Hyper dog

I hope someone on here can help me. I have a boxer cross who despite having consulted a behaviourist, taken him to obedience training for the last two years he is still so hard to handle and such hard work. He doesn't like other dogs and as I posted previously he chases livestock (not since the last incident though).



He gets a good offlead run each morning and a less energetic walk with either myself or my husband so I don't think lack of exercise is his problem.


The moment we get out the frontdoor it's like he is on hyper vigilant alert - for anything that moves - rabbits, rats but his number one thing is cats, if I walk him anywhere he lunges at each garden gate looking for them and it is driving me absolutely mad. Tonight I took him out and he snorted and whined all the way around the circuit - this despite having been on a run this morning, been to obedience and agility. I walked across the recreation ground and he suddenly started trying to play tug with his lead. I was quite firm with him and eventually I managed to make him stop. He has an extremely low frustration threshold.


Sorry it's just a vent because it is relentless and I just don't know what else to do. I believe in only reward based training but how do I reward base train him to calm down.

How old is he ?
We get the tugging of the lead with Dillon some days. he is getting better now.
Normally when he finds some grass has a bit of a roll around then gets up all stupidly and starts jumping around and tugging the lead. I am teaching him lets go as soon as he lays down and when he gets up calmly he gets lots of praise and treated. If he starts to tug he gets told stop as soon as he does he gets rewarded.
Timing is crucial and sometimes difficult to get right.
He is also a cat hunter he wants to make friends with them so when lead walking have to be extra vigilant again if he spots one and does as asked which is leave it the minute he does he gets treated.
Dillon is 23 months old.

Whenever your dog is acting calm use the word calm, good boy plenty of fuss and a treat whether out on walks or just in the house if he is behaving calmly tell him he is and reward appropriately.

Merlin is approximately 3 years, he was a rescue. His intentions as far as cats are is not good!

I just feel totally exasperated by him most days because a walk is such incredibly hard work it's like walking with a jack-in-a-box. As we speak I can feel the pain in my left bicep because of his lunging.

I think he gets so hyper he can't hear me and the only way to stop him behaving badly is literally an iron hold of the lead.

today has just been bad.

I am going to try that "calm" exercise when he is in the house - which surprisingly is where he mostly calm.

Not sure about Boxers but a lot of Bernese don't start to grow up till 3 years or older.

I dont know much about training him out of it but most of the Boxers we come across are as mad as a box of Frogs Whatever age they are I dont think they ever really grow up & calm down.

What does he do when off lead? I know that may sound a daft question but it is relevant.


Tilly is like this and I have to exercise using a mobility scooter so have to be careful with her or she is under the wheels. I find when off lead if I do very short training sessions she is better, she does run, she is half Greyhound and loves to chase the birds on the field but also I have found these very short training sessions help her a lot.

What are you walking him on? Really you need to be able to control him, Boxers are high energy dogs and seems to stay puppies for many years. You have taken him to training classes but what training do you do when out with him? I find with Tilly that it helps when I do short training sessions when out.

Tilly doesn't always hear me when she is hyper and on high alert, they are putting a new road surface down by me at the moment and I can't take her out because of how she is so I have to play in the garden with her to get rid of her excess energy, hopefully I will be able to get her out in the next few days. I know if I take her out with so much going on I will be in trouble, the machines are big and noisy, she will never cope with them.

What I have found takes the edge of her is Serene-um, she is still hyper but seems to be able to hear me better and the short training sessions are much better as well.

I have tried a lot with Tilly over the 7 years I have had her, she wasn't as bad until I moved home then she became really bad but is a lot better now. She is a very obedient girl with an excellent recall but if I don't keep her attention all that disappears. Even when she is running I can only let her run so far then have to call her.

Many things that he reacts to you will be a see before he does, someone's head coming towards you over a fence/hedge/wall, legs under a vehicle etc. you can then get him to focus on you better. Look for any problems that may arise and take action before he does so that he doesn't get the chance to react. This is hard work but eventually you get so used to doing it you forget what it was like before you started this.


Good luck with him.

Just a thought, how far away from you is Coventry? Marie Miller is based there and she is extremely good with dogs, she is on the same wave length as them.

When he's offlead we do a mixture of things - play ball or just let him run along snuffling in hedges. I sometimes finish off with some obedience training - I know it sounds silly but he hates getting his tummy wet so I can't ask him to do "downs" when the grass is wet.

He is extremely clever and picks up tricks and commands very quickly - but anything he learns goes out the windows when he's all hyped up.

I don't like getting my tummy wet either

I keep calling Tilly back, ask her to do something before giving her a treat. I don't do obedience, I try dance moves like a figure of 8 through my legs, touching my hand, throw a treat down in front of her and tell her to find it and on occasions to watch me. I try to keep being with me as fun while trying to exercise both her mentally and physically. I also have a long line on her which she drags.

If you have a garden you can put an agility course up, you don't need expensive equipment, brush handles on bricks or tins, an old sheet sewn onto a hooks hoop for a tunnel. The TTouch ground exercises Re also good.

Work on his mind, it will help him.

My good pal has an adult boxer cross. I'd say it's just like yours - a hyper nutcase when doing anything other than sleeping or just at home with her and her hubby (and has been out for a long walk).

They never put him on a lead to walk him because of this (I think this is a mistake) but they don't have kids, live opposite fields where he runs mad (and they never take him anywhere in the car) so I guess this is their solution.

However, when I visited last year with my little dog it made it quite obvious just how bad the problem of his totally uncontrolled behaviour was even outside in the garden. Not vicious but he WOULD NOT calm down and would NOT leave my dog alone. So much so he had to be shut in a room upstairs and subsequent visits by me were without my dog or we met in town without them both.

I'd met him the year before without my dog and he was what I'd describe as 'a nuisance' - kept barging about the room and plonking down on me and whacking his toys on my lap and getting underfoot.

So I don't know what the answer is! But I do know what you mean! Lovely dog, lovely looking dog, but big, powerful and a total embarrasment to his owner! I even felt embarrassed for her just watching.