[Anymouse]

I posted before about my jumpy healer mix and got some great suggestions. I realized, though, that I needed to back up a little in our walk ritual. Miss Norma is very very excitable. I cannot even put her flea medication on her. She won't sit still. It takes me several minutes just to get her leash hooked on.

Is ignoring her the key? I'm pretty sure she doesn't get enough exercise - I can only walk her once per day, and she has loads of energy - but I have to work with what I can do.

I want to assert my alpha-dog-ness but I don't know how!

[Curbside Prophet]

You can assert your "alpha-dog-ness" by controlling your dog's resources. Is she food motivated? Is she play motivated? Is she attention motivated?

Whatever her motivations are, use these to teach the behaviors you want.

Are you saying that if you ask for a sit, you can't get close enough to her to leash her? Does she avoid you when excited?

[Anymouse]

At this point I can't say what motivates her except just spending time with me. She will sit, but only for two seconds. Even if I'm holding a treat, she'll sit for a second and then just start jumping again. She doesn't avoid me; she jumps on me and circles and jumps and jumps some more. I've tried to be more patient and just sit until she calms down but I see no sign that she ever will!

She isn't even house-trained. Can you recommend a good basic training video series? I can't afford a real live trainer at this point. I've tried finding someone in town to do a couple of personal sessions for starters but so far everyone wants me to commit to more than I can manage right now.

Thanks for your suggestions!

[Curbside Prophet]

How long has it been since you adopted her?

How big is she? I ask because Ruffwear has a leash called the Quick Release. It's basically a leash built into the collar for quick, easy access. There are other brands that are similar, but I'm more familiar with this product. As long as she is tall enough and you can get to her neck, she'd already be leashed, that you wouldn't have to go through all the leashing drama. Leaving a trailing leash on her is another idea, or keeping her tied to your waist is still another.

Back to your original question, is ignoring unwanted behaviors the key, I'd say in your case, yes. It's not something that will produce results overnight, but at the risk of inadvertently reinforcing behaviors you don't want, withdraw all attention. Consider this too, negative attention is still attention. Since she's had no training for 5 years!, you can't correct or punish behaviors that the dog doesn't know, unless you do so with instruction. Of course I always believe that's the case with dogs. But I'm with you, you'll need to go back to basics teaching behaviors like sit, down, stay, wait, off, leave it, ect.

Dr. Ian Dunbar has a good series of training videos. You may even find them at your local library. Or go to dogwise.com to find them. You may also find some free and useful videos here: (Bookmark This Site - Training Videos)Bookmark This Site - Training Videos - Dog Training Forum - Dog Forums - all breed dog forum.

[AnonymousDogTrainer]

Yes, ignoring is the key along with patience.

Get your leash, kneel down like your ready to leash her and just wait until she calms down and sits still so you can leash her up. She doesn't get anything until she sits still. Putting the leash on and going would be the reward to her for sitting still. She doesn't sit still, you don't put the leash and and you don't go. She does sit still, the leash gets on faster and your out the door faster.

[NefAndWord]

This sounds like my dog. Though she's quite a bit younger than yours, the jumping and activity NEVER end. Though I am consistant in her training, she is constantly wound. Sorry, I don't have an answer for you... but I can say that I relate.