[Luvs]

Originally Posted by lady bridget

But he seems overly depended on treat rewards. When he is in the house he is excited and hyper and it his hard to make him settle for long. I say settle and he does but shortly after he is up and running. He knows what the words mean and how to do it but he only does it till he gets a reward then shortly after he is on the move again.
Could this be he is just overly energetic and is not excersized enough and is just wanting to play??? Or is he just playing around with us and doing this to get treats??? He has a muzzel and when u lift it up and till him sternly "NO!LAY OR MUZZLE!" he calms down but im afraid this is more a thret than a solution.

When you give him a command you need to make sure that you are in a position to enforce it. If you tell him to "settle" make sure he is on a leash and have him lay next to you. That way when he tries to get up you can have him lay down again before he gets away from you. You will need to sit there and watch him until he knows that you mean what you say.

Originally Posted by lady bridget

on another note when is it to late to take classes??? My thought is never but... I just want to check. Im saving for classes for him and have planned "play dates" to better socialize him with other animals. Am I on the right track??? Would these classes also help him except the verbal and physical praise better???

Sorry for all the questions, I think I know most answers but you can never be to sure.

It is never too late to start taking classes. No matter how old a dog is or how far into training they are, there is always something to be gained from taking classes
I would be careful about setting up play dates with other dogs unless you know the owners and dogs really well. How does he get along with other dogs? If you do decide to let him have play dates, be very careful introducing him to other males, especially if they are intact. He doesn't have to play with other dogs to be happy.