How to have a calm dog

[Hyperfish101]

We got a rescue back in July who seemed to settle quite quickly, however, I think he’s really at home now and is comfortable demonstrating lots of personality traits we are not keen on.

Main issues are his mouthiness and excitability, he’s 18 months so still young but god he gets hyper when there is food being eaten or when one of us goes out or ready to walk him. Leaps about and can snap and grab at us, he clatters his teeth. I have tried getting him to sit and stay for a treat to distract but it does not often work.

I just need him to calm Tf down! I did try obedience classes but he got overexcited at all the other dogs and it was impossible to train him. He’s hard to love at the moment. 😟

Won’t even mention the lead pulling, inappropriate barking. And lunging at lorries, 🙄🙄🙄

He does get enough exercise so it’s not that, plus lots of sniffy walks etc. Would a calming spray help? What would help?

Forget the treats. When you want his attention look him straight in the eye and be very, very still. When he is calm and drops his eyes gently go down to his level and praise him very slowly and very calmly. Take your own energy right down and, in time, he will mirror you.

On walks, the very second he pulls or lunges, do an immediate about turn and walk in the other direction - his attention needs to be on you all the time. If this means walking 20m in one direction then 20m back the same way for a week so be it.

Oh dear, sounds hard. My limited experience is that dogs pick up really quickly what you're feeling, so if you get anxious that he's going to behave in a challenging way, he will pick up on that. I'd suggest you have to work at your own calm first; keep your voice low and firm, face him, and not let him do the thing he wants to do (go for walk, etc) until he is calm. Start with just one thing to address: if you try to address it all, it will take over your life and you'll lose patience. You may need to physically separate him from you while you're eating for a while; that one took a long time for my dog to get, and we got her young.
Also it's still really early days for a rescue; he's still very young and a lot will come with age too.
I've never used a calming spray so can't comment on those.

Thanks. Yes the kids mill around and get involved too so there is a lot going on that is the opposite of calm!

Will try what is suggested. It’s hard because when a dog has your foot in it’s mouth, hard to remain calm!

Thank you. Am hoping time will help too.

Dogs always seem to be such hard work. Especially if kids are in the mix, can't understand anyone taking it on, just me I suppose.

Could not do it myself, but best of luck. Dogs attacked me in the past off the lead, and my back has never been the same since. So forgive me if I am not over enthusiastic.

Don't allow him in the room when you're having food and put up a stairgate if necessary.

If he jumps up you turn your back - you must all do this, every time and he will quickly learn.

Get a trainer to help you with lead walking.

Loads of people milling around is not going to keep a dog calm unless he has somewhere to go out of the way.

The kids can get in the way when I’m trying to get his lead on. The mere jingle of the lead sets him off. Rest of the time, the kids are just doing their thing in the house.

He doesn’t jump up as he’s small. Thank goodness. Goes in crate when we eat. He’s learned to do this as gets a treat at the end. So that’s something!

OK Yolio... this is the dog thread though so not sure why you responded if you aren’t interested in Dogs.

Make sure there are alway appropriate things around for him to mouth on. Exploring with their mouths is what dogs do it's really important for their development. So making sure there's always plenty of different toys and chews around is so important. When he mouths at you just swap in a toy. Don't get cross or give him attention for it. Just calmly give him the toy.

I also really rate antler chews. I have a six month old puppy atm and a 7year old lab. They keep them occupied for ages! They don't smell, they don't leave bits everywhere and they last for ages! Stuffed marrow bones are also great.

Do you let you dog have a good run around off lead? I would really recommend going somewhere where he can have a good run off lead or on a longline first thing in the morning. Get some pent up energy out. Then do the more concentrated lead stuff when he's calmer later in the day.

Forget any sort of calming spray, although, I must be honest I've no idea what that is.

In order to have a calm dog, as pp said, you need to be calm. You need to encourage him to learn how to settle himself and chill and the children should know not to disturb him when he's settled in his crate.

You say he gets plenty of exercise and sniffy walks, could you be over exercising him, that can lead to a young dog finding it difficult to wind down.

The lunging, lead pulling and barking can be addressed but it's going to take hard work and consistency on the part of the whole family.

Perhaps a 1 to 1 trainer might be a good idea just to get you on the right path.

Sounds like a lot of hard work..... like another child really.

Why? Well I suppose good on your for taking doggie on and being approved for a rescue. Not everyone is chosen.

Why is no one asking the op what breed it is? It could be all sorts of things depending on the breed.
I follow one rule when it comes to dog behaviour op. A tired dog is a good dog. A bored dog is naughty. It’s worked for me for 30 years working with a Spanish rescue for abused/abandoned hunting dogs (not easy breeds to keep)! Depending on its breed you need to find things to keep it busy

Read Calming Dog Signals by Turid Rugaas

Get to know your dog's body language right down to the very subtle signals

As others have said, be calm yourself. Don't use lots of voice commands; it's not necessary and it's like speaking Mandarin to them ie utterly confusing if you don't happem to speak it yourself! Dog communication is all about how you use your body , your posture and your arms and how you occupy space in relation to their space. And how and when you look directly at them (it's often polite to look away which is the opposite of us). learn about mirroring.

Turn your back, cross your arms across your chest and turn away every time they jump up. You have to be endlessly patient and consistent as does every member of the house.

Our dogs have been taught to sit in their beds away from us but in the adjacent room whenever we are sitting around the table eating or whenever the doorbell rings. It's a good idea ATM while he's young not to eat anything while sitting on the sofa so he gets a clear instruction.

Teach your dv to be very quiet and calm around him. They too must wait calmly by the door without looking at the dog when it's time to go out. Sometimes, leave them at home while you are training him and mix the schedule up.

Teach him to sit and wait before going anything. Before feeding, before going through a door, before going out in the garden. Get him looking at you and waiting for your command. Reward him when he looks at you. Then progress to getting him to sit and wait for your command while you are out walking together. Do it randomly after three steps and after five minutes and after thirteen minutes for example. Get him to sit and wait and you decide when you walk on. Do not proceed if he pulls but equally, don't constantly pull on the lead, the training is in the release. So loose lead, walk along calmly, quick tug to stop, and immediately stop tugging and release when he does.

Only stroke him and pay him attention when he is calm and settled. Don't give him lots of stressed attention (like shouting at him) when he misbehaves as it will reinforce the problem.

Get a Perfect Fit harness for your lad and let him wear it around the house at all times (they are soft fleece so they are comfortable). That way, when you take him out, you only have to clip the lead on and there is far less palaver. He is reading your rituals and signals and those of your DC prior to going out and winding himself up so you have to break that association. With the harness on at home you can quickly clip the lead on and take him out at odd unexpected moments throughput the day. Maybe ten times in an afternoon for five minutes but very, very calmly and quietly. Do not walk him at the same time every day. Only clip the lead on when he is calm and sitting down. It obviously helps if you have taught him to sit first!

He sounds very high energy and of course he is very young so please persist in getting some help from a good trainer one to one. The teeth snapping needs to stop before it develops in to anything worse. Good luck!

Sorry missed your second post about him not jumping up and being trained to crate when you eat! That's great as it shows he is trainable. It's definitely worth putting in the work now.

When we were going through a difficult time with our pup we consultated a behaviourist. She suggested adaptil plug ins on all the time, zyclene supplement and yo make sure he's on a decent brand of food (carb free). She gave us lots of other advice too (which wouldn't be helpful in your situation so I won't go into it) but the above might help. Best of luck.

Thanks all. Will look at putting those things in place.

He’s a mixed breed. Not sure of what though!

For me, any mouthing I would treat as a puppy - stern verbal noise like a no or hey and leave the room. Every time.

When food is eaten I would put him in a down stay on his bed and give him a treat after.
Though you say he’s already learned to do basically the same with a crate.

For walks, I will not walk my dog if she’s leaping about.
She has to sit quietly for her lead to be clipped on, then she needs to be at heel and wait for the door to open and permission to walk.

You say you can’t make him sit and stay for a treat.
Presuming he has no issues with restraint (as you said he’s a rescue), if you’ve put him in a sit and he goes to pop up I’d just gently push him back into a sit.
He knows what the command means (I’m assuming?) and is choosing not to comply.

I think with obedience class, it’s too much distraction too soon.

Lead pulling, I can’t really help you with that one!

Inappropriate barking, depends on the reason.
Demand/attention seeking barking I would ignore.
Territorial barking I would deal with same as mouthing.
Barking at people, dogs etc on walks I think you’d need a behaviourist to assess what the reason is so it doesn’t escalate into aggression.

Also, I disagree with the whole dog tired dog is a good dog thing.
stacythetrainer.blogspot.com/2017/04/stop-walking-your-dog.html?m=1

As scweltish said, breed-appropriate brainwork would help him settle. If you have no idea of his breed mix, you could ask the rescue. And to be fair, virtually any dog would benefit from a bit of scentwork: it lets them work for a reward.

When u try and do anything with a hyped up dog ur starting seven levels back to where u need to be. Wait for him to be calm before u put the lead or, or u have lost the battle before u even leave the house and your walks as u have been experiencing are more hyper. When he has calmed down. Treat for the calm behaviour lead on and walk calmly out the front door.

With kids you need to be able to open the front door without the dog running out as they can get into trouble with people other dogs or traffic. So you need to be able to open the front door and have them wait to leave it

I'd work on getting him out the door when the kids are at school first. You're going to have to be more stubborn than him. Any mouthiness I'd tell him off and walk away. Try just getting him to sit next to the door when you aren't going out. Then try clipping on the lead even if you aren't going anywhere. You've got to keep him guessing and get him to be calm in increments. If the kids are there I'd get them out the door first then focus only on him. He may need to wait in the crate while you get the kids sorted. You'll get there. None of this is huge.

What's with the weirdos coming on doghouse to slag off dogs? You do wonder if some people are ok.

This is a great group to join on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/groups/374160792599484/?ref=share

There's loads of really useful info in their files, and you can ask them a question if you need more help.

Thanks.

The exercise thing is interesting. We did see a behaviourist early on and I may contact him again. He told us that too much exercise is a bad thing and that a bit of sniffy or a game that uses works a dog’s brain is useful. I’m trying to work on that.

Will also,look at that group. Thanks all.

Control and Management

If he goes into his crate ask for him to go into crate and then put lead on.

Do not squeal when he mouths you that will only excite a dog more. If he mouths at certain situations prempt this by giving a toy for hi to hold.

Scatter food on the floor when he is very hyper, sniffing for the food will physically calm him down, eg lower heart rate and breathing rate and allow you to do what you need to do

Avoid ball chasing high energy games for a bit.

Thanks.

Have you got a picture of the dog? Might help work out what breeds he might be then the advice can be more tailored.
I agree about pets mirroring us, a calm environment leads to a calm dog, difficult if you have kids though!

It’s a bit outing tbh. He’s a dog from Romania. Tibetan spaniel maybe?

You said you got him July. It takes three month for a dog to settle. His breed or background may help. I have high energy dogs. I would find out the breed if possible. I got a rescue in June. I find getting them into a routine is the best. I got an adaptil plug in from Amazon. Then start some basic reward based training so he is listening to you. I'm not sure if you have a private dog field to use im lucky there is one not too far and it has agility equipment in. One of mine loves it. Dog training classes have started they are never too old to go its good for socialisation. Try mentally stimulating him. He may be over excited due to breed or the fact the surroundings and life he has now especially if he's been in a kennel. Mine weighs 30kilo and 9 month old he use to jump up. He was an utter nightmare at feeding time. Until he sat calm i would not put food down. It takes time especially with older rescues. I use the distraction method for cyclists etc. Get some tasty treats in and even though hes 18 months go back to basic training at home.