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. 😀
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]
Hello, Shibashake!
I’ve been a huge fan for a while now…before I even got my pup, Emi!
My babygirl Emi is only 10 weeks old. When I first brought her home (at 8 weeks) she was absolutely wonderful. Slept through the night. Called whenever she had to potty. Was suuuuper sweet and affectionate. Stopped biting as soon as I said “No.” Etc. Etc. Etc. Soon after being over stimulated by a bigger dog and my crazy 1 and 3 year old niece and nephew, Emi became really hyperactive and skittish. She started bearing her teeth, attacking me, digging into the floor, running around in circles, wouldn’t let anyone hold her, etc. First I thought she was traumatized. So instead of disciplining her, I tried to comfort her. I felt horrible for putting her in danger with my parents’ bigger dog and my terrorizing niece/nephew! After a day or two, she went back to being the sweet girl I first knew.
I don’t know if this is just normal puppyhood, but she seems to be a bit of a terror again. There are times when she’s super obedient and will do all the commands I ask of her. She seldom likes to snuggle. But, for the most part, she gets extremely high energy during lunch and after dinner. She also decided to stop pooping and peeing outside. She’s extremely curious and whines a lot when we’re outside trying to get her to do her business. She ends up having a couple accidents in the house as a result.
She’s also been really snippy and will not stop biting my shirts, legs, arms, etc. I can’t tell if she’s playful or aggressive. Please help!
What were her interactions with the bigger dog? Did they play? Was she trying to get away? What did the bigger dog do and how did Emi react? Similarly, what were the interactions like with your niece and nephew?
With Sephy, consistency and routine are very very important. I set up a fixed routine and a consistent set of rules. I make sure to reward good behavior and *not* bad ones (this includes giving affection, which is a reward). I also try to be very consistent about my response to his behavior. In this way, he understands exactly what he can expect from me, and what I expect from him in return. This creates certainty, and reduces stress, for both him and me. 😀
More on how I train my puppy.
More on training techniques that worked well with Sephy.
More on how I potty trained my puppy.
More on how I discourage biting.
More on dog socialization.
How I train my dog to control the force of his bites.
How I deal with bad dog behavior.
Congratulations on your new puppy! Is she a Shiba?
Thank You so much! I have been looking for a clear solution to this problem and this is very clear to me. Again thank you for all of your help. Now my dog is way more calm and active. I owe you one!!!
Thank you so much for letting me know. A happy dog is the best reward. 😀
Big hugs to your furry family member.
I have a Labrador who 1 and he is very very hyper. I love to take him on long walks at the park sometimes I take off the leash and he goes and plays with other dogs . But when I try to train him he doesn’t listing, he gets really excited for the treats. He knows how to sit, stay, give paw,come,and do hooray. But he only listens when there is food involved.
Different dogs are motivated by different things. Food motivated dogs are actually one of the best, because food is pretty easy to carry around and to have on hand.
More on how dogs learn.
I also follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with my dogs. It teaches them that they have to work for the things that they want most, that good things come from me, and that following rules or doing commands is fun and very rewarding.
I see your problem. what I did was I slowly started to reduce the amount of food I gave my dog smaller and smaller amounts of food treats every time so now I don’t need to give her treats when we train.
We have had our huskie/sheltie dog for 5 years — since he was 9 months old. We live in a suburb of Chicago and this winter has been extremely cold and snowy. So, we have been unable to walk Doc as much as we usually can. Because of this, every evening after he has finished 3 stuffed kongs in record time we have a horrible period until about 9:15 p.m. when he finally calms down. His inner clock seems to tell him it’s 9:15 and time to settle down.
He is a totally different dog in the morning. I joke that the huskie is here in the a.m. and the sheltie in the p.m. (or visa versa)
His attention span is minimal. He will only play fetch, “find me” (hide and seek), and dog train for a short period of time. He will not let us brush him or pet him and barks at us constantly. Everything has to be on his terms and he will only do something when he wants to do it.
He does not run the house and this behavior only started when the weather got bad. But, it is hard for us to keep our “cool” and can only hope that spring will be here soon (wishful thinking).
Does he like playing with other dogs? My Shiba Inu loves playing with other dogs, and that was a good way to release some of his energy. We did one-on-one or very small playgroups in a playroom inside the house. I made sure to pick compatible dogs, set up play-rules, and supervised them the whole time. It was a lot of fun to watch them play.
Sephy’s best friend was this goofy, playful dog who lived across the street, so it was really convenient.
I’m am going through the same exact situation with my 8 month old German shepherd, it has been hell to say the least all she does is bark and bite and I can’t control here I am hoping the spring weather changes this as well! Good luck!
Any thoughts on medication? My puppy is SUPER HYPER ALL THE TIME. He also thinks he is boss and tries to run the show. He won’t walk on a leash no matter what I try or even potty out side. I think he may have puppy ADHD or something…That may sound silly, but this isn’t my first time owning a puppy, let alone a dog. This is however, my first dog bought from an actual store. Since nothing I do seems to work, I was thinking I might talk to his vet about getting him on medication to help calm him down a bit. I know most puppies are usually hyper, but he’s on his own level that’s set WAAAY higher than most other puppies…If you have any thoughts on this or other ideas on things I might be able to do to help him be more obedient and less hyperactive without the medication, please let me know! It’s defintely a challange for me!
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-medication-good-bad-dog-behavior-modification
What have you tried? What was the puppy’s response?
Here are some things that I do to train my puppy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-i-trained-my-husky-puppy
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
I really love your website – thank you!
Hello. I just wanted to say thank you for your site. I think this is just what I’m looking for. I have a very hard-headed 1-year-old German shepherd. Such a delight she is, but we have a few issues we need to turn around. All my years of dog mothering have taught me nothing when it comes to this gal. I’m reading through some of your experiences and suggestions, and I feel a little more in control. Again, thanks! It’s all a process.
“Hard-headed and delightful” sounds a lot like my Shiba too! 😀
Big hugs to your girl. She is lucky to have such a good mom.
Hi ShibaShake!
I recently got a Shiba puppy named Ammy. Boy is she a handful! I take her out to the backyard sometimes to walk around and she smells the plants and then proceeds to eat it. Same goes for rocks and bugs! She drags me everywhere and walks in front of me all the time. Most of the time pulling me. Sometimes she bites the leash too when I give her a quick tug or not following her.
Haha, yeah Shiba puppies can be a big handful.
For leash training, the red-light-green-light technique and the 180 turn around technique worked best for Sephy.
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog
A few more things that helped with Sephy.
Here are some of my leash biting experiences. We had a very difficult beginning, but things have improved significantly. Being calm and decisive was very important with Sephy. 😀
Congratulations and big hugs to your Shiba pup!
Hi! I just got an 8 month old terrier mix (I don’t know what he is mixed with, I got him from a shelter). He is very hyperactive. Is it possible that he will relax as he gets a little older?
Yeah, terriers can be handful. 😀 One of my neighbors has a terrier-mix and she tells me that her pup requires a lot of structured activity, supervision, and training.
If you out your dog on a short leed when meeting another dog it can cause your dog to attack because your dog will think that you are uneasy or nervous about the other dog and causes your og to attack because your dog is gonna try and protect you x
Yeah, this is also commonly known as barrier frustration.
http://www.allthingsdogblog.com/2011/11/ask-dog-trainer-working-with-barrier.html
http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/how-do-i-manage-my-dogs-barrier-frustration