my boxer is super hyper outside.

[jerseyjef]

my boxer is 9 months old and sometimes when we take him outside to do his business or for a walk around the neighborhood he decides instead to run around like a lunatic in circles. sometimes before he does his business, sometimes after, sometimes for no reason. i dont know what triggers it but as comical as it appears it truly is annoying and difficult when you are in the middle of the sidewalk and trying to control him on a leash with traffic a few feet away. we have had obedience training and the trainer recommended squirting him with a water bottle if he gets out of control outside. doesnt always work however. it is to the point where i am the only one in my house that can control him when he goes into this mode because i am the only one strong enough to get him to stop running around. we tell him to stop, to sit, etc...but he just continues to run around. also sometimes when we walk him and are on our way back to the house he will suddenly decide to turn around at whomever is walking him and jump up and attack...not a vicious or threatening attack but he does jump up and will nip at clothing if he can get it. any suggestions??

 

[ehayes21]

That would be a "boxer burn" and yes, they are hilarious - not so much when you are the one attached to the other end of the leash, though! What I would suggest is completely stop walking, turn your head up and observe the sky until he stops. What you are doing is totally ignoring this behavior - once he realizes that his silliness on the leash is not going to be noticed nor is it going to be rewarded by continuing the walk, he'll stop. Only when he is still and the leash is loose do you continue walking. He'll get the picture after being ignored a few times. As far as your trips back to the house - I would turn away and ignore him as well - make circles if you have to with your head turned up until he stops, once he's quiet continue. I would ditch the spray bottle too - it's not working, right? And the only thing you may be teaching him is a possible new game - most boxers love water. Ultimately what you need to do is teach him how to walk nicely on a leash - which will estinguish the issues you are having now. Here are two good training articles that you might want to start with:

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002c/llw.htm
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/pulling.htm

Good luck, keep us posted!

 

[sonomagirl]

We call it the "boxer burnout". Our girl incorporates the burnout with a couple of spins here and there. It's hilarious and yes, they can be completely out of energy and all of a sudden - zoom!! The cool weather does it to our girl too. I'm sorry, I have no advice. You're not alone though -my girl is our first boxer and I thought she was crazy the first couple of times she did it. Good luck!

 

[Escher_fan]

Mya has only done it in the house, not outside yet. I don't mind too much, it gets her tired and she stays out of trouble for a little bit!

A tired boxer is better behaved!!

 

[tianthai]

Mine is 8 months old and does the same thing, he just wants to tell me how happy he is. I also use the web www.clickersolutions.com for my dog training. It eventually works beautifully but it is time consuming and you need to be patient.
Good luck!

 

[Touzy]

Boxer Burns around the yard are just plain healthy and so much fun to watch as long as you are out of the way. When Shae's best friend Rocky comes over we move out of the way and grab onto something solid cause we know they are going to knock somebody down.

Shaemus was doing the same thing on walks and it was making me crazy!!
but we have a routine now and it works very very well. I use one of the heavy duty retracting leashes with him. At first, when we went for walks it is the same path everytime. I let him get a little ahead but when he started to get goofy I would pull him back and keep him close to me. On the way out he is pretty good but on the way back he wants to start jumping and running. I pull him in close and say NOT YET, NOT YET.. and he stops . (he doesn't WANT to.. but he does) but when we get on our block.. I let him have all the fun he wants. My block neighbors must think I have no control over this dog! He leaps and jumps and twists and gallops back and forth across the sidwalk and through yards... but he is having so much fun.
So.. he has basically learned that if he is a good boy on his walk he can play on our block. He knows how long the lead is and we don't usually have a problem. If he does pull a little hard I say "OW!!" and he drops or sits right away.... "sorry mom" until I say ok... But if you are going to do this.. grin like a fool and move your arm around so people know you are playing.
Oh the silliness we put up with!!