If you have an over-excited dog or one that appears hyper, the problem could be determined as a result of lack of stimulation or boredom. The best way to deal with this issue is by first analyzing your level of interaction with your dog and the type of activities your dog engages in daily.
You can try the following simple techniques at home in an attempt to calm down your hyperactive dog.
7 Most Effective Methods on How to Calm Down a Dog
Ignore Dog's Hyper Behavior
Dogs wish to be given attention. Paying attention to your dog's hyper behaviors during the dog's outbursts simply reinforces the very hyper behaviors you wish to eliminate. When next you see your dog jumping all over you or nipping at you excitedly, try this: no talk, no touch, no eye-to-eye contact, and see how it goes. You will be surprised at how fast the dog would settle down.
Create a New Routine
Hyperactivity is mostly due to insecurity on the part of the dog. This is most applicable to dogs that were adopted who keeps moving from one home to another and who have not had any good structure in their lives. Dogs live by routines. Creating new routines helps your dog learn what to expect at all times and can help calm the dog's nerves. A routine might be something like:
Early morning: a walk, breakfast, games, a few hours inside the house while people are in school or at work.
Afternoon: Anyone, either a dog walker or owner, comes in to bring out the dog, walk him around, and play games with him.
Evening: Family gather for dinner, the dog joins in the dinner, and then goes for a walk
There must not be some detailed schedule on how each day should go, but maintaining a consistent daily life can be a positive force in the life of your dog.
Engage the Dog in Daily Obedience Training
You can join some obedience training class for hyper dogs or buy a powerful reinforcement training book for dogs. Then map out 10-15 minutes for a training session with the dog, as many times as possible during the day.
This will go a long way in helping you become an established pack leader, improve your relationship with your dog, exercise your dog's mind, and give you some very effective tools for controlling him in your house.
Create a Task for the Dog
Creating a task to keep the dog busy can be quite helpful. Dogs hyperactivity can be due to both psychological and physical needs. Making a task for your dog removes the dog's hyperactive behavior and channeling the dog's energy to something else. For example, giving your dog a backpack will make the dog focus on what he is carrying and lose interest in the movement of squirrels and other such things.
Organize Play Times Between Your Dog and a Neighbor's Dog
Organizing play times between your hyper dog and other dogs remains one of the best techniques you can ever find on how to calm down a dog. You can bring social dogs over to your home to engage in one-on-one games with your own dog.
Some other possibilities to consider are dog daycare centers, dog enclosed parks, etc. Daycare centers are always more preferable because they often screen the dog before admitting him, which helps them get more social dogs at all times. Additionally, a suitable daycare has well-supervised dog playgroups, with good size and energy structure, which makes things a whole lot safer.
Play Games
Some dogs can play exciting games for several hours. Engage your dog in an exciting chasing game. You can purchase some toys that look like rodents and have the dog running after them. Sporting activities for dogs such as scenting, Flyball, Rally-O and agility are some common options you can select from. Add some kibble in some food puzzles to enable the dog stay active during meals as she attempts cracking codes on different toys.
Try Out Aromatherapy
Keep in mind the fact that dogs are designed to experience the world through smell and scents. Just like lavender is said to help humans to relax, a very soothing smell can also help calm your pet down. You can also choose Roman Chamomile essential oil to calm down your dog. So for how to calm down a dog, you can consult your vet to learn more scents that would be most comforting for your dog and which dispersal techniques would soothe him the most.
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