[isp206]

Hi everyone,

My pupper, Diesel, will be a big ol' 1 year old tomorrow. Lately, he's been extremely, and I mean EXTREMELY needy. Not the cute "stick by your side" needy, but will forcibly slap you and jump on you until you give him attention needy. If I'm sitting down on a couch or chair, he will come up from wherever he is and "slap" me with his paw or jump up on me/the table until I stand up. This wouldn't be bad if he didn't weigh 70 pounds. (I end up having to stand most of the day hahaha) We have another little dog, a maltese named Guin, who regularly gets slapped by him as well. If he sees anyone on the couch, he will run over and jump up with his two front paws and basically act deaf when we say "off" or "down". We tried simply standing up when he does this, but he only comes back the second we sit back down (this will happen 15 times). He acts extremely antsy and frantic when he does this (he gets those crazy "I'm gonna chew your hand off" eyes), and I feel like he can't even let himself rest half the time since his brain is too busy wanting to be pushy. If i'm on my laptop working, he'll literally step on the laptop.
Have any of you experienced this? Is this an adolescence hormone thing? He's not fixed yet.
It's honestly just exhausting trying to relax him, and it's also hard that we can't sit down without putting him in the kennel or something first. He gets a lot of exercise throughout the day too. Frustrating.
Maybe calm supplements could help?

 

[Dunmar]

My girl is needy at 6.5 months, but I am doing my best to stop her from jumping up. She's doing good.

I think you need to work on his slapping at you for attention like you would jumping up or play biting.

 

[eeerrrmmm1]

Maybe calm supplements could help?

Woah, nope. Shouldn't even be considered at this point.

You stated that he gets a lot of exercise a day. Please be very honest with yourself on this point. Does he really? Every day? Golden's are working breed dogs bred to run through fields and swim through ponds for hours. They need 45 min - 1 & 1/2 hours of tongue out panting, running around exercise, e.g. fetch or jogging. We break it up with 30 min in the morning, 30 min in the evening of fetch plus a walk or much less fetch and she comes running with me for 3-4 miles. An hour long walk won't even touch their need to be exercised as a 1 year old.

Try increasing the amount of exercise you are giving him. It's very likely that's what he actually needs to stop feeling restless and trying to get your attention constantly.

 

[isp206]

Woah, nope. Shouldn't even be considered at this point.

You stated that he gets a lot of exercise a day. Please be very honest with yourself on this point. Does he really? Every day? Golden's are working breed dogs bred to run through fields and swim through ponds for hours. They need 45 min - 1 & 1/2 hours of tongue out panting, running around exercise, e.g. fetch or jogging. We break it up with 30 min in the morning, 30 min in the evening of fetch plus a walk or much less fetch and she comes running with me for 3-4 miles. An hour long walk won't even touch their need to be exercised as a 1 year old.

Try increasing the amount of exercise you are giving him. It's very likely that's what he actually needs to stop feeling restless and trying to get your attention constantly.

The reason I suggest it is he will act this way AFTER being worked a long time as well. Say he’s been running around and playing at the dog park for 1.5 hours, he’ll come home and start acting extremely pushy and needy while also seeming like he needs to rest. That’s why i’m unsure if it’s a stress thing

 

[SRW]

The only supplement you need is obedience training. The behavior you are seeing can your dog is what you have unwittingly trained.
If your dog doesn’t know “sit”, teach it.
Whenever the needy behavior occurs, command sit and then praise.
It is your attention that he wants and he will quickly learned that the way to get it is to sit and behave.

 

[isp206]

The only supplement you need is obedience training. The behavior you are seeing can your dog is what you have unwittingly trained.
If your dog doesn’t know “sit”, teach it.
Whenever the needy behavior occurs, command sit and then praise.
It is your attention that he wants and he will quickly learned that the way to get it is to sit and behave.

So he’s usually already sitting when he puts his paw up. What other command would you recommend? He’s been in weekly obedience training since he was 3 months so we’re working on it!

 

[SRW]

My Jake will do the same thing. Usually when we haven’t been able to train enough, lots of unused energy.
He does it because I will usually get down on the floor and play. He has trained me very well.
He will lay down if I tell him to. It is a good command for a dog to know. Have to be pretty gentle in training to lay down. Dogs tend to think they’re being punished. It’s one of the few things I use treats for. I quickly transition to praise only.

 

[GrandmaToGoldens]

So he’s usually already sitting when he puts his paw up. What other command would you recommend? He’s been in weekly obedience training since he was 3 months so we’re working on it!

Weekly classes should only be the start of his training; if they’re typical novice-owner classes, they’re comparable to teaching a teenager the “3 Rs” without the college-level education he’s mentally ready for. For a young dog, a good mental workout is more tiring than a miles-long run.

There are some great on-line resources for advanced training exercises that will mentally exercise your dog. You can train on your own or with guidance from on-line classes. Denise Fenzi academy has a good reputation, but there are many others.

If your dog retrieves, “hide and seek” is a great training game. Choose a soft toy that he will retrieve, stand with him beside you, put one hand over his eyes and toss the toy a short distance, then send him to fetch. After a few repeats, toss it so that it falls behind something. Over a few days, gradually build up difficulty by leaving him to stay (or asking someone to hold him) and walking to toss the toy through a doorway. Eventually, you should be able to leave him at one end of the house, hide the toy at the other end and send him to find.

Teaching him to “step up” onto a step, stool or something similar should help you teach him not to paw you. Teaching him to put his paws somewhere other than on you is a bridging exercise that can be extended to teaching him to keep his paws on the ground. One again, google is your friend; there are many YouTube’s of people teaching “step up” to their dogs.

Whatever mentally stimulating exercises you teach, you also need to teach calmness. Everything you do with him (walks, meals, training, play) should be preceded by a period of quiet waiting, on a mat or enforced by restriction to a crate if necessary. Only release him when he is calm. There are on-line resources to help with training this too.