Mally Getting Over Stimulated

[markquinton]

Hi all

 

I've got a 7 month old mally who in general is fairly well behaved but we are having one issue that concerns me. During a walk she quite often goes into a phase where her eyes glaze over (like during the zoomies) and then bites the lead and jumps up and rough mouths/bites at me for a while and I find it very hard to get her out of that state. It's extremely embarrassing and difficult to stop her because she is so big. It must look to others as if I have an out of control dog.

 

Exactly the same thing happens when we try and play ball games in the garden with her, she just loses control and starts mouthing and nipping at the nearest person. I am convinced it's just over stimulation but it doesn't look like it to others. I've noticed that it also happens when I end play time with another dog during walks, almost as if she is resenting me for ending the play as she loves other dogs.

 

I am really hopeful that she will grow out of it and there will be a time that I can walk her with worrying about her going into these mental periods. I have tried ignoring her and restraining her but with no success. The only relative success I've had is presenting a high value treat to try and get her to snap out of it.

 

I must say the breeder has been fantastic and a great support but would like to hear whether other people have experienced a similar thing and can assure me that this stage will pass.

 

Thanks

 

Mark

[RedJasper]

Vader use to do the same thing.  My recomendation is have his hips checked.  Even slight dysplasia can be painful.  Also cary a small bottle of bitter apple with you in your pocket.  When he gets nippy spray in his mouth.  A few times of that and it will stop.  The spray will not hurt him at all..  The only reason I bring up the hips is because with such a large dog it is very possible there could ba an issue  With medicine for the hips and bitter apple.  Vader does really well on walks now.  He lets us know when enough is enough and he is brought home.  Good luck!

[markquinton]

I'm pretty sure he hips are fine and she comes from a hip scored background etc

 

I've got bitter apple spray but as soon as it's presented she just goes a bit mad at it and sort of makes me more likely to lose control. Maybe i'll put it in a different bottle.

 

Thanks for the recommendations.

[Sarah]

If the treats are working i'd keep up with that - get her to sit and give her a treat and let her gather her composure a little - if you do it at the onset of each "burst" it may help her understand she gets rewarded when she's calm x

[Devildust76]

Hi Mark. Our Kodiak does the exact same thing to me still at 13 months! It's not all of the time and is so much better but at 56kg he's a big Mal boy! I've noticed he does it more if we've had to say goodbye to someone who's stopped to talk to us or if there are kids that he wants to say hi to on the opposite side of the street! He can go weeks without doing it then we have a couple of bad days where I have to check him constantly and try and engage his brain with something else. He is still a puppy and you can forget because of his size! He still gets the zoomies, which you do NOT want to be on the wrong end of Consistency is they key though. I've learnt that over the months I hope you can get this in check to a manageable stage. She will eventually grow out of doing it all the time. I'm not sure if you've ever had a Mal before but Kodiak is our first and no amount of research prepared us for his goof-ball antics I wouldn't change him for the world though  

[markquinton]

Thank you for the replies.

 

Simon, it certainly sounds like I'm experiencing the same thing as you. You say 'goof-ball' antics and I agree but at the time it's massively annoying and like I said i'm embarrassed because it's hard to get her to calm down and if i'm far from home then I worry all the way back that she will do it again and it spoils the walk completely.

 

Jazz is my first mally and I did lots of research and yes even after the research she is very hard work and sometimes I wonder to myself whether I'll be able to manage her and ensure she grows up a well behaved mally. I really hope she does.

 

Thanks for the reassurance.

[Devildust76]

Thank you for the replies.

 

Simon, it certainly sounds like I'm experiencing the same thing as you. You say 'goof-ball' antics and I agree but at the time it's massively annoying and like I said i'm embarrassed because it's hard to get her to calm down and if i'm far from home then I worry all the way back that she will do it again and it spoils the walk completely.

 

Jazz is my first mally and I did lots of research and yes even after the research she is very hard work and sometimes I wonder to myself whether I'll be able to manage her and ensure she grows up a well behaved mally. I really hope she does.

 

Thanks for the reassurance.

Believe me no-one understands your feelings more than me I was all for giving Kodiak back to the breeder at times! It is embarrassing when they do it on a walk but it will get better. He doesn't seem to do it to my OH only me! I decided it was because he sees me more as a playmate than his alpha. I've taken a different tack with him now and it has paid off. He now realises that I am higher in the pack order than he is and that is all down to persevering with his training and correcting undesirable behaviour. I'm not saying he's perfect, far from it, but he is getting there and considering they don't fully mature until they are 20-24 months we still have a bit of time to get things sorted

[markquinton]

Thanks again for your response.

 

I must admit many people seem to recommend the ignoring them tactic, but if you can ignore them whilst they are trying to remove your trousers then many people are obviously more tolerant than me lol

 

You have hit the nail on the head, i'm sure she looks at me as a playmate, i'm sitting watching football and occasionally she will decide to jump on the couch next to me and nibble/lick my ear and whine at me in a 'I want to play now' kinda way. Love her to bits though.

[Sarah]

Thanks again for your response.

 

I must admit many people seem to recommend the ignoring them tactic, but if you can ignore them whilst they are trying to remove your trousers then many people are obviously more tolerant than me lol

 

You have hit the nail on the head, i'm sure she looks at me as a playmate, i'm sitting watching football and occasionally she will decide to jump on the couch next to me and nibble/lick my ear and whine at me in a 'I want to play now' kinda way. Love her to bits though.

 

you'll have to put some pics up of her  

[markquinton]

Here are some pics of her over the last few months.....talk about growing up fast and changing colour completely! And she's actually now a lot bigger than the most recent pic.

 

[Sarah]

awww she's so pretty 

[Elyse]

She's so adorable? What's her name?
 

[markquinton]

Her name is Jazz....behind that pretty face is a naughty little girl lol

[Chula]

Chula does exactly this - and she just started doing it around 6 months old. She will bark at me, jump, try to mouth/nip. Bitter apple spray does work. If I have her on the leash, then we stand still until she calms down and gets into her lay down position. She will only keep pulling at the leash if I pull back. If I make it boring, she usually will stop. If she is off lead in the back yard when it happens, I just pick her up and bring her inside and play time is over. She is little though so it is easy for me to pick her up even if she is mouthing and trying to nip. I have also had to grab her by the scruff and lead her inside, but that's not so easy to do. I have started to make sure I always have my leash, even if we are just playing in the backyard.

 

I am assuming it is a "pushing limits" thing that goes along with juvenile dogs. I hope she will eventually learn that it's not okay, or she'll grow out of it.