Having an overactive puppy that is full of energy is certainly not something that is going to be pleasant for you and your family. He will keep running in circles around the house, keeping you up late in the night, waking you up early in the morning, tearing your house apart and exhibits his excitement in a car.
Knowing the ways to calm your hyper puppy and make him listen to you is going to keep your life peaceful. So without further ado, let’s dive right in.
How To Calm Down A Hyper Puppy
A hyper puppy can be calmed down by making sure that he has adequate mental and physical exercises, impulse and obedience training as well as a good nutrient diet daily. You would need to exhibit a calm state when facing your hyperactive puppy as he will react according to your emotional state.
Mental Exercise
By making your puppy work on his brain, this is the fastest way to get him tired. So make sure that you have adequate mental exercise for your hyperactive puppy daily.
You can set up a dig box in your backyard and place some treats in it. Let your puppy spend his time digging for his treats or to make use of some recycles board to make a little puzzle to hide the treat and let your puppy figure out how to get the treats out.
Make sure that the games requires your puppy to do some thinking and provides mental enrichment for him.
Physical Exercise
Make sure that the physical exercise that you are providing to your puppy is strenuous enough to make him tired. An overexcited puppy may need more than just a stroll or walk with you as that is not adequate for him to get off his energy.
So plan for more vigorous activities such as playing Frisbee with him, play tug with him, throw a ball to him or let him go for a swim.
Obedience Training
Obedience training is also another form of mental exercise as your puppy will be taught on how to listen and obey your commands and focus his attention to you. Of course, for a hyper puppy, training is only possible when he has calmed down.
So one of the approaches is to start with his playtime, get him to release some of his energy before starting the training. In this way, he will be more likely to stay focused on your training.
Start with some basic obedience commands such as “sit”, “down”, “stay”, “wait” as they are going to be handy when you need him to stay calm.
Remember to use positive reinforcement during the training as you would want your puppy to associate performing these commands with a reward. This will create a positive experience for him and make him want to perform them again.
Look Into Your Puppy Diet
You may not be aware that what you are feeding your puppy might have caused his hyperactive behavior. Is your puppy diet rich in sugar content? Dry foods such as kibble tend to be very high in sugar content and that translates to carbs and will cause your puppy to have a high level of energy.
If you find that your puppy turned hyper recently, have you made any changes in his diet lately? Maybe that could be the reason for his hyper behavior.
I would suggest that you give organic dog food a try as it is not filled with harmful preservatives. Rather than being treated with chemicals that preserve the food or keep it from spoilage, the food is free of chemicals, and they are also far better for your dog’s digestion and giving a balanced combination of nutrients for your puppy.
Be Calm And Control Your Emotion
Puppies are good at observing how we react and our emotional states. If your hyper puppy jumps to you and you exhibit signs of excitement or give him a gentle pat, you are in fact encouraging him to behave this way, and he would react in this manner repeatedly.
You should instead remain calm and ignore him for this behavior. This will send a signal to him that you are certainly not happy with him for this action, and he is not getting any of your attention or praise for doing that.
This will provide a negative experience for him, and he would refrain from performing the action again.
Impulse Control Training
Hyper puppy will do things that he likes without caring about rules or boundaries and lack of self-control. You will need to train him on how to “think” before he “acts” to curb that impulse behavior which leads to his hyperactive action.
You can make use of food for your impulse control training on your puppy. Start with something that is simple such as his regular kibble food.
Leave a single kibble on the floor and make sure that you keep your puppy away from eating it. The moment he goes for it, cover it with your hand and say the command “sit”.
Wait till he obediently sits down and focuses his attention from the food on the floor to you, then you give him the treat from your hand.
Keep repeating this exercise till your puppy knows that by simply reaching out for the food on the floor, he will not get it. He should remain in sit position and wait for his treat to be handed over to him.
This will help him to “think” before he “acts” and control his impulse behavior.
Essential Oils to Calm Puppy
You can make use of some popular essential oils in the market that have been tested and proven to provide a calming effect on dogs.
Essential oils such as Bergamot, Lavender, Sweet Marjoram and Rose Damask are the top choices.
To use the oil on your puppy, gently apply the oil on his ear and fur while giving him a good message.
You can also apply a drop or two of the oil to your puppy blanket or towel that he would be resting on. This will help him to feel at ease and get some good sleep.
Music Therapy
Do you know that music can do wonders to calm your puppy. By playing some light music in the background, this can provide additional calm effect on your puppy (along with the aromatherapy)
Make Use of A Clicker
This is a wonderful tool that you can make use of to help you train your puppy to stay calm. How it works is when your puppy starts to display calm behavior after jumping up and down, press the clicker and give him a treat.
This is to help him associate the calmness behavior with a reward and making him know that only by staying calm and quiet, he will get your attention and of course, his treat.
Positive Reinforcement
When training how to calm a hyper puppy you need to remember that it is imperative that you use positive reinforcement. Hyper puppies simply do not respond well to punishment. So you should never hit or yell at your puppy because this method simply doesn’t work!
In fact, by hitting or yelling at him, you are actually doing the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish, which is helping him to calm down, and he may get more nervous and turn aggressive.
You should instead use positive reinforcement which is rewarding him for his calm behavior.
Once he starts to exhibit the behaviors that you want, immediately reward him with a high quality treat. This is to make him associate the reward with the positive behavior that he is performing.
Plan A Routine For Your Puppy
Uncertainty makes your puppy feel insecure and leads to his anxiety and hyperactive behavior. Dogs love routine and if they know what is going to happen next, they will get less stressful and feel more confident in handling the situation.
Take for example, if your puppy knows that the regular routine for him will be to go out for a stroll or exercise after he had his breakfast, he would behave himself and quietly finish up his food as he knows that following this will be his favorite playtime.
Supplements
Your vet might prescribe some supplements (such as L-theanine and L-tryptophan) for your puppy to work as an interim solution to make him calm down while you work on the more sustainable approaches which include exercise program, diet and dog training to correct his hyper behavior.
It’s time to put what you have learned from this post to practice. Make use of these 12 TIPS to make your hyper puppy calmed down and be obedient.