# Endless Pacing Around the House?



## rin2450 (Nov 30, 2017)

I have a 9 Month old Vizsla Female who is obsessive about pacing the house looking for flies, moths etc. anything that moves. Sometimes she just simply paces. Room to room one end of the house to the other and it is now getting on our nerves as this problem persists and is slightly worsening. 

We are fairly sure this is a cause of an OCD behavior, Anxiety behavior or simply too much pent up energy. However exercise and simulation are not solving the issue. 

Is this common? Any suggestions or tips on what it may be specifically or how this behavior may be solved? PLEASE HELP!


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

can you give us more info on a daily routine? ie, exercise, home alone time etc?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I'm a firm believer in exercise, but it's not a cure all. Dogs also need mental exercise, and need to learn how to settle. 

Do you ever try, and make her work for your attention? Or have her sit, or down before she can walk through a door, or get fed? A pad that you can send her to, when you want her to relax. 
Even telling a dog to settle, or down. Then step on the leash close enough to them, until it's uncomfortable for them to do anything, but lay down.
Once they stop fighting it, and relax you can drop a treat between their front legs. You build on the time they have to stay down, and give less, or even random treats. I don't like to be dependent on treats, and use praise also.


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## hmw0 (Dec 14, 2016)

Hi rin2450, 

I have a vizsla who is just about 7.5 months old right now and when I saw the title of your post it spoke to me!! LOL 

Although I wouldn't go as far as saying that my dog's behaviour is anything close to OCD, he definitely does pace at times and it drives me nuts! So much so that I have tried to combat it using a variety of tactics. I am by no means an expert or an experienced vizsla owner (ownee? haha) but maybe some of these strategies could help you. 

- Agility! I signed us up for agility classes, which at his age, are called "Trik/Fit" classes. Essentially, it's a super fun outlet for you and your dog to learn lots of cool (sometimes useless) tricks and the mental exhaustion is SO apparent. We usually walk to and from the classes, which are about 1.5-2 hours long, and on the way home he is really dragging and walks to heel like an angel. When we get home, he sleeps like a rock all night long. No pacing! A lot of the tricks that we learn I can do with him at home so I make sure we practice them whenever possible, usually daily. 

- Chewing! Ironically, I find my dog to be most energized after a long walk or hike. I try to get him in the door and have a great chew lined up in his crate to transition him into "wind down" mode in the house. I know he's tired, but he doesn't. I will often give him bully sticks, Himalayan dog chews, marrow bones, or most recently I have discovered raw beef ribs... the ultimate! If your dog likes kongs, that's probably a great option as well as I have heard that licking can really pacify and soothe them to sleep. My guy has kongs of all sizes and colours but won't even look at them. I have tried everything (you name it... tripe, peanut butter, liver, cheese) and he doesn't have any interest. Before long, he is usually out cold and snoozing in his crate. 

- All done command. Sometimes his pacing is coupled with collecting up toys and dropping them on me because he wants to play. Depending on the situation, I will usually engage with him for 10-15 minutes or so and then when I don't want to play anymore I say in a medium-serious tone: "All done" with both of my hands in the air like I'm surrendering LOL. The key to this command is to always stick to your guns. If you say "All done"... don't touch another toy, don't make eye contact, and I usually even get up and walk away - stay consistent and you will see the comprehension in their eyes. When I say "All done" now, Scout's pupils change size and his body relaxes and he will usually go to his bed and lie down because he understands what the command means. I use this command for fetch, for treats, and anytime I want him to cease whatever he's focused on because it's over and I said so. This is a great command coupled with "Go lie down" or "Go to your crate". It has really worked wonders! I occasionally treat him after he's been lying in the spot and exhibiting calm, relaxed body language for at least 10 minutes. 

- Blanket game. Okay, so I doubt this is an original idea, but in my opinion it's awesome for so many reasons. I basically take one or two of his MANY blankets and lay them on the floor and put him in a down stay out of my way but still within view. I take one small handful of liver fudge treats (lots of good recipes online) or any highly scented and high value treats and rip them into really small pieces. I then hide them in folds I make in the blanket and then put the second blanket on top and do the same thing again - make folds and ripples and hide the treats. I then give him the release command and tell him to "Go find". As he is searching, I have in my hand another handful of treats and I am quietly hiding behind and around where he has already found treats in the blankets. This way, he thinks that treats keep appearing magically from the blanket and will search for a long long time even after they are all gone, double and triple checking every nook and cranny of the blankets to make sure he didn't miss any. I love this one because it's a "set it and forget it" activity that allows him to stay busy (relatively) independently. His sniffer goes crazy and in less than 30 minutes, he is usually ready to settle down with very little input/engagement from me. Another game we play is I take a "named" toy (Sheepy is his favourite... the shell of what once was a little stuffed lamb) and again put him in a down stay and hide it in another room and then emerge and say "Where's sheepy?". Huge praise when he finds it. He will play this game for 4-5 rounds and then I can tell his focus drops off and he just wants to rest.

- Show me. If he is pacing and doing a bit of an intermittent whine, I do what I call a "Show me" where I look at him and put my hands out in front of me with my palms up and say "Show me" in an upbeat voice and this essentially means take me to what it is that you want. Often times this is the front door and he just wants to go outside to play. Sometimes he wants a toy stuck under the couch, other times I have no idea what the heck he wants, but saying "show me" and following him to where he is indicating and then distracting him can be enough to stop the pacing. 

Wow, typing that out made me realize that I am nuts about my dog! haha 

I know you mentioned that exercise and stimulation are not helping so maybe there is something physically bothering her and making her restless. Perhaps it could also be something in her diet? Obviously these are pretty major variables and it's too hard for me to comment on your situation without more info. I haven't tried these myself, but if you're in Canada, I have seen "PC Nutrition First Calming Chews Premium Dog Supplements" at the grocery store that might help during really bad episodes of pacing. One of the ingredients is colostrum, which I have definitely given to Scout before though I can't really comment on whether or not it calmed him at all as it was given as more of an immune boost. 

Best of luck with your dog! Wishing you calm days ahead


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## hmw0 (Dec 14, 2016)

After that post I thought of a few more things:

- Playing with other dogs! This should be number one on the list. Works like a charm every single time. My v is especially obsessed with playing and other dogs in general and I find getting him out for a solid hour or two with lots of good dogs scratches his itch to play 100% of the time. 

- Novel environments and adventures. I can tire out my dog mentally and physically when we visit new exciting places that he has never smelled or peed on (LOL) I will often try to find places that he can explore off leash, but use your discretion on this one. He always really enjoys going on adventures with me and I can almost see his mind working as he scopes everything out. Mundane routine walking routes are a great way to bore your dog and I find it makes him a little too bold when he feels like he owns the turf, LOL!

- The last thing I wanted to add is that I always try to remind myself that I go to work and socialize, use my brain, and move around, and experience different challenges here and there while he is at home sleeping. I need to provide him with the same opportunity each day to have experiences in order to truly feel fulfilled in his life and be a good, happy boy! With this in mind, I always strive to make our time together really productive and fun. This prevents me from feeling overly frustrated with him

Sorry for such a long-winded post!


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

hmw0 said:


> Sorry for such a long-winded post!


Don't apologize. These are some great suggestions!

Rin, settling down is definitely a learned skill for them, not an innate ability. In addition to some of these suggestions for actively engaging her and trying to tire her out mentally, a simple thing is to mark the behavior when she is calm and reward her for it so that over time she'll prefer to settle because it had a good outcome in the past. I like clickers and treats for this because often praising with our voices will amp them up more. If you've never trained with a clicker before, the first step is to condition the dog by giving her a treat every time you click. You do this 10 times or so and they catch on pretty quickly. Then when she's pacing around the house, you'll look for those moments where she stands still for a second or sits or whatever and you click and toss her a treat. She won't know why she got a treat and will likely start offering up different behaviors to get another one. Ignore any behavior that is active like jumping up or barking and as soon as she offers a calm behavior again click immediately and hand her a treat. Then you'd go back to whatever it is you were doing, giving her a chance to resume pacing so that you can repeat the process of marking and rewarding when she stops on her own. 

One observation I have with my dog is that she either needs to have a defined place to go or be near me to settle and as she's gotten older she's more likely to seek out her bed and wait than to pace or try and get my attention. When I've been working at a desk or had her with me while eating outside a restaurant, she was more prone to be antsy because it wasn't clear what she should be doing then. Essentially they need boundaries and rules and to be taught how they should act in different situations. And if not given those, depending on how independent they are they'll either whine and bug you or will create a job for themselves.


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## rin2450 (Nov 30, 2017)

Thank you! I appreciate the long winded reply! Lol we do most of these with her but we will try the chews and a few of your tactics thank you. Happy to know we are not the only one out there!


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## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

It is probably not the problem, but, next time your dog needs to have a full blood work up, have them check the Thyroid???
One of the symptoms of Hyper thyroid is hyperactivity, and I have two dogs, both have thyroid issues. Zeke is 3 yrs. and has been on
medication ( very easy to administer... not expensive ) for most of his life...


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## Betty (Apr 14, 2016)

Just to add another trick using the blanket(s), I put a toy/ball in the blanket and tell him to "go find", lots of energy expelled finding it.


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## Anida (Jun 10, 2016)

Betty said:


> Just to add another trick using the blanket(s), I put a toy/ball in the blanket and tell him to "go find", lots of energy expelled finding it.


just use an old blanket  sometimes ours nips some holes so just use one of "her" blankets lol


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