Do you have a very overexcitable dog?
Do they struggle to manage their impulses? Jump at guests? Try greet everyone and everything they can on a walk?
Many breeds of dogs get over stimulated easily. In fact, it can be a purposefully bred behavioural trait for many breeds to get highly aroused and over stimulated constantly looking for the next stimulus to interact with. It is what makes them such brilliant working dogs but can be a nuisance and problematic in the domestic home.
Much of the time we don’t reinforce enough calm behavior in our dogs during peace times. Think about it, if our dogs are mostly ignored when they’re quietly sitting beside us or chewing a chewy but get all eyes of the household on them, get spoken to and get touch when they’re jumping or doing something they shouldn’t. Which behavior are they likely to repeat more often? When we teach and positively reinforce calm behavior, and redirect unwanted behaviors, we see the calm behaviors increase in frequency.
You can help easily aroused dogs learn to inhibit their excitement and learn that other emotional states are a good thing. You can do this by analyzing when your dog gets excited, and actively working to remove the stimulation or counteract it. For instance, keeping them on leash when guests come over for the initial greeting can prevent them from rehearsing jumping habits. Reward them by tossing food rewards on the ground to reinforce to them that good things happen by staying on the ground. Then letting them off when they’re calmer.
As well as this, be mindful of meeting your dog with lots of excitement yourself when you first arrive home and initially greeting them after a first couple of minutes will help reinforce positive, calmer behaviors in your dog. A dog who is always greeted with loads of excitement every time you come home will repeat this behaviour every time they see someone new. They will apply this excitment to everyone they pass on their walk and the frustration when they don’t receive the same excitement returned can cause reactivity issues later.
Another thing you can do is interrupt your dog frequently during play sessions — call them to you, reward them when they come, have them sit, and then let them return to play with a release cue word like “okay!”. After their play session, make sure they relax before you start a new activity. If you take a dog out right after they’ve played enthusiastically, they’re likely to be ready for more action.
For dogs who spend much of their day in high arousal, more opportunities to chew long lasting, durable chews like dehydrated beef skins, paddywhacks, antler bars, yakkers, frozen carrots and raw broccoli stems can vastly increase calm moments. Chewing is a very natural dog behaviour and promotes calm brain chemistry teaching our dogs what it is to settle and decompress.
