I’m not saying that it’s bad for dogs to get excited and express joy! Quite the opposite. However it is important to know that there is a key difference between ‘stressed’ high energy and simply ‘happy’ high energy. It basically comes down to whether their MIND is relaxed or tense at the time, regardless of what their body is doing. A mind that is working overtime will usually result in a body that does the same. A dog can actually be in a high state of physical energy (playing, hunting, running) but still have a calm, collected mind, whereas a stressed or anxious dog will be mentally intense and the physical behaviour will present as hyperactive and lacking self control. OVER excitement and OVER stimulation is not healthy or balanced and needs to be addressed for the dog to find peace. As much as we may love this crazy excited response in our dogs we need to realise it isn’t often in their own best interest. and can quickly lead to other behavioural symptoms as a result of the dog trying to address this excess mental energy on their own. Obsessive or excessive behaviours are almost always linked to long term stress of some kind,
Often we are the ones to send our dogs into this heightened state, by adopting an intense energy ourselves, which tells our dogs to copy us and that whatever is about to happen is a big deal! Obvious examples are when we come home, when someone comes to the door, or when we arrive at the dog park – thinking that we are just adding to the happiness when our dogs mentally and physically react to our stimulus. This emotional lead up from us sends many dogs into overload (in extreme cases we see a flight/fight response) in an attempt to match our own energy and prepare themselves for the big event we have told them is about to happen.
As owners, one of our responsibilities is to help our dogs achieve and maintain a calm, balanced mindset. This is the natural state they are born into and in the natural world, this balanced mental state is vital for survival and fulfilment. In my opinion it is important to understand the difference and how to recognise when to step in and give support.
Many owners also unknowingly put their dogs in situations which overwhelm them and they cope by putting on a ‘performance’ in an attempt to convince everyone that they aren’t as weak or out of control as they feel. Weak, insecure or very sensitive dogs are most often in this category and often misread as confident or even aggressive simply because they were overwhelmed and trying to cope. I hear regularly “oh he loves the dog park, he goes nuts when we get there” – this may be true for many dogs but many (not all) on observation are really struggling introverts who would much rather go for a nice long relaxing walk with their owner and socialise with certain dogs one on one. Just like us, dogs can be extroverts or introverts. Not all dogs love the dog park scenario and not all love the rowdy romping energy and interaction that many seem to feel they “need”. In the same way, many dogs don’t appreciate the level of intensity we bring through the door when we get home. A calm loving hello and pat would be just fine. Again, don’t assume your dogs loves to be touched and fussed over by everyone, especially strangers. That licking or jumping up they do when someone tries to pat them may be a desperate attempt to ask for some personal space. Some dogs take this further and will growl or nip.
What many of our clients find most surprising is that addressing their own behaviour and expectations as well as adjusting the environment is as crucial in these situations as addressing the dog’s behaviour. It is not simply about “training” or changing the dog. Sometimes this recognition is all it takes to take the pressure off the both of you and to allow a peaceful (yet happy) situation to replace an intense one. In other cases, things can be more layered and you may need a professional to observe, intervene and “reset” so you can then move forward with new behaviours.
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So often, we hear that a dog just bit someone “out of nowhere.” The truth is, dogs rarely bite with no warning.
Dogs primarily communicate using body language, so it’s important for humans to understand what they are trying to tell us. Learning our dogs’ special ways of communication can reduce their anxiety and prevent potentially dangerous situations from happening. There are several warning signs to look for to help tell if your dog is stressed.
Growling is an obvious way to tell if your dog is uncomfortable. It could mean that someone is in their space, they feel threatened, or that something hurts. It’s not usually meant to be aggressive but it is rather often a warning that your dog feels uncomfortable.
Many people try to discourage their dog from growling. But if a dog gets in trouble for it, they may become more likely to skip future warnings and go straight to a bite. Don’t punish your pup for growling. Instead, respect their space or figure out a different way to get what you want from them. For example, if a dog is growling over food, give them space when they eat in peace. If they are growling over a bone and you need to put the bone away, trade them for a smaller treat so you can take the bone away safely.
Many dogs cannot control their whining when they feel stressed, as it’s more of an automatic response. However, it is a clue for humans that something in the environment is causing anxiety. Barking is similar, in that pups can’t always control it, but they’re trying to tell you that they’re stressed about something. It may, however, depend on the context, as dogs may whine and bark for many other reasons.
There are entire books written on dog body language and “calming signals,” a term developed by Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas. Rugaas realized that dogs have more than 30 ways to avoid stressful situations and try to calm themselves. When pups exhibit these behaviors, they’re trying to diffuse the situation or tell you or another dog that they aren’t a threat.
Stress signs to look for include whale eye (when dogs reveal the whites of their eyes), tucked ears, tucked tail, raised hackles, lip-licking, yawning, and panting. Your dog might also avoid eye contact or look away. This is most commonly seen in a dog that seems “guilty.” However, the pup is actually reacting to your voice and body language and thinks something must be wrong.
Don’t rely solely on body language. Also, some dogs raise their hackles when they are overstimulated or excited, not necessarily when they are stressed or anxious.
When your dog freezes or gets stiff, they are often stressed about something they see. In a training context, this can sometimes be seen as “submission,” but modern dog training practices tell us that the dog is actually shutting down. This can be very dangerous for both you and your pup. It’s a warning sign that the dog is so stressed that they can’t handle the situation, and the next step may be a bite.
When canines are pacing back and forth, it’s a sign they can’t settle down because something is stressing them. If this happens during mealtimes or for short periods, it might not be a big deal. But, noticing when your dog engages in this behavior can give you clues as to what is triggering their anxiety.
In older dogs, pacing may be a sign of dementia. If you start to notice this in your senior pet, talk to your veterinarian right away.
Note: With all of these signs, it all still depends on the individual dog and the context of the situation. For example, some dogs growl or “talk” while playing. It could mean they are getting overexcited and need a break, but it could also just be the way they play. Getting to know when your dog is stressed is key. You should always talk to a professional dog trainer if you have any concerns. Or, consider a trip to your veterinarian if your dog’s behavior changes suddenly.
How to Calm an Overexcited Dog
Some dogs are naturally calmer than others, but 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, dogs can get overly aroused when you come home and greet them, so calm, matter-of-fact greetings â or no greetings at all â might help them calm down. Dogs get very excited around meal times, so varying the time you serve meals will help them control their anticipation. And dogs can get extremely aroused when they think a walk is in the picture. Mixing up cues helps calm these dogs â picking up the leash and then putting it back down again, doing the same with keys, or reading the newspaper until the dog settles â are all ways to teach your dog that youâre not going anywhere until the energy is right.
Another thing you can do is interrupt your dog frequently during play â call them to you, have them sit, and then let them return to play. After their play session, make sure they relax before you start a new activity. If you take a dog out right after theyve played enthusiastically, theyre likely to be ready for more action!
In terms of training, obedience â sit, come, down, stay, polite walking â is always valuable, particularly if you practice on a daily basis, first in calm areas, and then in areas that might ordinarily excite your dog. Teaching your dog to use their nose is also an excellent way to increase their focus and decrease excitability. Just tossing a bunch of kibble in the yard and then letting them search for it will help. At first, your dog will run madly around the yard, but as their instincts are honed, theyll be able to show more concentration. Your dogâs nose is their primary sense â may as well use it.Related article
This simple dog training skill could save your dogâs life.
You can also show dogs how to relax and help them learn to enjoy it. Having your dog lie down, and then gently petting them will make relaxation reinforcing. Having them sit quietly while watching others in action can also be very helpful. One of the most useful techniques for Strider, a German Shepherd with leash reactivity, was having him lie down on his rug close to people playing dog sports like fly-ball and agility, both of which tend to be very active and noisy. At first, he got reinforced every few seconds with a treat on the ground (where he had to look for it). After he learned to relax, we didnât need to use the food reinforcement â just lying on his rug became enjoyable.
How To Calm An Excited Dog (First Meeting) – Live Dog Demo!
Sometimes when I meet dogs, the owner will justify the over excited yapping and barking, the squeaking and leaping about as the dog being excited and happy to meet me. What I often see however, is an unhealthy and unbalanced form of excitement, one that on closer examination is not doing the dog any good and is often linked with other behaviours that the owners mention, yet donʼt make the connection.
Often these dog may show some kind of separation anxiety, it might be a dog that is fearful of shots, thunder or fireworks, it might bark incessantly and excitedly before walks or if it is getting in the car to go somewhere. It might bark or squeak if a human leaves the room and it may be the kind of dog that jumps up and leaps at strangers. These behaviours are generally over-excited unhealthy ones, especially when exhibited in a frantic way and the dog canʼt easily be calmed. They are often married with more than one of the other behaviours listed above.
If these dogs are asked to be calm, instead of lying quietly they will either find it hard to stay still, or if they do lay down, they shake fitfully. If corrected they may even yawn, adding in that kind of stressful squeak that dogs do when they are releasing tension.
Over excitement in dogs is a very unhealthy state of mind and it actually creates a whole host of behavioural problems. In most cases, the over-excitement comes first and because that energy is never allowed to come down, it starts to manifest as problems such as excessive barking, pulling on the leash, nipping and biting, jumping on people, separation anxiety (in some cases but SA often complex and misunderstood) and even aggressive reactions toward other dogs and so on. These dogs are in a high state of arousal. These dogs may also exhibit signs such as over panting, spinning and pacing or be ball obsessive or over-focused on something.
What usually happened in the beginning was that a dog struggled, often as a puppy, with some form of frustration intolerance – the “I want it and I want it now” type attitude. Walk me now, play with me now, give me that toy now, throw this ball now, give me attention now – nudge, nudge, paw, paw, nudge etc. This lack of frustration tolerance tends to be worse in breeds that are known for higher energy and that are higher up on the scale of impulsivity – collies and terrier types are some of the most common. It takes a lot of work to turn impulsive behaviours and frustration intolerance into self control. True self control can only truly be considered in place once a dog will choose, without command and without control (eg no lead) to ignore something that is highly tempting and that he might normally chase or be stimulated by. It may not even be true self control unless, under those same circumstances, a human is not present!
Ball or frisbee obsessed dogs that could play fetch all day every day are often suffering from an unhealthy form of excitement – they are NOT having fun and just enjoying it as owners often claim. Most of us have seen these dogs, yapping and barking for the ball to be thrown, lunging and thrusting on the leash, often barking at the same time in excitement to go and play with other dogs or lunging and barking at waves on the beach. Continuing this kind of play just over stimulates the dog and isnʼt doing him any good. Dogs often spend far too long in an impoverished environment, some are left many hours during the day and are then 8-10 hours alone again over night. When they get taken out to perform an over stimulating activity or go into an over stimulating environment with other dogs, it blows their minds. If this is coupled with the risk taking behaviours of an adolescent we start to see dogs lose their recall, bully other dogs and become the types everyone wants to avoid. Over stimulation so easily leads to arousal which can tip into reactivity and before we know it we have a dog fight on our hands.
The following is a very useful article about ditching the ball thrower and why it can create more problems than it solves:
Agility is another activity where over stimulated dogs are often seen. Although I love agility and think it is a great activity for owners to do with their dogs, I have actually come across a number that have been over stimulated by it
Sometimes fearful dogs are directed to agility classes to help them gain confidence, but what can happen (and I have come across it on a number of occasions) is that the energy actually feeds the dog with nervous energy rather than give it confidence. Calm builds confidence, excitement does not. Then what happens is that rather than focus on the agility course, the dog becomes completely scattered, barks too much and is in a highly unbalanced state. The sad thing is that instead of the trainer then telling the owner this is what is happening and offering to help them, they just continue to encourage them – sadly many of the trainers themselves donʼt even recognise the behavioural problem that is being created either!
Often the problem was not addressed early on and the owner wasnʼt helped to understand the importance of getting their dog calm before they ran the course or before they even entered the arena. If the dog has no focus before the class, they have no hope of gaining focus once the excitement begins. I have been in agility classes where fights have broken out because the trainers and owners are focusing on the activity and the tasks but not addressing any issues arising. In fact, they donʼt even notice those issues. It should not be surprising that these things happen when taking part in a sport that requires a high level of energy and activity. The dogs are often operating under extremely exciting conditions and this will never help a more neurotic or high energy, over excited dog. Other things can create similar problems such as over stimulating play with other dogs, getting into hunting/tracking/sniffing mode and running around aimlessly off leash. The only way to help the dog is to actually limit this kind of play or activity and instead, encourage and reward calm!
When dealing with behavioural issues teaching calm is vital. It is probably the most neglected area of dog training and puppy classes. Us humans can spend many hours no interacting with our dogs and we have other things we do in our lives – take children to school, attend activities with them, go to the gym, go out to work, cook dinner, go to the movies, go shopping – so we owe it to our dogs to learn that sometimes life is boring! Our pet dogs could take a leaf out of the training book of a service dog.
Learning calm body postures recall positive memories. If is for this reason that teaching patience and frustration tolerance is so important for generating new neural pathways to new behaviours. Exercises where all 4 limbs are used in a thinking way are highly effective for this – so something like Dog Parkour is a perfect activity to support behavioural changes. It can be done by any age of dog and in any location. It is an ideal activity to build into your walks and helps dogs slow down and perform tasks in a thinking way.
If we don’t address these over stimulated behaviours, as this type of high level of stress is bad stress it will effect the dog’s long term health. Although greatly simplified, the stress hormones released do not instantly dissipate and can remain in the bloodstream for many hours – maybe even 72 hours to a week. Keep this up over a period of time and the dog will constantly be in a state of stress. This mens that stress hormones remain in the dogʼs bloodstream constantly and over excitement or arousal becomes normal for the dog.
For these dogs they should have focused on lead time, not just pulling along on a harness or sniffing at every scent, urine marking and criss crossing in front of the person walking them. These things can be allowed on a “sniff walk” where the dog is given a longer lead and allowed to explore in his own way after being given a command, or when off lead. The period where a dog is doing his own thing should initially be kept to a minimum until the dog has learnt how to be calm. More stimulation can then be built up over time when the dog is ready, but in the beginning, the longer the dog is out doing his own thing, the more his brain can become scattered and lose direction, building the excitement and winding the dog up like a spring.
Itʼs important to reward calm and not give attention or recognition to excitement. We must also be careful not act like the excited behaviour is funny or acceptable. The point is that using “extinction” (ignoring the dog) as a behavioural correction in these cases, when a dog is in an excited state, will never work because the behaviour is self-rewarding. Basically the dog is getting higher and higher on adrenaline. The dog actually needs some correction and help to calm him and this may mean physically restraining him in a calm but confident and supportive way – I want to stress here, NOT an alpha roll or dominance tactics! The dog may be sitting or in a down and relax on the mat technique and deep breath techniques can be taught to help this.
With some dogs we can support and add calm, a bit like holding a hysterical child until it lets go of tension. As the body relaxes, we are able to release the feel and allow our hands to “hover” over the dog and only hold or make contact again if the dog tries to get up too soon or leap up without having had the muscles relax. It is easy to tell if the dog is still holding tension as often the head will spring round, the body shakes fitfully, the legs canʼt lie on the ground and the eyes are moving or glancing about. When a dog lets go of the tension he goes limp and is almost dozing off. At this point we can even gently rub him to show that this is what we want – but we have to be very careful not to add any exciting energy into this and touch is not suitable for all dogs.
To help keep a dog calm and to train in calm, it requires practice and ideally obedience exercises used alongside strong rules and boundaries. These things add in mental and emotional exercise for the dog and can be just as tiring and draining as physical work. Over excited dogs often need more mental and emotional work, as itʼs not always an under exercised dog that is over excited, in fact it is often the opposite.
Things like insisting a dog is calm and quiet before the leash goes on or off, before he gets in or out of a car and making sure that any noise or excitement is not rewarded will all add to a dogʼs understanding that only calm is rewarded and that calm is what we want. If we arrive home and our dog is leaping and barking, we do not enter the gate or house until he is calm and quiet and if he starts again he is not greeted until he again makes the change to quiet and calm. It is important to remember that itʼs not just about quiet, itʼs about quiet and calm. We need to give focused exercise on leash and not allow too much high energy time. In games with other dogs, the excitable dog must be recalled and frequently asked to get calm so that the sessions do not build up and up, winding the spring until he tips over the edge. High energy, excitable play is the type that can quickly lead to a fight. Avoiding exciting environments or activities is not the answer, practicing calm within them is.
It is not simply a case that a dog that is over excited is under exercised. In some cases this is true and giving a dog the right amount of exercise will bring about changes, but just as often, over excited dogs do NOT need more exercise to help drain their energy, in fact their problem is something else all together. They actually need to learn to come down in energy, have more calm and have more laying around and doing nothing times in their life. Teaching a dog “down” and insisting that it practices it and only gets up when a release command is given is good for helping a dog learn to just chill out.
It takes time and effort but is worth it in the end – and it could help prolong your dogʼs life!