Loki is 5 1/2 months and since he was pretty young, he has always had moments (usually when he is overtired or overstimulated) where he just totally flips out on me! He goes into full on wolverine attack mode, runs at me and just starts biting the heck out of me, and can't stop! The more I try to physically restrain him and pry him off me, the more crazy and riled up he gets. So I've tried all kinds of things like redirection with a toy, ignoring him, walking out of the room, putting him in timeouts, holding him in place as gently as possible till he calms down… some of these are more effective than others and work some of the time.
Mostly, I have to resort to holding him in place and making him sit till he calms down enough to listen to a sit/stay or a down/stay. Once I get to the point where I can have him listen to a command, he seems kind of relieved to that he has snapped out of it and has a job he can do.
The older he is getting, the less often it happens… but it still happens, maybe once every other day or a few times a week, some times worse than others. But it continues happen, and obviously, that will not be tolerable at all when he is full grown!
I use a lot of NILIF all during the day, he always has to work for his food and during our playtime. Lots of obedience and exercise. Exercise and playtime helps a lot, as long as I don't overdo it, which also triggers his little freak outs. He gets at least 2 hours per day of activities: walks, dog park, training, playtime in the yard.
He has been a very different dog compared to most I've been around and trained. He is the sweetest, most loving puppy, and also can be so stubborn/defiant. Scolding and physical corrections seem to only rile him up him and make him behave worse. So I do a lot of redirecting and positively reinforce the correct behaviors. Timeouts and me leaving the room are some of the most effective things for discouraging his bad behaviors.
Im hoping some of you guys will have advise for me! Im getting a little worried. Is this a normal thing that he will grow out of? If you've gone through this with your dog, I'd love to hear about it.
Mostly, I have to resort to holding him in place and making him sit till he calms down enough to listen to a sit/stay or a down/stay. Once I get to the point where I can have him listen to a command, he seems kind of relieved to that he has snapped out of it and has a job he can do.
The older he is getting, the less often it happens… but it still happens, maybe once every other day or a few times a week, some times worse than others. But it continues happen, and obviously, that will not be tolerable at all when he is full grown!
I use a lot of NILIF all during the day, he always has to work for his food and during our playtime. Lots of obedience and exercise. Exercise and playtime helps a lot, as long as I don't overdo it, which also triggers his little freak outs. He gets at least 2 hours per day of activities: walks, dog park, training, playtime in the yard.
He has been a very different dog compared to most I've been around and trained. He is the sweetest, most loving puppy, and also can be so stubborn/defiant. Scolding and physical corrections seem to only rile him up him and make him behave worse. So I do a lot of redirecting and positively reinforce the correct behaviors. Timeouts and me leaving the room are some of the most effective things for discouraging his bad behaviors.
Im hoping some of you guys will have advise for me! Im getting a little worried. Is this a normal thing that he will grow out of? If you've gone through this with your dog, I'd love to hear about it.