Trouble with pup not listening when excited

[kwirky]

We have an almost 9 month Golden Retriever male, Murphy, who is getting very difficult to handle when he gets excited.

Murphy is a high energy, big, strong boy who knows his basic obedience and does really well when he is calm however when he is hyped up he bites, jumps up, even humps and becomes deaf to any commands like 'down' or 'sit'.

Does anyone have any advice on how to handle the situation? He is not yet desexed as our vet recommended we wait until he is a year old.

[Swanny1790]

Like humans, an excited dog has a big surge of adrenalin (epinephrine) along with other hormones very similar to those released when experiencing fear. The adrenalin blocks communication across the portion of the brain that allows the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate. As a practical matter, that big adrenalin rush turns our dogs literally and figuratively into half-wits. Dog's (and humans) honestly can not learn very much during such circumstances.

Do you have a safely enclosed yard where you can let Murphy run his fool head off until he settles down? If so, just put him outside for a bit and let him go 'run amok' in the yard. If he has a strong drive to retrieve playing fetch until he can get his brain back in order can help him regain some focus while interacting with you. It's often said that a tired dog is a well behaved dog and there is a lot of truth in that saying.

Avoiding exciting circumstances that trigger the adrenalin rush can help to a degree but there will always be some unexpected thing happen that will set him off. For instance, the unexpected guest knocking at the door or ringing the bell. Watch Murphy for the earliest (sometimes very subtle) signs of excitement and cue him through his full repertoire of cued behaviors (sit, stay, down, etc) before he gets too amped up to respond to the cues can also help, especially if you can do so consistently. Over time he can learn to better control his response to whatever triggers his hyper, 'brainless' behaviors and you may eventually find him spontaneously doing those behaviors when he is starting to feel the surge of excitement coming on as a sort of self-calming behavior. That part would likely take many months, maybe years, and might not happen at all.

At 9 months of age, Murphy is an adolescent and like human adolescents the changing hormonal levels in his body make it very difficult for him to mind his manners. Some of that wild and wooly behavior will settle down as he matures and the hormone levels achieve a degree of balance.

I think the important point is to realize that when he's in that hyperactive state he really can't help acting out - his brain can't process cause and effect. I think the best approach, if you can safely do it, is just send him outdoors to burn off that excess energy and settle himself down.

I imagine others with more expertise will be able to offer more practical suggestions, as well.

[Maxy24]

Some of this is age related so I do think you'll see a big improvement with age. Just like adolescent humans, adolescent dogs lack self control compared to their adult selves. That said, retrievers do stay more goofy and puppy like than many other breeds/types so this behavior may not completely go away without some work.

Some of it may have to do with not being able to generalize commands. You most commonly teach a dog to sit from a standing position and many dogs ONLY know how to sit from that position. For example many dogs do not know how to sit from a laying down position. So if the dog is jumping up on you he may not really understand how to sit from the position of being on two legs. Some dogs have trouble generalizing to new surroundings, they may even have trouble if they're in a different room of the house from where you normally train them. Sounds silly but it does happen.

If you only ever practice his commands in calm training sessions I would start using them more in more "real life" scenarios. If you are playing tug and get the toy away from him sometimes have him sit before you'll start playing again. If you're playing fetch sometimes have him sit before you throw the toy again. In these cases he will be a bit more worked up because it's play time. You can also use it in other situations that excite him. If you pick up his leash for a walk and he gets excited have him sit before you open the door. If he's excited for his food have him sit before you put the bowl down. Just try practicing in more exciting situations but situations in which you have control over a powerful reward so that you can make sure he's rewarded for sitting and not rewarded for doing anything else. It's also important that the dog learn he is rewarded when you give commands in "real life" situations. A lot of dogs get food rewards in training sessions but when the commands are used in real life and they DO follow them they get nothing or only get praise. So they ignore the commands outside of training sessions, they no there or no rewards. So try to carry treats on you or keep them stashed throughout the house so when he DOES listen to your commands he's rewarded.

Also it's important he's being given enough exercise and mental stimulation so that he's not full of pent up energy or bored very often. The more chances he has to occupy himself in a good way the less likely he is to try and find his own "special" ways to have fun. If you see him starting to get in a crazy mood act fast. Find a way to occupy him. If you cannot play with him at that time because you're super then confine him with something he likes to chew or engage him in play with a toy he's willing to use by himself until you are able to play/walk/somehow stimulate him.

When he does try to use you as a personal toy you want to react in a way that removes the possible rewards he's getting (chewing, bouncing off of you, and humping you are super duper fun) and helps to calm him. I'd basically just treat it like puppy biting. I'd remove myself from the room and wait for him to calm down before re-entering. You only pay attention to him or play with him while he's behaving appropriately. With an excitable dog the attention you give needs to be relatively calm so he is able to remain in control of himself. If you can put up baby gates I find that's the most useful because the dog can still see you but not get to you (and you can still see him which helps you knows when he's calm) which may keep him from getting super worked up when you come back in. You can also re-direct him to a toy when you re-enter the room or even train him to grab a toy on command which you can use when he first starts getting worked up to prevent him from using you as a toy. Have him grab a toy and play with him that way.

If you rough house with him using your hands I'd stop until he's exhibiting really awesome self control, rough housing isn't a game for dogs who cannot stay in control when excited. He should only be using his mouth on toys, he should not be allowed to jump up. If you want to be able to let him do those things later that's fine, but you can reintroduce them when he's mature and has good self control.

You can also try teaching something like "go crazy, freeze" which trains the dog to sit when you freeze and cross your arms, even when excited. Some people actually say "go crazy" and "freeze" but I'd probably just let you're body do the talking or only give a release from the sit. Here's a video (it's a super relaxed dog unfortunately):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNr3VV1tRBQ

For your dog you'd want want to start with VERY little excitement during the go crazy phase. Maybe walk briskly for a few steps, enough to JUST start getting him a tiny bit more excited. Then freeze. Keep sessions super short for now or you risk him getting over aroused.

[kwirky]

Thanks so much for this. We will give it a go