# Over excitement



## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Lucy is still very over excited when we get company. At home I have started to put her in a crate or on a leash. However, last week when my son came with Cooper, and Cooper is here all the time, Lucy got excited and peed on the kitchen floor.

Yesterday, I went to my friend's and we went straight downstairs and groomed Lucy for over an hour. When we went upstairs, Lucy went outside - wandered around in the snow and then came to the back door. As soon as we let her in, she got all stupid about Vicky's dogs and wagged her whole body like crazy and peed on the hardwood!! Not a popular choice. She spent the rest of the time in a crate. 

Now, when I first got her, she peed with excitement, but she hasn't done that for months. So, why has she started again and what can I do about it? People obviously don't want dog pee on their floors!

Its the same thing at obedience class. She does things really well here, but on the recall etc when another dog runs, she yaps and tries to run in the same direction. I need to find a way to calm her down. Its impossible to practice, because it just happens when we are around dogs she doesn't know. She obviously doesn't get excited with Sam and Tyson because she lives with them.


----------



## Feathersprings (Jul 15, 2010)

I will be interested in the replies to this. Hoolie doesn't pee but he gets real overstimulated by the "environment" and cant listen. He can be great in training class but when I just take him on regular walks he gets way out of control. Nothing to do with people or dogs..more smells and sights  Isnt puppy training fun!


----------



## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Yeah!! My groomer friend says I should get her to pay attention to me. I really doubt whether she would have any more success with Lucy around lots of strange dogs!!


----------



## ziggylu (Jun 26, 2010)

Overstimulation is the biggest challenge we have with Cosmo. He gets overstimulated so easily by sights and sounds and then loses impulse control. I have noticed that peeing is part of the cycle, though it's not generally uncontrolled....he will however ask to pee whenever he's been overstimulated. For example if he gets overstimulated in the yard he'll go in a cycle of drinking large amounts of water and then peeing...over and over, every 15 minutes or so. I'll pick up the water until he refocuses when this happens. If we're out walking and he gets overstimulated by a dog or a car he will pee as soon as the dog or car is out of sight. 

Anyway, we're making very slow but forward progress on this. We do a LOT of focus exercises. I've been using the clicker for this as he seems to respond well to it. I actually wearing a training bag with a clicker on it around the house and will randomly ask him to look and click and reward when he does. Sometimes I feed him part of his dinner while I watch TV at night and do focus work with him. While we're walking I click and treat whenever he looks at me, it's amazing how much more focused and relaxed he's getting walking from this. We're making good progress on not chasing cars. I haven't really started working on dogs yet as that's goin to be the hardest to overcome. I do take him to an outdoor obedience class where I can work way off to the side though. I'm not there so much doing the obedience work(he excels at this when focused actually) but working on getting him to focus on me and work with me with the other dogs there. Lots of eye contact exercises and I work him a lot in a down to relax him. Keeping him busy once i get him focused helps too...we do a lot of our tricks and stuff while the teacher is talking so he doesn't get bored and start lookng at the other dogs, etc. 

He's doing well with this too, last week we were actually able to work our way into the group and he did well unless another dog barked. Then we've moved back away and start working towards the group slowly again.

My experience is there is no quick fix to this. Part of it is puppy-brains and some of it I believe in Cosmo's case is that he's just wired to be hypervigilant. Slow, patient consistency seems to bring the best results.


----------



## Bella's Momma (Jul 26, 2009)

When you are expecting guests, I would try having her go out first so she has an empty bladder. Bella has only done this one time, and after that we made sure to have her go first. I think we did do some 'outdoor greetings' to make sure the problem was isolated for a while, though. 

However my childhood dog did it her entire freaking life, so my condolences. It's frustrating.

The only thing, with going crazy, that helps for us when I have a willing guest...I have her sit...treat...have guest come and say hello (all the while reminding her, if need be, to sit...etc.). 

Unfortunately I have some guests who are just not dog people and really don't get that all she wants is a little acknowledgement and then she'll calm down.


----------



## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Lucy is actually often worse when she gets acknowledgment. It just seems to excite her all the more. As I said, I have found that putting her on a leash or putting her in the crate for ten minutes will calm her down. She usually comes out of the crate nicely and not going crazy any longer. I guess they are all different.


----------



## Birdie (Jun 28, 2009)

I agree 100% with Zigglyu- focus, focus, focus!! Do TONS of focus training with her. Everywhere, too! ALL sorts of environments, places, distractions, etc. 

Teach her a really, really reliable stay, also. Whenever you have company over, or she'll be entering into a distracting, exciting environment (like a room full of other dogs, new people, etc), have her sit next to you before you get into the chaos. Give her treats for being calm and focusing on you instead of the distractions. Be very gentle and soothing with praise- the last thing you want to do in this situation is make her MORE excited! She may whine and whimper if she sees the other dogs, but be sure she stays seated (if she really just cannot control herself, quietly guide her away from the situation and try again at a larger distance). If she ever looks up at you, click & treat. If she stops wiggling and is calm, even if just for a moment, click & treat. 
Get her exposed to exciting, distracting situations frequently and practice her sit/stay and focus. Train with her at a BIG distance from distractions at first, to ensure you can get her attention, then gradually move closer into the fray. If all goes well, you can train her to be calm and composed around distractions, and she can control herself and focus on your commands.


----------



## Purley (May 21, 2010)

She does have a reliable stay -- but only when I am practicing in the basement!! As soon as there is a distraction - up she gets. She is pretty good at staying at class to, but I am sure if another dog took off or started barking - she would be getting up to see what was going on!!

I guess I have to keep on practicing without a distraction so it becomes second nature to her - hopefully when there is a distraction. 

I am still not sure what to do about the peeing from excitement. I thought it was just puppies that did that. She hasn't done it for months.


----------



## ItzaClip (Dec 1, 2010)

dont you have to pee more when you get nervous or excited? i do. peeing is an appeasement behavior in young, excited or unconfidant dogs.
The key is to practice and desensitize, amd have peole who will listen to you. watch for the triggers, people looking at her, bending over to pet or the high greeting voices? yes definately do the clicker focus work as a seperate thing so that when it gets distracting she can still focus on you. have people come over for practice, you work dog calmly while someone else lets them in, people do not speak in high voices if thats the trigger, guests do not look at dog. work your way up to having dog approach guest, they will calmly turn and say hi, if goes well then kneel(try half turned away, no eye contact)if dog over excites self guest will freeze or stand up and dog learns to calm self if wants attention. 
for onleash dog excitement:
slowly increase her ability to leave distraction, ie you call her randomly throughout the day, she comes or looks at you click as she does so and reward. then slowly introduce calling(once mind you) as she is doing something(playing toy, finding treats,chewing bone, chasing squirrel in back yard). if cant do it then she's not there yet, go back and reinforce the last achievment. start working on leash in back yard ., then sidewalk then at a spot far away from strange dogs(say in a yard or park) that she can still focus. highly reward for small steps in right direction. for example: choose to C&T(click & treat) loose leash, so even if she isnt giving you a perfect heel position, work on the one point. hope this helps, i'm babbleing again.....


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Jean Donaldson's book "Train your dog like a pro" explains exactly how to proof for distance, distraction and duration. She also explains just how many repetitions are needed before a dog can be considered really trained - which is where I tend to fall down. I highly recommend it - it has really helped me to see where I am simply expecting too much of my dogs for the amount of time and energy I put into training.


----------



## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Its NOT people she pees over when she gets excited - its other dogs. My son's dog has been coming here since before I got Lucy and he is here all the time. She has also been to my friend's house and met her dogs over half a dozen times. Mind you, she peed the last time we were there but I haven't taken her since before Christmas. She really likes the other dogs and get too excited when she meets them and that is when she pees on the floor.


----------

