All dogs are created equal, but certain dogs are created more hyper than others. I have three very energetic dogs, two Siberian Huskies and a Shiba Inu, so I have had my fair share of hyper dog challenges.
Here are some important lessons I learned, on how to calm a hyper dog or a hyper puppy.
1. Try to Remain Calm
One of the most important things to remember, if we have a hyper dog, is the best medicine for a hyper dog is calm energy.
If I lose my temper, get frustrated, or become angry, my dog will pick up on that energy and become even more hyper. When my dog is over-excited, I do my best to remain calm, and project calm energy to him.
2. Make Our Dog Work for His Food
I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs. This means that they have to do something for me first, before I give them something in return. NILIF is a great way to –
- Motivate my dogs to follow house-rules,
- Help them learn that people are the source of good stuff, and also
- Redirect their hyper energy into positive pursuits.
I use part of my dog’s daily food for good behaviors throughout the day, for being calm, for following commands, for walks, grooming, and more.
Whatever food is left over, I put in interactive food toys, so he has to work for that as well. Interactive food toys are a great way to exercise my dog mentally, and to keep him engaged in a positive activity. Some food toys that I use include the Buster Cube, Premier Busy Buddy Collection, and of course Kongs.
Frozen Kongs are great to keep my dog occupied when he is in his crate, or to help calm him down before bed-time. I put some wet food into a classic Kong and freeze it. My dog has fun licking and chewing at it, and has less time to get into trouble. ๐
Variety is the spice of life, therefore, I try to figure out new fun ways, to deploy my dog’s food. For example, I may put his food on some paper, bunch the paper up into a ball, and then push the paper ball into a Holl-ee Roller toy. Sephy has a fun time figuring out this food puzzle!
Another thing that works pretty well with my dog is the Egg Babies toy. These toys have openings to give us access to the squeaker balls within. I open up the compartment, take out the squeaker balls, and put some food into the toy. Sometimes I stuff a regular ball into it, to make the toy more challenging. The Egg Baby is a soft-toy though, so some dogs may try to chew or shred it.
It is important that we are around to supervise our dog when he is working on a toy. We want to make sure that he does not swallow pieces of paper, soft-toy fabric, or rubber.
If our dog likes swallowing paper or soft toy fabric, then *do not* give him such toys. With rubber toys, make sure he cannot tear chunks off, because they may become a choking hazard.
3. Play Fun Games with our Dog
A game that my dog absolutely loves to play is the flirt pole.
A flirt pole is a simple pole or handle that is connected to a rope, with a toy at the end. We may create our own flirt pole or simply buy one.
I made my own flirt pole by getting a drain-plunger and detaching its wooden handle. Then, I drilled some holes in the handle and tied some rope through it. Finally, I attached the other end of the rope to a Premier Tennis Tail Toy
. This Premier toy works well with my homemade flirt pole, because my dog loves chasing the fox-like tail on the toy.
However, it is only appropriate if we use regular rope, and not bungee or elastic cord. If we use an elastic cord, there is a high probability that the toy will bounce around a lot, and it may hit us, our dog, or others. As such, we should only use a very soft and light toy.
With this game, we may exercise our dog while not having to overly exert ourselves. Other fun dog play games include soccer, catch, fetch, and tug-of-war.
I always set up a consistent set of rules while playing with my dog. This helps to keep everyone safe, as well as helps my dog learn positive play behaviors and self-control.
4. Do Obedience Training Every Day
Enroll in a dog obedience training class or get a good positive reinforcement dog training book. Then, have short (10-15 minutes) training sessions with our dog, several times per day.
This will help establish us as pack leader, improve the bond with our dog, exercise our dog’s mind, and provide us with effective tools to control him in the house.
5. Daily Walks or Hiking Trips
Neighborhood walks are a great way to exercise our dog, and socialize him to people. Walking can also help with obedience and bonding.
We may walk our dog on a loose leash or in a heel position. Personally, I keep my dog on a loose leash most of the time. I only put him in a heel position when I need greater control, for example-
- When I see another dog, cat, or squirrel,
- When young children are around, or
- When my dog starts to get reactive.
Dogs enjoy roaming around and smelling social markers (dog urine) left by other dogs. They can easily do this on a loose leash. Being in a heel position all of the time, is probably more boring than death for a dog. Therefore, to provide a fun walking experience for everyone, relax, give our dog some freedom, and stop to smell the roses.
In addition to neighborhood walks, it can also be fun to go hiking on nature trails.
Note that different parks, or different trails within a park, may have different leash rules (on-leash or off-leash). We may have to try out a variety of parks and park-trails, before finding one that suits us and our dog.
Hiking can also be a relaxing way to socialize our dog to both people and other dogs. Unlike enclosed dog parks, hiking parks are larger and have a lower density of people and dogs. In hiking parks, owners are usually more engaged with their dogs, and are better able to control them. Hiking trails also offer an interesting environment for a dog to explore.
If we are too busy, consider hiring a dog walker to exercise our dog. Many dog walkers offer group-walks, where they will take a small group of dogs to a nearby off-leash park. This is a fun activity, and a good way to tire-out our furry friend while we are away at work.
6. Organize Play Sessions with Another Dog
One of the best ways to drain energy from a hyper dog, is to organize play sessions with other dogs. I invite social dogs over to my house, to have one-on-one play sessions.
Other possibilities include dog daycare centers or enclosed dogs parks. I prefer daycare centers because they usually screen a dog before admission, therefore, they usually have more social dogs. In addition, a good daycare will have dog playgroups that are well-supervised, as well as structured by size and energy, which makes things a lot safer.
Enclosed dog parks are open to all, so there may be aggressive and anti-social dogs. In addition, owners may not supervise their dogs well, because they are busy socializing with the other people at the park.
In my experience, it is difficult to find a good enclosed dog park. In addition, there is always an element of danger, because all it takes is one irresponsible dog owner, for a dog fight to occur. More on my enclosed dog park experiences.
While Dog Parks can be fun, they also bring plenty of NEGATIVE interactions by forcing your pet to come up against dogs that might be overly stimulated, short-tempered, outwardly aggressive or otherwise badly managed. Smart Socializing means keeping your friend dog-tolerant, and that involves AVOIDING dicey situations where conflict can spark.
~~[Smart Socializing]
We have a German shepherd puppy that is almost 7 weeks old she wakes my family up through out the night. Is there a way I could calm her down before she wakes them up?
Congratulations on your new puppy.
Where does she sleep? Does she bark during the night and that wakes people up? What does she do that wakes people up? What is her daily routine like?
Here are some things that I do to train my puppy.
I have a 10 month old samoyed. She is extremely hyper and love to eat.
I have ADD when I grew up, so I understand and have patience with her.
As soon as she is spayed, she will be enrolled in social classes for dog,
Ruby is very naughty, so I have to be firm with her at all times!
hello,
i have two german shepherd puppies…90 days now…and i put them in the bathroom with their water bowel and their wiwi pad…
and i train them everyday for obedience….but as soon as they r out of the bathroom..they start to play with eachother in a very hyperactive way…i just want them to relax with me in the living room and enjoy the TV time with me without them running and jumping on eachother…they r very well trained for basic obedience commands sit , down and stay…
any ideas for them to relax….???
Some things that help with my dogs in terms of managing their excitement during play –
1. I supervise them during play time.
2. I throw in many play breaks, so that they refocus on me, and calm down some before going back to playing.
3. I teach them clear play rules, so that they learn good social behaviors.
However, all dogs are going to need daily exercise to drain their energy. Some dogs, especially younger dogs and puppies will be more energetic and will need more structured exercise.
A well exercised dog will be happy to sit with us and enjoy tv time. I talk about some of the activities I do with my dogs in the article above.
Hi, I have a very hyperactive silky terrier pup that won’t listen to a word I/my family says. She’s too active, she won’t even sit still for a minute. She’s constantly nipping and scratching, and she jumps up on everyone everytime. She also has an aggression problem when it comes to grooming sessions – she always snarls everytime she sees a brush or comb. Other than that, she’s a sweet little dog, but simply a bit out of control most of the time. I want her to know who’s boss before she grows any older and thinks she’s in control of the house. Any advice besides the tips you have given here? ๐
Hello Jo,
Here are some things that work well with my hyper Huskies-
1. I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program. I make my dogs work for their food and for anything else that they really want. This greatly motivates them to follow house rules and helps me to become pack leader through the control of resources.
2. I redirect their hyper energy into positive sanctioned activities, like the ones I talk about above. I also set up a fixed routine and a consistent set of rules.
3. I do bite inhibition training. This trains them to control the force of their bites while interacting with people.
Here is a bit more on –
How I trained my Husky puppies.
How I stop my dog from jumping.
Touch exercises and grooming..
With grooming, I start small, go very slowly, and reward my dogs very well. In this way, they associate it with positive experiences and grow to at least tolerate me touching them all over, or putting my fingers and a toothbrush into their mouth.
They are giving me a lot of trust by allowing me to do these things, and sometimes, grooming is uncomfortable or scary for them. After all, I am invading their personal space, tugging at their hair, and using a lot of grooming implements that they are unfamiliar with. Therefore, I make sure to go at a pace that they are comfortable with, make the experience short, and very very rewarding.
Here is an article on how I go about brushing my dog’s teeth. I use a similar process for other grooming tasks as well. The key is to slowly build trust through repeated positive sessions.
I recently got a new puppy, she was stray found while on a trip. We assume she’s a shepard mix but we’re not certain. We brought her back home to our (almost) year old male chihuahua who is very calm and settled. But Penny, our new pup, is very hyper and playful and often over powers him, like when their eating for instance, she won’t let him get to either bowl. At first he was playful with her and very welcoming, but its been a little over a week and he’s not listening to commands, cowards down, and even staying isolated when company is around. We think he may feel bullied or jealous, and we don’t know how to handle it. Should we train her and get her to how his accommodation or should we work to him to accept her?
I would really appreciate some advise, I don’t know what to do!
Thank you.
Some things that help my dogs get along –
1. Clear dog-to-dog interaction rules. I teach all my dogs what is acceptable and what is not, while interacting with each other. In this way, Puppy knows what to expect from my other dogs and vice versa. If there are any issues, I step in and manage them. I make sure to be fair and consistent about enforcing the rules.
2. A place to rest. My young Husky, Lara, has a lot of energy and wants to play all the time. I make sure she does not bother my other dogs when they want to rest. I also set up a very fixed routine and schedule for Lara so that she knows when it is time to play, walk, eat, and most importantly sleep. ๐
3. Close supervision during play-time. I supervise very closely during play-time and do not allow humping, stealing, or any other anti-social behaviors. I also throw in many play-breaks to calm my dogs down, get them to refocus on me, and manage their excitement level. I stop play if I notice anyone getting overwhelmed.
4. Group obedience training. I reward my dogs extremely well when they are all calm, and working cooperatively together for me.
This is more on my experiences with introducing a new dog into the family.
Hi! I have a 5 mo old shiba (Luke) who is soo hyper..all the time. He would do this mad dash across the living room at the couch toward your face! I tried your Kong suggestion: I soaked some of his dry dog food for 5 min, and smashed it into a Kong; problem solved!!! Thank you so much!
I spoke too soon =\
Heh yeah, frozen Kongs are helpful with Sephy, but Kongs alone are not enough to contain his great Shiba powers. ๐ Some things that help with Sephy –
1. I follow the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program and make him work for all the things that he wants, including attention, affection, access to the backyard, etc.
2. I set up a very consistent set of rules and a fixed routine. Sephy is a lot more calm when he knows exactly what to expect from me, and what I expect from him. I also established a consistent way of communicating with him.
3. When Sephy was young, I put a drag-lead on him (only with a flat collar, and only under supervision). The drag-lead gives me better control and allows me to more easily catch him when he tries to run away.
Here is a bit more on my early training experiences with Sephy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/shiba-inu-training-secrets
Hugs to Luke!
I have a 7-month old swiss shepherd/husky mix, who takes a three hour nap in the afternoon, and wakes up around 7am after maybe 8hrs of restless sleep. I’m going to try out your Husky methods, because despite the walks, once a week obedience training, and random obedience sessions at home & games meant to drain his energy, he still manages to get into trouble that may lead us to trying to rehome him. He’s beautiful, smart, affectionate & we all absolutely love him, but we feel at the end of our rope. Any advice, or ways we can keep him quiet at night? When he’s alone at night he howls and somehow manages to move the baby gate before making a mess downstairs.
It sounds like it could be an anxiety issue. Does he only howl when he is alone? Does he howl during the day when he is alone?
My Shiba Inu, Sephy, used to howl at night when he was young. As soon as we moved his crate into the bedroom, he stopped howling. I think he was anxious, and did not want to be on his own during the night.
Now that he is older, he will sometimes prefer to be on his own, even during the night. We let him out if he wants to, but he does not get to come back into the bedroom once he chooses to leave.
Here is a bit more on dog anxiety problems.
Hi, im not certain what breed my dog is she’s half chihuahua and the other half unknown, i got her from a friend’s friend and she’s a year old but she’s too hyper. i lose patience to much and I try really hard but no matter what, whenever I come home or step foot in the yard she jumps on me like crazy and runs around me I’m just not in the mood for that at times. sh’es just too much. HELP!!! I don’t want to give her away but if i have to I will.
Hello Nancy,
Some things that help with my dogs in terms of jumping-
1. When they jump, I no-mark (Ack-ack).
2. Then, I give them an alternate pre-trained command, e.g. Sit.
3. As soon as they Sit, I calmly praise, and give them some calm affection.
4. If they continue to jump, then I turn away, fold-up my arms, and ignore them. This teaches them that jumping and not listening = no affection, but Sitting and listening = Attention and affection.
5. If they escalate their behavior and start biting on hands or clothing, then they go for a brief timeout. This teaches them that if they bite on people then they do not get to be with people.
Here is a bit more on why dogs jump.
i have a very hyper lab..he gets plenty of exercise, he jogs with me and my dad every morning two hours macimum which is kind of hard since we also can’t get him to stop pulling on the leash..
he takes naps in the middle of the day..we also go to dog parks om weekends..we give him plenty of bones to chew..
at night when i gey home from work, i play fetch or other games like hide and seek with him for an hour or two.. we can’t teach him anything ecen if i get a bag of treats..
he’s one year old already and still we can’t work him and he doesn’t even know basic obedience even though we practice it with him everyday
what i don’t get is that he gets plwnty if exercise and he’s still so disobedieny and hyper.. i’ve just about resorted to trying everything. i’d love for him to get trained by a professional but i can’t afford that๎ฅ
My Shiba Inu, Sephy, is also challenging to train. It was difficult to hold his attention for any length of time, when he was young. He is also aloof and not very motivated by attention or food. He likes new things though, so he will work for something new, e.g. new toy or new food. He also likes his freedom, so he will work for access to the backyard. He loves chasing games, so that also works well as a reward. Training success depended a lot on identifying what motivated Sephy most.
With Sephy, I started with very simple commands. The first one that I did was “Look”. I would just bring my hand up to my eye level and say “Look”. If he looks at me, even just briefly, I would mark the behavior (Yes), and play his favorite game with him as a reward. Then, I just keep repeating.
I also follow the NILIF program with Sephy. Through NILIF, he learns that in order to get what he wants, he first has to do something simple for me.
Here is a bit more on our early training experiences-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-i-trained-my-husky-puppy
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-dogs-learn-how-dogs-think
We have a 10-week-old Beagador (Beagle/Lab mix), and we saw the game you call flirt pole on Dog Whisperer and he called it furball. Whatever you call it, you can make a great pole from a lunge whip that’s used for horses. Any horse supply has them and I think places like TSC do too. We just tie a stuffed dog toy to the end of the whip and it has a long reach so we can make our little guy run like crazy without wearing us out. It’s also flexible so we can make the toy bounce really easily. Make sure you get a whip that’s rigid enough to hold the toy on the end without bending too much, some of the cheap ones wouldn’t hold up very well. We’ve found this game to be a great opportunity to practice making our puppy give up his toy. We started out using his favorite treats to distract him as we said, “Drop it”, and he’s picking it up quickly! He also sits if he sees your hand go in the treat bag. ๐
Great idea!
Play time is fun and can be a great teaching opportunity as well.
Big hugs to your new puppy!