Kirp
New Member
I haven't been on the forums since my dachshund Ben passed away, but I now have a dachshund/chihuahua mix who is driving me nuts.
She came from a pretty awful situation...her original owner kept her locked up in a cage most of the time, and when she was out she was allowed to bite people, run around like a lunatic, chew everything, and go potty all over the house. She was also screamed at often (and I'm assuming hit based on how she reacts to someone reaching a hand toward her). I've been working hard with her training but she just will not calm down for long enough. As soon as someone has a treat for her she gets so excited she shakes and will jump all the way up to their face if they don't give it to her soon enough. I've taught her sit, lay down, "give me five", and we're working on stay now but she shakes so badly from excitement over the treat that she practically scoots across the floor.
Any tips on how to calm down an overly hyper dog? I've been trying to get her to stay longer and longer but she's calm for all of five seconds after. She also runs as fast as she can through the house and slips (it's all tile), sometimes she slides for fun and sometimes she actually loses grip and twists around as she falls. Earlier she slipped and sat there screaming in pain for a minute, then took off again like nothing had happened. I'm a nervous wreck because she just won't stop for even a few minutes.
She also bites nonstop...if you pet her, she bites. Sit down, she'll jump on your lap and chew on your hand. Try to give her something, she makes sure she bites you. Stranger shows up, she'll chase them down and bite their shoe or tug on their pants. She stole a child's shoe before. I've tried pulling my hands away and ignoring her when she does it, she settles for clawing at my eye instead. Tried giving her treats when she went several minutes without biting, nope started biting again. I don't know what else I could do since it's so difficult to even get her to pay attention to anything...Maybe putting something bitter on our hands? She's a sweet dog the incredibly rare times she's calm, but ohmygoodness she won't behave.
She came from a pretty awful situation...her original owner kept her locked up in a cage most of the time, and when she was out she was allowed to bite people, run around like a lunatic, chew everything, and go potty all over the house. She was also screamed at often (and I'm assuming hit based on how she reacts to someone reaching a hand toward her). I've been working hard with her training but she just will not calm down for long enough. As soon as someone has a treat for her she gets so excited she shakes and will jump all the way up to their face if they don't give it to her soon enough. I've taught her sit, lay down, "give me five", and we're working on stay now but she shakes so badly from excitement over the treat that she practically scoots across the floor.
Any tips on how to calm down an overly hyper dog? I've been trying to get her to stay longer and longer but she's calm for all of five seconds after. She also runs as fast as she can through the house and slips (it's all tile), sometimes she slides for fun and sometimes she actually loses grip and twists around as she falls. Earlier she slipped and sat there screaming in pain for a minute, then took off again like nothing had happened. I'm a nervous wreck because she just won't stop for even a few minutes.
She also bites nonstop...if you pet her, she bites. Sit down, she'll jump on your lap and chew on your hand. Try to give her something, she makes sure she bites you. Stranger shows up, she'll chase them down and bite their shoe or tug on their pants. She stole a child's shoe before. I've tried pulling my hands away and ignoring her when she does it, she settles for clawing at my eye instead. Tried giving her treats when she went several minutes without biting, nope started biting again. I don't know what else I could do since it's so difficult to even get her to pay attention to anything...Maybe putting something bitter on our hands? She's a sweet dog the incredibly rare times she's calm, but ohmygoodness she won't behave.