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I have a 1 year old German Shepherd who gets so excited around visitors or other dogs she literally bounces of the walls.. Other female dogs do not like her, and the neighbors dog has bitten her a couple of times. (She actually gets in there face with her high energy). My brothers two dogs meet her at the door, and will not let her in the house. The only dog that liked her was an 11 year old male black Lab, and they played until she got back in the pick up to get away from him. ( She is spayed, he had been neutered).
The vet had given me Ace at the time she was spayed, and I didn’t use it. A month ago she started holdin up a front leg, which I presumed it was from her injuring it with her activity. I took her to the vet a couple of weeks ago and they placed her on a pain and (joint) pill as well as an antibiotic for a cyst on the top of her head.
When I got her home I gave her 1 of the Ace tablets, and continued until her appointment which was yesterday. I requested a perscriprion for Ace, but they gave me Trazadone tablets, stating that it would be better than the Ace.
I used a shock collar on her once this past spring. I had her out door and was playing with her with the shock collar on. She saw the neighbors dog, and ran towards it. I shocked her three times in a distance of 200 yards. Each shock she would jump on the air, but did not stop. I removed the shock collar, and it has never been put back on.
Sorry for the long history, but my question is: would you use the Aceopromazie or the Trazadone?
I’ve always had good luck with Ace for situations where the dogs need to stay calm, moving mostly. There may have been a reason your vet proscribed Trazadone and not Ace. And how does your dog react on each med? That should be the deciding factor.
Shocking your dog is a horrible way to train. Glad you don’t use that method anymore. A year old dog should calm down eventually, but lots of exercise would tire her out and take the edge off all that excess energy. I had a hyper shepherd once and he was a handful. Good luck.
Sounds more like training issues, and not something that needs medication.
Our Rhodesian was very high energy at that age, and a lot of dogs found it a "Turn Off." At puppy class he was about 3 months in with a 6 month standard poodle (HUGE) and it kept trying to get AWAY from Dante, despite the weight difference. He just put out a lot of high energy. The one thing he had going for him is he spoke 'dog" well, he was raised in a large litter, and his communication with other dogs was good, some dogs didn't learn how to communicate with other dogs, so might be doing things they consider rude.
A huge part of his training has been keeping him calm (re; more polite). He is nearing 2 years and starting to be "less" when it comes to his excitability. Nobody likes rude children, or dogs...
To keep him calm when people come over takes repetition, have someone come over and knock at the door, do your commands, then do it again. Find out what will overcome his excitement. A high value treat like chicken livers? For Dante it is a tennis ball. Bring out the ball, and his eyes never leave it, all of a sudden he doesn't care that people just came over.
A shock collar is not going to stop him if he doesn't know his commands, and you shouldn't use one unless you have been trained on how to use it properly, otherwise the chance is you can mess him up more.
The best bet? Find a really good trainer to work with your dog AND you.
A lot of the problems i had training Dante, was retraining ME.
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From the day I got Chaos as a puppy she was super excited to meet people and bounced and jumped all over greeting them. What helped the most with her was learning in puppy class that if you sat when you greeted a person you would get a treat. If you did not have that butt on the ground no treat for you. Our trainer would start each class by walking around the circle of owners and puppies and the puppies that sat quietly got a treat. Chaos is a pig so LOVES food so she learned real fast to have that butt on the ground when greeting people. When she started going to the off leash park rather then jumping on people she would race up and sit right in front of them and look at them waiting when I explained why she was doing that many started either giving her a little treat or even just patting her on the head and telling her she was a good puppy as yeah with her the attention works too being she is not just a piggy but also an attention hog.
Thank you for the ideas, which I will try. The tranquilizers seemed to have about the same effect, and do change her attitude. Treats, she turns her nose up at, and food has not provided a good reward. She is a very fussy eater, and two cups of food will last her 2 to 3 days. She’s thin but the vet was not concerned. She likes her toys, and tossing her ball has no end. When she wants to go out or come in she will jump at the door, and will actually touch the ceiling at times. I have had dogs all of my life, ( German Shepherd, Australian Shepherd and Border Callie) but never one with the energy that Heidi demonstrates..
For the door, never let them out unless their butt is on the ground. Dante responds to verbal and hand signals, so when he wants in I give him the command to sit, and he must stay sitting when i open the door until I release him to come in.
I don't have to do this any more because he will click his nails once on the door to come in, and then come in quietly. But he used to bang on the door, jump up on it, come barreling through....
I read about being super calm when the dog is worked up, and making 'shush, shhhhh" sounds (one of Patricia McConnells books). Books recommended by Hiero, and I can't speak highly enough about them.
I still have to do this when the leashes come out, they get all wound up then. It takes us forever to leave the house with them, because we won't leave until they are calm and sitting.
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My oldest female GSP has awful anxiety in a car. She was a turnback to our breeder friends, so she was a year old when we got her. Not hyper at all, very responsive to training, GREAT bird dog. She just gets anxious in a car. Drooling, scratching at the door- forget about kenneling her in a truck- she gets frantic.
Our vet at first prescribed something (forget what now) and it flat out didn’t help. This year our vet prescribed Trazadone.
Hallelujah, praise Jesus and pass the sauce!! 90% elimination of the woozy, anxious dog on a 8 hr trip!!! Mellowed her right OUT, and no ill effect hunting the next day.
Oh and OP- if you don’t at least watch some detailed videos on using a sport collar- DON’T USE IT. We dont have to correct our dogs unless it’s a dire recall- the tone feature is all I need. And we didn’t train with them without a specific goal in mind, and even then it’s a distant second to rewards based training.
Drugs won't teach them what they need to know mentally. They need to understand the rules. Just because you drug them into feeling less energy, doesn't teach them the rules. And, training is all about them understanding and respecting the rules.
I do think some dogs do need more intense methods than others, depending on their degree of stubbornness or aggressiveness. You'll have to assess that. But, even my sweet and very smart standard rat terrier, she will constantly push the boundaries, and I have to be really stern with her now and then to remind her who is boss.
But, the first thing to establish, is the dog understanding what the rules are. You start out with the most passive approaches to teach them the rules, but if they are determined to be the boss and ignore you, you need to step it up -- but you have to figure out what will work with your dog. Sometimes treats are enough, sometimes a jerk on the collar is required, sometimes more.
FWIW, I am dead set against using Ace under these circumstances for both horses and dogs.
Ace is a nasty bandaid. Treat the crux of the problem which is likely a mineral deficiency
Cheech just had CCL surgery and is on a daily dose of both Ace and Traz (and Tramadol for pain).
But at the end of this week I'm expecting him to be off all but a pain med @prn.
Count this as another vote for training methods.
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