My dog does not have an "off switch"

WildFlower2350

I dropped off my girl at day care today- my husband is traveling for work and I have a long work day so I didn't want her to be stuck inside for too long.  When I dropped her off they said "how did she do last time?  Were there problems?"  I said, "Not that I know of, no one mentioned anything to me".  So I called at lunch to follow up and they read her chart and tell me "Abby doesn't ever stop and when the other dogs want to nap she annoys them b/c she wants to play, she literally doesn't stop from the time you drop her off until the time you pick her up.  She is THAT kid that bugs everyone". 

Ive had neighbors and friends offer to watch her for me and Ive warned them about this...I tell them that their entire day will revolve around making her tired and they dont believe me.  She is a maniac.  I walked her 3 times yesterday....before work, we played at lunch, walked her when i got home and again before bed, grand total probably being around 4 miles for the day with hills.  She is going to be 2 around January/February and is a 75 lb American Bulldog mix...I've read that 2/3 is that magical age where their brain catches up with their giant bodies..someone please tell me she will calm down even the tiniest bit!

LuckyAngel07

Some dogs just don't slow down; typical breed personalities aside, every dog is an individual, and some will just be hyper.

I'd work on mental stimulation, not just physical. 10-15 minutes of training on commands or new tricks can wear a crazy dog out better than a 30-minute walk. 

doeydo

That's one of the reasons that I want to adopt an older dog when my FI and I decide to get one.  When I was younger, I had a dog that didn't start to calm down until he was around four or five.  He was insane. 

chrisnjay05212010

i agree with @luckyangel07, she probably needs some type of mental stimulation as well to tire her out. Work on new tricks or even the old with her.  What about getting her one of those more "puzzle like" toys.

FWIW- my brother has an american bull dog. I think it was around year 4 that he finally started to calm down.

WildFlower2350

All good points...Ive purchased several "puzzles" and she had destroyed all of them..we are going into our 3rd level of obedience and I do practice at home.  She is just a loon I guess...a good girl, but a loon to say the least.

LuckyAngel07

Re: puzzle toys. You can't leave them out for the dog to play with when you're not there. The idea is to be there while she works on the toy (maybe not sitting rightthere the whole time, but keeping an eye on things). The mental exercise will tire her out for a while after she's finished figuring it out. 

Otherwise, yeah, they just become expensive chew toys.

amorrison340

We also have a maniac in our house.  The only puzzle toy she hasn't ripped apart is made by Star Mark and I think it's called a Bobble.  It's gourd shaped and you fill it with food, there's a little opening at the bottom and they have to tip it and move it around to get the food out.

I recently discovered dog carting.  This a totally weird thing to me, but our dog LOVES it.  I mean ridiculously so.  You have to do some specific training, but it's not too hard and a special harness to safely pull the cart.  Our dog is about 55lbs, and a rott/beagle mix.  we load up the cart and just go for our usual walk.  It totally slows her down!

If you don't want to go all out they make little back packs meant for hiking that I've heard people put soup cans in the pockets to add weight.  Just make sure the load is balanced.

Hope I was able to throw out new ideas for you to tire your pup out!