesn't really seem to work, and makes for a stressful start to the day!

Can anyone offer any suggestions? we live in a flat so our upstairs neighbour would undoubtedly also be grateful as he must hear them racing round like a couple of idiots every morning!
Thanks in advance

 

[Lexiedhb]

Have you tried the opening and closing the door? Basically any sign of excitedness the door gets shut- you don't go. When calm resumes, door opens, any sign of excitedness door gets shut- you dont go repeat until you puke!!. Tis a bit problematic when you are time limited before work- but it worked with mine. Also leaving his harness on at sporadic times of the day, and walking at differing times (also problematic when you want to get them out before work!!)- so they do not associate a collar/harness/lead with ONLY going out.

 

[GermanShepardOwner]

Because you take them out around the same time every morning it will cause excitment. To them going out for a walk is a great reward and something they look forward to,, therefore when it gets to that time and they hear any noise, they know that soon enough they will go out.

I would get up earlier, if they show any excitement which you dont want them take coat off etc and go do something else. Try again in a few minutes and ask for sits and calm, they get over excited then take everything off, go do something else.

 

[Phoolf]

Because you take them out around the same time every morning it will cause excitment. To them going out for a walk is a great reward and something they look forward to,, therefore when it gets to that time and they hear any noise, they know that soon enough they will go out.

I would get up earlier, if they show any excitement which you dont want them take coat off etc and go do something else. Try again in a few minutes and ask for sits and calm, they get over excited then take everything off, go do something else.

Or even just get them used to you being in the house with your coat and shoes on etc. Do this multiple times a day until they realise it doesn't mean to get super excited. When mine used to get excited I would drop her lead and walk away for a few minutes, keep trying to get to the door but if she was bouncy I'd drop it again etc. Worked after about 2 days.

 

[Colliebarmy]

everything is calm here till i put my shoes or coat on, then chaos starts, also, they have a routine of dinner and walkies, after dinner all 3 come looking for me, then the fun starts, i can barley get leads on them

but its THIER playtime, i can understand the excitement

 

[totallypets]

Are they the same on non work days? If it's the getting up earlier that triggers it you could practice on days when you don't need to get up early.

Get up at 6.30 as normal. Move around doing normal getting ready for work things, but as they get excited go and sit on the sofa with a cuppa, be boring until they settle down. Repeat and repeat until you can get their leads on calmly and go for their walk.

Good luck!

 

[Malmum]

I used to put Flynns harness on in the morning long before a walk and he'd just wear it til I was ready to take him out which would sometimes not be til the afternoon. He'd get so fed up waiting that he'd just sleep with it on.

I also kept his lead and harness randomly around the front room/kitchen so as it would be picked up often and moved around, getting him used to seeing and hearing it without actually going out. I'd put it on him too and leave it for five mins then take it off without taking him out.

He got so used to NOT going out when the harness was put on or picked up that he stopped all the excitement altogether. He has been calm at going out since around 18 months old, he's over four now and doesn't make a sound when I get the harness and lead out!

 

[Wiz201]

As soon as I saw this question, I subbed to it because I needed some advice for my goldie who can get very excited.

 

[Colliebarmy]

have you got young kids at school?

have you watched the playground at playtime or seen what they are like when they come out of school?

its exactly the same

 

[Pinky1]

Thanks for everyone who has taken the time to help! Lots of good advice that we will try out

 

[beetle22]

The best thing to do is de sensetize both your dogs to seeing the lead by putting it on them, going to the door. step out the door, then go back in, take the leads off and sit down.

This will work if you do it 30 times as dogs need 30 repetitions of a new behaviour for it too stick in their minds. By seeing the lead, putting it on and heading out the door, only to come back in your dogs sense of excitment will be de-sensetized as by 30 repetitions they wont be showing excitment as they wont know which time they are actually going to go out the door.

Consistency and time are what you need to make this work. After 30 repetitions, reinforce it when needed to remind your dogs by doing it a few times a day.

Good luck

 

[beetle22]

You can also put your coat and shoes on many times a day and sit down and read a book, watch the telly, then take them off, to further de senetize your dogs. Works the same with many repetitions.