2 year old whippet still very ‘puppyish’

[bluetongue]

I have a beautiful and affectionate 2 year old whippet boy that is still very puppy like in his behaviour.

It’s lovely that he still goes crazy for his toys and is so bouncy but sometimes I simply find him exhausting.

I had a trainer to my house a couple of times when he was little and she said he was one of the most ‘busy’ puppies she’d every seen

Most other whippets his age I know are much calmer and I’ve told most are pretty settled by 2. I’ve even considered buying a house with a bigger garden just so he has more room to run around.

He also still chews things like a puppy. Today I only just managed to save another remote control from being destroyed after I forgot to put it out of reach while I had a shower. It still works but now has bite marks

Does anyone else have a crazy adult dog if so how do they deal with it%?

What is his daily routine? How many walks does he get and how long are they? How much off-lead time does he get? Does he get to play with other young dogs regularly?

I think I might have identified part of the problem in another thread I replied to Chips.

His off lead time has been limited in the last month. First he was injured at the park while playing with other dogs ( just an accident). Since then he hasn’t had much time off lead.

It’s also winter where I am at the moment so he isn’t getting walked as much during the week due to limited daylight.

I’m going to make sure he gets lots off lead time this weekend and try to up the walk time during the week.

It’s tricky finding suitable dogs for him to play with. He is very full on and has a habit of getting into the face of other dogs to get them to chase him and then wants to mouth them once they engage in play. He also doesn’t seem to pick up the signals that other dogs don’t want to play whippet style and will go back for more even if they snap at him. He gets put back on the lead at this point for his own safety!

Strangely when he goes to day care which is usually once every week they say his play style is fine and they’ve never had an issue with him.

Some sort of day training session might be good for him - it will work his brain and might help to tire him out. I swear my dog finds a long sit-stay just as tiring as a run because the effort of NOT moving is so huge!

It sounds like he's not getting enough exercise. A two year old dog needs a good walk everyday, either on/off lead. So, I'm afraid you need to need to take him out regardless of the fact that it's dark - it's not fair on your dog not to walk him properly. A big walk at the weekend won't compensate for insufficient walks during the week.

Our beagle is 16 months old now and he gets at least 90 minutes a day - ideally off-lead but sometimes on due to livestock or poor weather, and his behaviour visibly deteriorates if we can't walk him for as long as normal for some reason.

On days where you really can't manage a good walk, you need to switch it for something else. Chasing a ball in the garden, training, learning new tricks/commands, or playing "find it" and puzzle games will help too.

I do walk him (nearly) every day although probably not for long enough. Happy to take him out in the dark but it won’t be as long a walk as when it’s still light.

More exercise for both of us starts now (lord knows I need it too )

It needs to be daily and for at least a good hour if not more - doesn't have to be all at once, spread it over two walks if you want (or get a dog walker to take him out) but young dogs do need a fair bit of exercise and fresh air.

I find mine can be exhausted with a slow pavement walk full of sniffs too - especially if it's a walk where he has to sit to cross roads, wait while other people or dogs go past etc.

It's not enough to walk any dog "nearly" every day.

They need to be out for a proper walk at least twice for mental stimulation as well as physical.

blue it's hard when they are injured and on reduced exercise. Mine handles that very well but after a while I can tell his behaviour starts to go 'off'. That coupled with less walks probably just means he has more energy bottled up

As PP mentioned training is very tiring. We don't walk every day as I need to give him some 'off' days given the amount of physical exercise he gets at daycare. We do a mixture of chasing balls for a few minutes, sniffing out toys/treats and a few sessions of trick/obedience training. It doesn't seem much but he often needs a 'snooze' after the training.