Bonkers terrier

[BubblesPip]

I am having problems with training my 4.5 year old terrier. She’s a very hyper alert dog and seems to struggle with any sort of stimulation as it just seems to wind her up. For example, I do short, frequent training session during the day (she’s clicker trained) and it gets to the point that she’s repeatedly doing commands she expects, not what I’m asking for. For example, she’ll do sit, down, beg, spin in very quick succession. Then will start nipping and getting frustrated. So I have to make sure my toddler is well out of the way.
The same with giving her treat toys, puzzle games...it just winds her up to the point that she’ll start biting at her bed etc.
I’m not really sure what to do? Any dog trainers got any advice?

I'd try and make sure I wasn't rewarding the hyper behaviour by giving any response. Give the command and then wait until she does it calmly. We have a stair gate and my dogs go crazy at it when we come home. I stand at the gate and say nothing until they are both sitting calm then I open it. We have a strict rule that no one opens it or interacts with the dogs until the are calm. They pick it up quite quickly and now will very quickly sit. Similar with when are doing training etc.

How many hours of exercise is she getting per day? This is exactly the sort of thing that DDog (also a bonkers terrier, albeit a bit younger) would do when he wasn't getting enough physical exercise.

Now he's on
2x 15 minute comfort / sniffing walks and
1x 30min on lead sniffing + 45min off lead non stop ball throwing (winter weekday evenings) and
3-4 hours off lead walking and playing with other dogs (both weekend days)
He's much better - but if he doesn't get walked enough (e.g. when there was snow and he couldn't cope with the cold) he's back to his ADHD ankle biting ways again. A tired dog is a good dog; if you can't manage this much time/energy commitment a dog walker (or even trying out Borrow my Doggy) would be wise.

During the training sessions themselves, if he starts trying to anticipate commands I'll go back to basics and reward just for sit / down. If he goes into roll over or whatever he doesn't get the treat. Make sure he's still doing the correct command while he's being fed the treat - something soft / crumbly makes this easier. If he's being willfully disobedient I'll stop, turn around, cross my arms and stare at the ceiling. 10 seconds later he wants to know why he's being ignored and is trying to get my attention again.

Thank you for the advice!

She gets plenty of exercise:
20 minutes every morning and evening (on lead)
Then a 2 hour off lead walk most days.

I’m wary not to over-exercise, but aim to do more mental stimulation. But I’m not finding it enjoyable atm, as she is so hyper.

My terrier needs to dig. Taking him to the back field to let him sniff then dig when he thinks he's onto something really calms him down. I'm stood there for about 20 mins watching him sniff and dig in a frenzy but he absolutely loves it and is exhausted at the end of it. He gets more stimulation from this than a walk.

Haha Dancinggoat That’s funny! Terriers are mad aren’t they?! My girl has never been bothered about digging at all, the only terrier I’ve had that isn’t