My 8 month old Australian Shepherd-Collie has always been a very active pup. Cedric gets walked nearly every day, though not as much as he'd like, and I play fetch with him often. Nevertheless he will not settle down when in the house. From his earliest days he seems to associate being in the house with action, not rest. While he will lie down peacefully against our back door, as soon as he comes in he wants action. Even if leashed, he will not settle down. Often I will work with him on his sit, down, stay, find, commands, and he loves it. As long as we are doing something, he is fine. Otherwise he walks around in circles, chases the cat, jumps around, goes for all the "no-no's" and generally keeps moving until I put him out. The only time he sort of settles down is if I give him something to chew, like a pig ear. Once it's gone -- he is back up and wanting action. I don't want to sour him on his down stay by over using it while he is so young. Any ideas?
He is also much too enthusiastic about meeting people and other creatures on our walks, but that is another problem that we are working on...
