Hello!
My name is Maria and this is my first time posting. We have a little active guy named Max. He is our crack dog, because he's so energetic! Everytime any of us go to pet him, he wants to bite us. Not hard, just playfully.
Max is still a puppy. He is only 9 months old. I'm not familiar with the breed and was wondering are they always like this? Do they mellow out?
Thank you in advance for any guidance!
Maria
They are really an energetic dog. I have had 4 of them through the years and only one ever became dosal. He was a very loving and calm dog after he passed the puppy stage. The new one I have is WILD. Hoping to calm him down .
Bostons are often very energetic dogs. They do tend to get calmer with age, but making sure they have plenty of constructive outlets for their energy is always a good idea.
Our youngest, Chloe, is the very definition of high energy. Over the years, I've found that as long as we give her some time to get some good exercise she becomes a much more balanced dog. When I get home from work, the first 15-30 minutes of my time is spent playing frisbee with her and Duke.
See these videos:As for the playful biting...When you play with Max, do you often use your hands to do so? Seems he might think of your hands as a toy. He may just be so full of unexpended energy and his outlet is to play at any opportunity.
our bt is one year old and a mad dog. he is always busy. he gets really exited with his football, tennisball, squieky toys and everything else wat you can think of . later in the evening he settles down. but if hij has used up his energy he wil have gained it again after an hour, then we can start again.......... .
We have found that Daisy Mae, (DM, as we like to call her), gets a bit frenetic as she gets sleeps late in the evening, almost spastic! She runs and won't listen and behaves badly...
This is ALWAYS accompanied by the red eyes of an exhausting day. Soooo, we put her in her crate and she nests for a bout five minutes then is down for the night... When we go to bed, we let her out to go potty then its off to bed for all of us!!
Crazy energy is the name of the game with BTs. I knew before I got Abbey that they were high energy but they are even more energetic than I expected. I'm actually not complaining though... I love it. Their personally is very similar to mine. Always wanting to stay busy and having fun. Both of my girls are 4 years old. Abbey has settled down but she was puppy energy til she was at least 3 yrs old. Daisy Mae is still one crazy girl that would play 20 hrs out of 24 if you let her. I have to take her favorite toy from her sometimes just b/c she's so into playing that she starts to get too hot. I don't want her overheating so I have to hide the toys for a little bit. Like everyone else said just give Max lots of positive ways to burn his energy. Unfortunately, I believe that this is how most Bostons end up at the shelter. I think between them being hard to potty train and them having such crazy energy that they just are too much for some people and get dropped off at a shelter. I'm thankful that I recused Daisy Mae from a local shelter b/c she is the most amazing dog! Keep him busy and you'll be OK.**Lots of play and toys**
Our baby was the same but we found chew toys kept his attention for long periods while we took a break and as he got older and he settled down the chew toys and rawhide bones are his timeout we started with appropriate sized rawhide bones and once he started to pull them apart in the first couple of days we got the ones meant for a Rottweiller size dog he looks funny dragging it around but it keeps him busy for a month at a time
I agree that people often don't know what they are getting themselves into with the Boston breed. That is why it is so important to do research on the breed to find out if their energy levels/needs will match with your family. I did lots of research and bought 2 BT books before even fully deciding on the breed. I knew going into they were very hard to housetrain and that they have crazy amounts of energy. We also talked to a trainer that I knew through mutual friends about the breed and she gave me the contact information for someone who owned 2 BT's so I could talk to her about the breed/her experiences. We made sure to pick a puppy that had a lower energy which is also why it's VERY important to meet your puppy a few times before actually getting that puppy. Breeders often know pretty quick which of their puppies have high energy, which one's medium etc. We met our pups litter of puppies and spent a lot of time with them before we put down our deposit. Simon was the only puppy still available so we didn't have much of a choice but we weren't going to make the decision if he wasn't right for our family. We would have just waited for another litter in the future. But Simon was the perfect match for our family. He loved to cuddle and wasn't high energy. He's medium energy and he loves to cuddle and has been like that since we got him at 9 weeks. Every night and morning I cuddle with Simon for a few hours before we play. He loves it!
It's so important to research the breed of dog to ensure they will fit in with your family. It's look people who get the breeds that are meant for herding and being extremely active and wondering why the dog is destroying things and getting into trouble and never settling down. Well they need A TON of exercise. They are herding dogs! They are meant to run and run and run! You can't just get a dog becuase it's cute. The most important part is if the breed fits in with your family/lifestyle.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Wow