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Overly Active Aussie?

by Heather

We have a 3 year old Mini Aussie. A female. She is extremely active. And I am wondering what else we can do. We walk her every day to the park where she also has a good time off leash and playing fetch, but she still is easily distracted, disobedient and all over the place.

We have done several obedience classes and have tried agility, but the agility is hard since she is so distracted, despite running her beforehand.

Did we just get a overly active aussie? We got an Aussie because it said if we exercised her, she would behave and be calm in the house, but that is not the case.

She is very intelligent, is the best at the obedience classes, listens well when we train her, but NOT when not in training.

Someone suggested flyball or frisbee, but I am afraid that will spike the restlessness.

I thought she would outgrow it somewhat, but she is three now and we still have this bouncy dog :).
She is not aggressive, well socialized, plays well with other dogs.

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Patience
by: Jean

I also have a very active 5 year old Aussie. I hired numerous different trainers, did the classes, agility, Dock Dogs etc. and realized he was not having fun and neither was I! He started to calm down a bit when I spent some time each day and taught him tricks to keep his mind busy. I hid things in the house and he would find them, play ball and have him do tricks before I throw the ball etc. He also started to listen to pay attention to me more. Best of luck!

Overly Active Aussie
by: Heidi

Hi,
I know your pain. We have a 2 year old Aussie that we rescued when she was 4 mo. We took her to 2 series of lengthy group sessions. Also I took her to a private trainer.
Beemer is crazy and feels it is her job to bark at everything, spins in circles and is obsessive about guarding her resources from our other dog. The one rule that is true is that A Tired Dog is a Good Dog. Our trainer said that. It takes a lot to tire her out, but it is true. My vet did recommend some meds but we are going to try with further training and increased exercise.
So talk to your vet or get a reference to a animal behaviorist. The running joke here is that I love Beemer at night and in the morning, when she is sleeping!(I do love her, but she frustrates me and even broke the living room window over a cat).
I wish you the best of luck. I know a lot of people do not like meds (my fiance) but if it makes your house a little calmer it just be the answer.

active
by: Gayle-- Big Run Aussies

Did you read my article on games to play with your dog? You can still read it on this website and it might help a lot in your situation. One of our favorite games is "101 things to do with a box". Another game we like to play is hide and seek-usually with treats in a container. Many times mental exhaustion is better than physical exhaustion. You can practice tricks while you are watching TV and relaxing. Please keep practicing obedience with her. You can practice downs-- increasing the time she has to stay and treating her when she had been good. My 1st purebred Aussie was also non stop her whole 13 years. She would play frisbee in the house until we went to bed. I used to have to play frisbee with her daughter before we would run agility to get her calmed down. So, I know what you are talking about.

Active Aussie
by: Marsha

You may not like our solution when we had the same problem. We got another Aussie! The two of them keep each other busy and tired out by bedtime!

active
by: Gayle-- Big Run Aussies

Yes. We did get another Aussie to play with our very active Aussie and it did help. They tire each other out. There are lots of natural remedies to calm dogs. I would try those before I would start drugs. Rescue Remedy is good and Foster and Smith carries a product called "Calm".
I would try the games, though. You can even set up simple agility obstacles in your back yard. We have weave poles and an Ikea tunnel in the house.

overly active
by: Michelle

Hi, We too have an overly active 1 1/2 year old (mini) Aussie. Her name is Mia, but we sometimes would call her the "energizer bunny", as she wants to play ALL THE TIME. She is an awesome pet and we love her to death, but no matter how much ball or Frisbee we would play, she wanted to keep going. Just about a month ago we decided to get her a "sister". Best thing we could have done!! They play excellent together and are pooped-out by 8:30-9:00pm. No more being "pestered" while our family is watching a movie or just relaxing. A fun game for both pet & family member is hide & seek. We throw her favorite ball or a small dry treat down the steps, and when she's going down the steps, we QUICKLY hide. She almost always finds us!! After playing this 20 min. or so, you'll both be a bit pooped-out. :)

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