It doesn’t matter how much you love dogs, it can be quite annoying and frustrating when your pooch gets hyped and overly-excited, especially if you have some friends over.
In order to approach this problem properly you need to assess the way you are interacting with your four-legged friend, and think about the daily activity (or lack of it) your dog gets.
In that name, here we have 3 simple techniques Cesar Millan recommends if you want to learn how to easily calm your hyperactive dog.
1. Push That Ignore Button
First try to simply ignore your dog’s behavior. We all know that our pooches crave our attention, and by paying attention to your hyper dog during his/her outbursts – you’re just reinforcing the very behavior you’re trying to eliminate.
“The next time your dog is jumping or nipping at you in an overexcited way, give it a try – no touch, no talk, no eye contact – and see how you fare. You might be surprised how quickly the dog settles down”, the expert says.
2. Give Your Dog Something To Do
Distraction is key. Having a “task” to focus the energy to can easily do the trick.
Although hyperactive behavior in dogs can sometimes come from certain psychological needs, physical needs are usually the main culprit here. If you give your pooch something to do, you are likely to remove his/her hyperactive dog behavior as he/she will be redirecting the extra energy elsewhere.
You can:
- Give your dog a toy (or several)
- Give your dog a few tennis balls to keep him/her occupied
- Give your dog a backpack with extra weight to wear (this will keep your dog focused on carrying instead of getting distracted by other things).
3. Walk Your Dog
Even though this one seems too obvious, many dog owners don’t walk their dogs as much as they should.
If you don’t walk your dog on a daily basis, your pooch will have a HUGE amount of built-up energy, which is almost always the main reason why your dog is hyperactive.
“Once you’ve burned that extra energy away, your dog should be pleasantly exhausted and too tuckered out to jump and nip. Without that frustration, he’ll find it much easier to relax”, says Millan.