I have an 18 month Weim dog and rather than starting to calm down (slightly), he seems to be getting more hyper and scatty by the day.  Every morning I get woken early by his whines and barking for me to get up and I've tried everything to stop this, but nothing works, even though my hubby has already let him out.  He also sometimes still wets his bed (had a real prob with this until he was 10 mths or so).  I was wondering if getting him neutered would calm him down, or should I leave him another 6 months or so.  His mum calmed down a lot by 18 mths, but not sure if males are different.  He can be a real handful as he is a strong dog and now I'm 6 months pregnant I can't have him charging about the place, as he nearly knocked me off my feet this morning.  Any advise on neutering?

How much exercise and training time are you managing to give him each day?

Castration would only help if the behaviours were hormonally driven ones, such as scent marking or roaming in search of a mate, though.

one person's hyper is another person's "full of beans".

The time between 18 months and 3 years old is the most challenging time with a male weimaraner (or in fact children).  A Male is not "finished" until at least 3 if not older.

What are you feeding?

How much mental and physical exercise is he getting and what will he be getting when the baby arrives?

Weims are normally extremely fastidious dogs and are extremely clean.  Have you had him checked out by a vet for a bladder infection etc?

Neutering has no effect on strength, liveliness, working ability etc.

Male children or female ;-)

I would guess female and after 3 it doesn't get any better, 4 is just as bad :-( 

I think as a dog becomes older they do calm down, give it another six months and see how he goes he is only still young.  I dont think castration would help as others have said.  Maybe longer walks might calm him down.  good luck with him anyway and your pregnancy.

Regards Frank

In our experience with all breeds look at the protein content of the food you are feeding. Also the brain work not just the exercise that you are giving him. Castration doesn't neccessarily calm dogs down. What does your vet suggest? Do you go to training classes with him? When he barks after being let out in the morning what do you do with him? Is he put back to bed or does anyone do any interacting with him for awhile? After all he has been asleep all night, hopefully, and you are asking a lot of him to settle again without something to keep him occupied. You could make a tape of household noises to lull him into a false sense of security, ie hoover going upstairs or in another room so that he thinks you are still around but busy. :-) Also give him a stuffed bone or kong to keep him quiet. Use cream cheese or peanut butter, the smooth sort.

I would give him a big knuckle bone when you let him back in,in the mornings,this should keep him occupied for a wee while until you are ready to get up OR you could get up and take him a for a much needed walk,as someone else mentioned it is alot to ask of a high energy breed such as the weim to settle down and sleep again after being asleep all night.

These dogs need masses of exercise,how much is he getting per day and is it everyday??

Thanks for all your responses.  Both dogs get 3 long walks a day with a lot of off-lead exercise and playing, as I am aware of how much energy this type of dog has.  He goes to training class every week.  Once he is up in the morning, he gets his walk and then playtime for about an hour before I go to work.  He is walked at lunchtime and then my husband does the longest walk in the afternoon and from mid-afternoon there is always someone there for him and his mum.  So they are kept active physically and mentally.  He's been checked by the vet and doesn't have any infections.

I finish work in 8 weeks, and although the baby will be along soon after, I am hoping to get into a pattern of regular walks with the baby and dogs, so that they will be getting more attention and exercise than before, to see if this helps, but I have to strike a fine balance so the situation won't be worse by the time I go back to work.

jumbuck or anyone else for that matter,what would you say is the highest and lowest possible intake of protein a dog should have to make them less hyper if indeed it is the case with food?

Mark

In our experience with various breeds, when the protein has been lowered on various ages of dogs, the better the learning and the less hyper they are. All puppies and some breeds, have a high energy drive so giving them more protein than is needed can add to the energy levels. We have found that lowering to not less than 20% in some cases has helped. The food must be of a good quality, dry complete food with not too many colourants in it, also not a lot of maize products. So, in theory a meat and veg/pasta/rice diet is sometimes the better option. When we went to a seminar by Barbara Sykes she did say that if there was a tendency towards aggressiveness then lowering the protein level down to as little as possible would, in some cases help. Even to the extent of just feeding a mixer biscuit (which we know can be as low as about 11%) but if the owner was worried about vitamins and minerals then to give a supplement to go with this.
In some cases the puppy/dog has changed over night others have taken a little longer.

Thanks for explaining that jumbuck,I did start another thread and I am seriously thinking about going over to a raw diet with my rottie Xaph. It would seem that lowering the protein levels in most cases calms the dog down a bit.I dont know much about raw feeding and protein levels but Im willing to learn

Mark

Forgot to ask when you say lowering do you mean cutting the food down? I feed Xaph twice a day but would be a bit inclined not to due to weight loss.Any thoughts?

Mark

No not the amount, just the protein level. Prize Choice do lots of different raw meats with protein content on package. They do have a website. I will look it out for you. www.prizechoice.co.uk lots of info on there.