Jet is now 8 1/2 months old, and has learned so many tricks and is doing so well. But for one thing: she absolutely positively cannot sit down calmly. Doesn't matter if I've had her out all day long on a Saturday, from 6am on, if I try to sit her down on a dog bed or the sofa in the evening she is a whirling dervish. Are there ways I can help her calm down; or will she grow out of it? I love her so, but I do wish she could occasionally simply sit with me.

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Dear Wendy, just an article that comes to mind after reading your post. Mind though that I don't even own a dog yet myself, and maybe this is even only future music. However it sounds very useful to me and I hope it will be of use to you.

http://www.alldogsgym.com/miscellaneous/articles/miscellaneous/over...


Thanks so much to everybody for sharing your experiences. I feel much reassured and have more ideas thanks to you all!

Jeli is a year and a half and she hasn't slowed down much yet. She still gets into a lot of mischief if left unattended. If we want a quiet evening I usually give her a new bone to chew on. That will usually get us through a tv show. I do lots of training- tricks, obedience, herding, and tracking. It seems that tracking tires her out the most. I think it is an extremely mental exercise for them, which is a great way to burn off physical and mental energy.

Gible has been very much the same way, hes one now, he just kind of hit a point recently where he can very much be calm, I can cuddle him, and move him from the couch to his actual bed (maybe so he'll choose to sleep there from time to time :P) and he won't budge or even bat an eye. I've gotten him used to terms like nap-time, bed-time, relax, to start settling down.

I try not to use bedtime till it actually is, because he always looks very sad when i say it. xP

Surprisingly, Jet loves going to the crate at bedtime, I'm sure because I give her a little kong filled with kong creamy treat: the moment she sees the creamy treat can come out, she runs straight into the crate and waits;) And I don't hear a peep out of her until I get her out of the crate in the morning!

Agility is a great way to exercise both mentally and physically.  There are some things you wouldn't want to do with a pup that age, but many"pre-agility" type exercises you can do including "watch me" type games, wobble boards, hoops and many others.

We're about to have our yard landscaped, but my husband keeps nixing my ideas of turning it into a dog agility run hah;)

My corgi Gus calmed down a great deal around a year and a half, he was pretty energetic even for a puppy. He was a "return" to the breeder at 4 months and sometimes I think maybe that is why he was returned. Now he spends his days chewing his bones and sleeping. I wouldn't trade him for the world, his old owners loss, my gain  :) Your pup will calm down in time!

Apart from expecting your boy to mature and grow out of it I think you should also provide a lot of exercise and discipline. The discipline part is when most people find it the most difficult and some people even think that discipline hurts a dog, absurd! Well I am not asking you to do all Cesar Millan but his method of keeping calm and assertive energy is totally spot on. 

So 4 months old Mic now is sleeps in my bedroom and if she makes noise with her squeaky toy I will just stand up, stare at her eyes and 'shhh' her with very calm and authoritative tone and she just quites down. Its the same thing with playing time, if I feel like it is a time out I just ask her to drop the toys and store them back.

The are a lot of things that you can do to teach your boy to behave calmly. Before my girl gets to eat, I will put a food in front of her and ask her to wait for around 1-2 minutes until she is in down position and calm. Before our routine morning walk she has to sit in front of the door calmly before she gets to get out. During a walk I am training her not to get distracted with other people and dogs with leash correction and treat so she can always relate that walking calmly means food. Also I never pet her when she is excited as it will just nurture the excitement, I only do it when she is calm. 

Discipline does not hurt your dog, neither it suppresses his creativity. Creativity means playing tricks, agility, fetch, etc, not destroying furniture, barking incessantly, or biting. Dog needs exercise and discipline so that he can become good companion. Hope this helps!

All 3 of mine were like that as puppies. Mine all did eventually calm down and can sit with me quietly while I read or watch tv. But for mine this was after adolescence before they were calm enough to do those things. They were and are obedient, but very busy playing with one another, with toys, or bone. Sounds like Jet is in adolescence right now. Keep training him and give it some time.

Hmmm I do not own a corgi yet so I am not sure if this works but I was planning to tire my corgi out by giving him puzzle chew toys that will dispense food (of course plus the dail), I imagined it will tire him out and his mind too. I would like to know how others think about this idea, if it works or not.

Oh I'm ordering one of those too!

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