I need help. I have a 7 year old toy poodle who just has so much energy. She absolutely REFUSES to settle down ever. I have tried everything and I’m getting to the end of my rope. She just wants to play fetch 24/7. During the day I’m happy to play with her. I also make sure to take her on at least one long walk a day (30-45 minutes), some days I can’t due to work or class but majority of days I am able to. I will also play fetch with her for upwards of 7 hours a day. I also try to mentally stimulate her as well, I’m a broke college student so I can’t afford all the treat puzzles and stuff like that but I will DIY them or freeze kongs for her. Another issue I have is the way she wants to play fetch. She doesn’t bring me the toy very often, normally she’ll put them in an object (basket, my boots, etc.) that she can’t get it back out of and then proceeds to scratch at it and bark until I get up and get it for her. When she does this I won’t throw it, I’ll sit back down on the couch or wherever I am and wait until she comes to me to throw it. The only time she consistently brings me the toy is if I sit on the floor. If this persists I’ll put her in “time out” for 10 minutes or so. I don’t have space for a crate so I’ll put her in my room without the toy until she stops scratching/barking. She typically has to go in time out 3+ times a day. If I hide the toy she will not stop looking for it. It’s borderline neurotic her behavior when it comes to playing fetch. And it NEVER stops. She genuinely wants to play 24/7. Every household task takes me twice the time because I have constantly stop to throw her toy otherwise she’ll just bark and scratch. I can’t sit down and do homework because I have to get up every 5 minutes to get her toy. She keeps me up until 2am wanting to play while I try to get her to settle. I maybe get 1-2 hours of peace during the day when she takes a nap. I’m getting to the end of my rope and i don’t know what to do at this point. I can’t get anything done and it just never ends. I tried putting her on Prozac for over a year and that didn’t help at all. She has trazodone but even when I give her the max recommended dose it doesn’t calm her down or make her tired. Also I’m home most of the day everyday. I only have class 2 days a week for about 2 hours and I only work 2-3 days a week for 5-6 hours. Today for instance I was with her all day. Sat on the floor with her for 3 hours and played fetch. Otherwise I played fetch with her while I did chores from 10am-8pm. She settled for a bit after I gave her a frozen Kong and now she’s back at. Any advice at all please I don’t know how to correct these behaviors, she doesn’t respond to anything I try.
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