# Wild Mac!!!!



## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Hello

So we have had Mac for almost 2 months now. He has developed in so many ways and I am very proud. He knows all the tricks: sit, lay down, high five, shake, spin and more! He loves his crate and easily will go 8 hours straight at night and has since week 2 and is great for a 16 week pup.
We are struggling with keeping him from jumping and he does still play bite. One thing that I am concerned about is that he comes out of his crate after waking up in the morning or after a couple hours during the day and he is a great dog for about 20 to 30 mins. Then he starts getting more and more crazy! If we take him for a short walk or long walk when we return home he is crazy. I think I have a case of a dog that when he gets tired he gets crazy. 
The problem with this is that we are now in a cycle where he is either in his crate and relaxed or out of his crate and going crazy. We put huge effort into giving him games to keep his mind busy or if we want to get him to relax we give him a bully stick or other chew toy which works sometimes but other times doesn't. Either way regardless of how much exercise or games or chew toys we give to him the most we get out of him is an hour to hour and half and then he has to go back into his crate or he is literally going crazy jumping up on the sofa nipping at clothes and play biting really hard and running back and forth. I wish more than anything that he would just relax outside of his crate! I hate when there is no reason that he needs to go into his crate but that we put him in simply because he is otherwise destructive and biting. 
Am I expecting to much at his age for him to settle out of the crate? Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas??


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I'm sorry to say it, but I think maybe you are expecting a little too much from a 16-week-old puppy. 

It's a fine line to walk... If Mac is under-exercised and bored, he will act that way, and if he is properly exercised and tired out (just because he's a puppy), he might act that way. Puppies are prone to overstimulation. It will seem like a long way off to you, but once he turns two-years-old, you will see a remarkable difference in him. Mature dogs don't often act that way. 

It really is just a normal way for a puppy to behave. My theory is that they have so much energy they don't know what to do with it all. He will relax outside of his crate eventually. Hang in there, born36!


----------



## datacan (May 15, 2011)

We found Sam to be somewhat similar to Mac. Sam would lose concentration and do what whatever he wanted. It is at this time I lured him with a few kibbles to his crate, made him sit/lie down and let him take a nap. 

I noticed Sam would mature a little if he slept on it. Sometimes he would get very excited and jump up and down on strangers with dogs or anyone who gave him any attention. As long as we were consistent and kept correcting every time Sam would tone down a little the next day. I think Sam would dream about what happened during the day - I can hear him hoofing and barking during sleep. End result was he toned down, ended up a half-mature dog I can sort of predict.

I don't think there is a magic formula or spell to stop them from doing undesired things. Just plain old consistency without anger. 

I conditioned Sam to wait for his food just by asking to "wait" and if he broke the command I would guide him back to the spot. No prongs, no punishments, not even using a leash. He would only get the fed if the "wait" command is not interrupted and I give the "OK" command.
This backfired once, we have a cat and Sam knows "leave it" command. He tried to chew on the cat and I said "leave it". He left it but than I said "OK" (I really meant OK good boy).... Sam understood the command and went straight for the cat. That day I learned "OK" means go for it.


----------



## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

If he hasn't already learned the zoomies, he is on the verge of learning them.

Eventually, he will know when he has too much energy and will zoom around in circles of whatever space is available. Savannah used to zoom on the deck, mostly. It was safe and she knew how to sit in front of the door so I would open it. When we were in the yard, she would zoom in the yard. As she got bigger, the yard zoomies expanded to include my neighbors yards on both sides (they both have dogs and didn't mind). I can't remember which thread, but someone posted a video of their puppy with the zoomies inside. Really cute! With serious zoomies, he will look almost out of control, but if you watch carefully, you will notice that he is focused on his circle route. 

Savannah started the zoomies at 3-4 months. She would zoom before a walk because she had too much energy and after a walk because she was tired. She would zoom whenever she was frustrated. She would also zoom if she was really happy. Basically, anytime circumstances were beyond the norm, she would zoom. At one year, she still zooms occasionally, but usually it is after a walk when she has seen multiple dogs, but wasn't allowed to play with them.


----------

