Spaniel impossible after a walk

[SpanielsMatter]

I have a rehomed English Springer Spaniel staying with us, he’s a very clever teenage boy. I’ve successfully put in some boundaries and he is responding nicely, he is a bit mouthy for my liking but we are working on this.

However, he has at least 2 walks, mostly off lead and swim a day totalling about 3.5-4 hours. The issue is that he absolutely bonkers for hours after exercise, zooming about, won’t settle, annoys our other ( elderly) dog. Constantly chews his toys etc… and the not settling lasts for hours. I’ve had spaniels ( show line) before and cannot work out what I am doing wrong. We do some training on top of walks which he is responding to. He is desexed, in good health.

He has been rehomed with us temporarily and we may very well be his last chance. He is honestly creating chaos in a home that is set up, used to and welcomes dogs, his previous owners seem perplexed but I can get literally nothing done.

I have contacted a professional but it will take a month before a session can be booked and I need to get some work done in the interim/ if he stays.

Any ideas, very much appreciated.

My spaniel cross still does this sometimes and he's 6.

With him it is because he is over tired and just wants his dinner and to go to bed, but if DD is still up and there is lots of activity going on he won't settle until she is in bed, then he's out for the count. Other times he'll take himself upstairs and fall asleep on our bed and we won't see him for hours.

Does your dog have somewhere far away from everyone else where he can sleep?

@Stormydayagain yes he does, it’s a quiet household anyway, no kids or teens. 1 other quiet adult and an elderly dog who spends most of her time asleep on the sofa or being cuddled by DH.

He has constant access to his crate, 3 dog baskets, 1 sofa. I did wonder about possibly borrowing another crate and having that in the drawing room? Although he will go on the baskets when asked, he doesn’t seem to ‘get’ them or what they are for but he’s seen the other dog asleep on them, chilling etc…

Oh and he also over drinks, we have washing up bowls out in 3 places and I’ve had to take them away and just fill 1 with ice to slow him down .. and it’s not hot yet in fact far from it.

Behaviourists often recommend 2 weeks without walks as a cortisol break to calm hyperactive dogs. It might sound counter intuitive but it worked for my dog. Lots of licky mats, scent games in the house but no walks outside... Try it for a few days? He sounds completely overstimulated and that is a lot of walking for a young dog.

You could try search and rescue groups? My dog is training in cadaver search, I do most of the training after being taught by an experienced professional. She’s now a calm (ish) dog for a young spaniel. Her brain has an outlet. Hopefully you can try something similar as there’s no gun dog training near you? Your dog needs to work xx

By chance in the vets the other week I was discussing one of our dogs seemingly inability to switch off. I was telling her how I could throw the ball for him to fetch until the cows came home, and unfortunately this culminated in him hurting his back.

One of the veterinary’s nurses had heard from a dog trainer that the dogs adrenaline is pumping for days after their exercise, therefore they never fully rest and are always hyper.

I’ve now downsized the amount of ball time and he is responding so much better and actually chilling out more, thank gawd.

Give it a try and reduce the amount of exercise, hopefully it works for you.

@Snippit he is obsessed by balls, the only time he has a ball is on a walk.

Lots here to think about and action. I really didn’t appreciate the difference between show line and working ( think he is def working) he also rarely seems to sleep. I was more concerned he might be euthanised and just thought ‘Oh, young spaniel, we have been here before.’ Oh how wrong was I?

This also serves me right, I’ve always side eyed ppl saying their dogs/ puppies won’t calm down and put it down to a lack of exercise etc… this lovely dog has well and truly put me back in my box and served a lesson in humility spaniel style 😉.

Really appreciate all the suggestions and he will as well, it cannot be a lovely life being so wired all the time and despite being no expert we really try to ensure our dogs have a lovely life … I need to think harder and do better for this boy though.

I have a 3 year old springer and he has two modes, asleep or full throttle. He’s from a good working line and his parents are champion gun dogs. The breeder (also an accredited gun dog trainer) warned us about over exercising. He said it was more important to do brain work and limit the exercise - on a shoot they have to sit around a lot. The book he recommended was ‘the pet gun dog’. Our dog now knows when it’s quite time. We turn the radio on ( he loves radio 4) and tell him to go to bed. All whining, zoomies, scratching is ignored. He now settles very quickly. As for beds, our dog use to shred beds in days. The only one that has lasted is an omlet topology bed. It’s quite expensive but has lasted https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/dog_products/luxury-dog-beds-topology-uk/

My dog trainder does Tellington Touch on dogs and it helps them settle. There is one called something like cloud leapord that calms my dog right down

Two different spaniel owners have made similar comments to me in the last few days. Both their dogs have benefited from less exercise and more quiet walking on the lead. I have a working springer and would never do as much exercise as you are doing. He sounds greatly over-stimulated and I would reduce the exercise.

Today I haven’t walked him, he is better. We’ve started initial scent work in the house, it’s torrential rain here and he appears not to like having wet paws.

I’ve again attempted some on lead training, with not much success ( managed to make my old spaniel walk nicely but methods used for my old dog don’t touch the sides with this one).

He went and sat by the car in the garage and cried to get in, I distracted him.

He’s had an enormous couple of weeks, from his perspective just removed from those he adored, brought here, met new dog took a few days of working out she wasn’t a threat, gradually we opened up the house to him, he hates his crate so I will look at another alternative, thank you @50fedup not sure we can get those beds here but there must be something similar.

Yes, @muddyford I agree with the consensus here that I’ve wound him up a treat with hours and hours of walking, running, retrieving and swimming. I will look up what you suggest.

He is used to suburban city life, and now has access to miles of pristine beaches, hills, rivers etc plus I’m extremely fortunate in that I only work part time as a hobby and with the exception of DH hospital appointments we are home all the time. We do need to get him settled, he’s currently a danger to DH who has mobility issues because when zoomies kicks in the ears turn off.

Everyone has been so kind and helpful, thank you, I was worried I’d get my proverbial handed to me. I am desperate for this placement with us to work permanently or he will be euthanised. There are a lack of shelters and homes without youngsters/ space/ time etc willing to take him on are very few and far between.

@SpanielsMatter honestly you are doing amazingly with him, your posts show just how much you care and want to help.

Also springers are a bloody pain on the lead, it’s still something we struggle with and I’ve been training mine since day 1!! So really really don’t beat yourself up about that one x

Good update op!

He sounds very like my dog (not a Springer but also a gun dog). He also had a difficult start and honestly I think it’s an unfortunate combination of that and inbuilt breed traits. Mine can’t ‘settle’ on command, despite classes and behaviourist input from week one. He’ll pretend, but his brain is always on red alert - one of my friends once described him as ‘always at 100’. What he finds most relaxing is if I’m quietly moving around, but ignoring him - folding washing is VERY soothing, apparently, or weeding the garden. Scent work has been very good for him, and impulse control type training. He has got gradually calmer and easier to live with (it’s been six years, and in the last few weeks he’s started choosing to lie on a blanket on the floor. Every previous bed was enthusiastically shredded, including at training - we had to use a towel and remove it when he got overexcited.) It just took time eleventy billion hours of trying to be as calm and consistent as possible.

It breaks my heart to see how many (predominantly young, male) spaniels there are needing homes and so you are doing an amazing thing by trying to give him the opportunity to show you how amazing he can be.

Maybe have a little look at the spaniel guru on Instagram for some ideas and online courses if you aren’t in the UK. I am also a big fan of Susan Garrett - loads of free resources and her podcast Shaped by Dog (also on YouTube) has loads of science based gameified ideas. There is one to teach a relaxation protocol.

Scentwork is amazing and he is bound to love it. Dropping and hiding balls rather than throwing them, for example, will keep him busy but without the high arousal of ball throwing and chasing. We had several months of on lead only activity last year after a injury which was enough to drive us all completely and utterly bananas, so I had to get quite creative in tiring out my spanner’s brain with minimal exercise and learning tricks.

One fun thing we did was teach a nose target on my phone and then gradually extended it out for him to ‘find my phone’ in the house and then on a walk. It remains his favourite game. Best of luck - you can both do this! Spaniels are the best - but I am unashamedly biased :)