Helpful Tips For Calming Your Hyperactive Dog

Is your dog a bundle of bubbling energy?

Do you feel like you’ve survived a tornado every time you come back home from a walk?

Does your dog bark uncontrollably like the world is about to end?

Well, Congratulations! It looks like you’re blessed with a hyperactive dog!

Dogs are extremely excited and playful creatures. But there’s definitely a time and place for everything. You need to be able to take your dog out to society without overwhelming other people.

This can be quite difficult when your adorable dog is out wreaking havoc in public places.

Don’t worry though, because I have a lot of tips that will help you out. So, keep on reading to:

Find out how you can calm your hyperactive dog

1. Exercise the Energy Away

Dogs have a lot of energy, which is why they’re so hyper. When they have no outlet for this energy, making them behave in social events is an impossible task.

The best way to keep all their pent-up energy under control is to make them exercise regularly. Simply taking your dog on daily walks will turn it into a much calmer creature.

However, if you’re already walking your dog regularly and it’s still hyperactive, you’re probably not tiring it out enough.

In that case, you should definitely consider extending those 30-minute walks to hour-long walks.

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2. Keep Your Dog Distracted

Giving your dog something to do will redirect its energy. For example, when you’re taking your dog on a walk, give it a backpack to carry.

Managing the added weight will distract your dog from all the frolicking squirrels, waiting to be chased.

Also, always keep a toy your dog loves at hand. Just seeing something they love might be comforting during a stressful situation, or distract them from creating a scene.

3. DAP Diffusers

It’s amazing where technology has come today. An example of that is pheromone diffusers. Pheromones are basically the chemicals that a mother dog gives off, which makes puppies feel safe and calm.

Luckily, there’s also a synthetic version of this very chemical called Dog Appeasing Pheromones (DAPs), available in markets.

All you have to do is attach the diffuser to your dog’s collar or plug it into a room and watch the calmness spread.

4. Collars Can Do Wonders

We all know how difficult it is to handle a hyperactive dog on a leash. When outside, dogs seem to have their own ideas about where we should go, and proceed with all their strength to drag us along with them.

Well, you don’t have to suffer anymore because there are some really cool collars, specially designed to prevent your dog from pulling.

You’ll also be surprised to know that dog collars don’t just help with controlling movement.

You know how some dogs can go into an unstoppable barking frenzy that makes it impossible for you to take them out in public? Well, that’s where anti-barking collars come to the rescue!

These collars detect your dog’s barking and send a signal or stimulus to make them stop making noise. And no, don’t worry, this does not harm your dog in any way.

It merely startles the dog and acts as a behavior corrective mechanism. So, investing in a collar would be a good way to get your dog to behave.

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5. Motivation with Treats

Everybody needs a little motivation to learn things. So why would dogs be an exception?

If you want your dog to do something, the only way to make it comply is by providing treats. Not just ordinary treats though- something your dog will actually want to work for!

However, make sure these treats are healthy, and not given too frequently, or your dog will end up gaining weight. The best way to do this is to break one treat into many small pieces.

6. Keep Your Energy in Check

Whatever energy you portray is reflected onto your dog. Just as a baby copies what you do, dogs have their own way of copying your behavior too.

When you’re feeling anxious or angry, your tone of voice and your body posture changes. And dogs can sense these changes.

Our behavior ends up making them anxious, which is why they start barking. For example, if you yell during a thunderstorm or scary movie, your dog will associate it with something negative as well.

So if you want your dog to stay calm, you’ve got to stay calm as well!

7. Thundershirts

A Thundershirt is a pretty handy tool for calming your dog. It’s basically a shirt that applies pressure to calm dogs down.

It’s like swaddling babies to make them feel safe and secure. Dogs tend to suffer from a lot of anxiety and these gentle squeezes can actually make them feel a lot better.

8. Soothing Smells

After a long stressful day, the smell of candles brings a sense of calm to the home. This is not only soothing for us humans, but for dogs as well.

You never know, perhaps the smell of lavender will turn your whirlwind of a dog into a peaceful little fluff ball!

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9. Play Calming Music

This may sound funny, but some dog owners swear by this method. Try playing classical music or any type of music and watch out for your dog’s reaction.

You might be surprised to find that your dog is a classical music connoisseur and calms down significantly when listening to some Bach.

If not Bach, it may even like Coldplay. There’s really no harm in trying, so go and give it a go!

10. Don’t Pay Attention

If your dog is being more hyper than usual, it probably wants some attention. So if you react to it, you’ll just be encouraging your dog to behave this way every time it wants something.

Whenever your dog is jumping or being overactive, no matter how difficult it is, try ignoring it. This means no speaking to your dog, no petting its soft fur and not even looking at its cute face.

Trust me, it’ll soon realize all this is pointless and go back to behaving normally.

11. Medication

If nothing else works, vets sometimes suggest medication for stressful situations. A calming milk protein supplement in the form of a tablet is usually prescribed twice every day.

This works great for situations like kennel stays and vet visits. But there are also other medications that are used to treat behavior problems in dogs.

Make sure to consult with a vet before using any of these medications because each dog will have different requirements.

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Final Thoughts

Now that you’ve read the entire article, I’m sure you’ll be able to keep your dog calm. Just keep in mind that you’ve got to give it some time to adjust. Also, train it with patience.

Remember, practice makes perfect! The more you train your dog and reprimand it, the better behaved it’ll be. However, you’ve also got to expose your dog to stressful situations carefully and not force it into anything.

So, go on and start making these changes, and watch your dog turn from a restless canine into a peaceful and manageable pooch!

 

Author Bio: Shawn is a content writer at FeedFond. He’s a doting father not only to his two children but also to his two Golden Retrievers. Check out more of his articles at FeedFond.com.