My puppy is hyper!

[ClaireB]

I don't know if this is normal or not, but our puppy Muffin seems to get super hyper every evening and starts running around the apartment like a race car.  We also have a cat and now she's taken to chasing him.  Max (our cat) has been pretty tolerant of her attacking him, but every now and then he pins her down and I'm afraid he might bite her neck and injure her.  I don't know how to make her stop this other than putting her in the crate every time she goes wacky, which some evenings is almost constant.  There are times, especially during the day, that they lie close to each other on the rug and play nice, but when she starts her Indy 500 routine she just won't leave him alone.  Any suggestions?

[Ann]

Muffin is being very normal, you will find that as she gets older this will slow down. My advise as far as the cat is concerned is if she is actually chasing him get in front of her and tell her to stop or stay. You may need to start training her by getting her to sit then put your hand out and saying stay then slowly walking away, she probably won't do it straight away but persist and when she trys to walk with you put her back in the place you had her then try again keep telling her to stay when she does stay even if only for a few steps that you take give her a reward. She will soon learn the when you tell her to stay that means to stop. Keep testing her by walking further each time then eventually she will stay even if you walk out of her sight. This will take time so be persistant.

Hope this helps !!!

[cherokeeangel]

How much activity does you pup get a day? What types of exercise activities do you do? How long are your walks? How vigorous are they and what do you do on those walks, activities on those walks? The terriers in these dogs need to be mentally and physically challenged and if we do not do it, they will find a way to do it and the terrier becomes a terror to your poor cat :-)....Fill me in on that and maybe I can fill you in on ways to make your life a lot easier....and your cats life even easier....my cats and my shorkie and my blue healer are all buds, but it was not always that way when they were first introduced because my shorkie had never seen a cat....and my cats had never seen a dog their size....but it only took two days....
I have been training dogs many years and this is a very easy fix.
Hang in there....let me know.....I am not bragging just letting you know in case you are wondering why I am asking all those questions.

[stacy15]

I agree...it is very important to provide mental and physical exercise for your dog.  And that means taking them for long walks to release all that energy they've got or else they will find other ways to release their energy.  Like chasing the cat. Here is a book that i recently read that changed my whole perception on dogs and their psychology.  It has changed me and my relationship with my lil one.  I would highly recommend it to any dog owner and would be sure they would love it as much as i did!

Cesar"s Way by Cesar Millan 

 

[cherokeeangel]

Another good one by Cessar Millan is BE THE PACK LEADER 
That is also one I would recommend to any pack leader....I would say dog owner, but I quesiton whether we own the dogs.....because we fail to understand their language as much as they understand ours.....how often do we hear them say "outside...?" enjoy!! We understand our dogs body language, but Cesar can teach you the dogs true LANGUAGE, much like the dogs have been learning our language of choice for many hundreds of years....

[Ann]

These books sound like great reading so I'm going to see where I can purchase them. Thanks,it's really great to talk to people who can pass this information on. I believe we can all benifit from each other.

[ClaireB]

   Thank you all for the great suggestions!  I do watch Cesar Millan all the time and love his show.  I will definitely pick up those books. 

Cherokeeangel, my husband is retired and home most of the time so he takes Muffin out for walks 3 to 4 times a day and usually for at least a half hour.  I usually play fetch with her every night for a while.  On weekends we take her everywhere we go.  She loves to ride in the car.  We just met one of our neighbors who also has a puppy and she suggested we have playdates for our puppies, which I think is a great idea.  As for Max (my cat) I have a feeling that he doesn't mind it so much anymore.  When he gets tired of her chasing him he goes out on the porch and hangs out there for a while.

Thank you all very much!