How do you control an overly excited dog?
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How do I stop my dog from being overstimulated?
Waino White
2025-05-29 07:58:35
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If your dog is exhibiting signs of overstimulation in a chaotic or unfamiliar environment, such as a busy park or during a loud thunderstorm, it's likely that they are overwhelmed by the stimuli around them. To determine whether your dog is overstimulated or bored, consider the context in which these behaviours are occurring. Overstimulated dogs may appear tense and agitated, with a stiff body posture and dilated pupils. If your dog is displaying these behaviours when there is a lack of mental or physical stimulation, such as during long periods of inactivity or when left alone for extended periods, boredom may be the culprit. Another way to differentiate between overstimulation and boredom is to observe your dog's body language.
Kyra Brekke
2025-05-18 05:06:40
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If you are struggling with their behaviour, consider what an average day consists of for your dog. How much repetitive ball chasing is your dog doing? How much rough-housing and playing with other dogs is he doing? How busy and noisy is your household? Does he practice barking and ‘seeing off’ postal workers and passers-by?
When we are stressed, stress hormones are released into our brains. However, over-excitement, high levels of stimulation and endurance exercise can have the same physiological effects, owing to the stress hormones being released into our brains.
The answer isn’t to force downtime on your dog, but to consider how you can introduce some calming activities into their life so that they are less stimulated.
Reduce overstimulating activities for your dog Where possible, reduce activities that cause your dog to be overstimulated. For example, if they bark at passers-by, try shutting the curtains or restricting access to the windows.
If the children playing in the garden over-excites your pooch, give them a stuffed kong and limit their garden access to times the garden is calm.
Enrichment feeding: Make meal times last longer and more interesting by utilising enrichment feeding. It slows the process of eating down and requires concentration, which can be tiring for your dog.
Scent games: Hiding things for your dog to find provides wonderful focused mental stimulation, and is always tiring.
Sniffing walks: Allowing your dog to stop and sniff when on walks provides them with an opportunity to know about other dogs in the area without getting them over-excited.
Training: Force-free training again tires the brain, but it also helps improve your dog’s overall mood.
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Destini Jacobs
2025-05-18 04:14:30
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: 21
Decrease exposure to stimuli, the most obvious way to prevent sensory overload is to decrease the dog's exposure to sensory information. Socialization is crucial for dogs who get overstimulated around other pets. Socialization should occur in a controlled setting under close supervision, ideally with a handler for each dog. It's important to keep interactions calm and low-key since high-energy interactions can cause can intensify a dog's response and increase the likelihood of sensory overload. A simple way pet parents can reduce the chances of sensory overload is to ensure their dog gets plenty of exercise and mental stimulation throughout the day. Mental and physical stimulation help dogs relax and may make them less likely to become overstimulated when exposed to external stimuli. Many behaviorists suggest counterconditioning, a form of behavior modification, to address overstimulation in dogs. The idea behind counterconditioning is to create new mental associations that encourage the dog to respond positively to their triggers. BAT encourages dogs to ignore sensory information that typically elicits a negative response.
Carlos Rolfson
2025-05-18 02:37:08
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To manage overstimulation, you’ll first need to identify what is causing your dog to behave this way – for example, it could be other dogs, people or animals, or situations like busy roads or loud environments. It may help to take a few notes about the situation whenever your dog is overstimulated, so that you can identify what is triggering them. Once you understand the cause of their behaviour, you can work towards avoiding excessive exposure to the trigger. The more they get the chance to practise the inappropriate behaviours, the more they’ll want to keep doing it. When your dog is overstimulated, avoid distracting them with food as this could encourage them to repeat their behaviour. Instead, try to build a positive association to the trigger. Giving your dog mentally stimulating activities that are of low arousal will help to engage their senses and increase their overall level of calmness. Monitoring your dog’s body language will help to understand when they are approaching their ‘threshold’. Over time, and with lots of practice, you should be able to expand your dog’s threshold and get them to remain calm in more stimulating situations. An emergency stop is an important command for your dog to learn as it can be used in urgent situations that need immediate intervention, for example, this could be used to stop your dog from running up to a potentially reactive dog, running across the road, or if your dog has become overstimulated.
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