A hyperactive dog can annoy the owner. If your four-legged friend is clumsy, tends to do damage and / or you can't handle him when he's not in the cage, you need to start taking steps to change his behavior. Keep in mind that more often than not, a particularly active dog actually wants most of the attention from its owner; if you leave it in the cage alone for a long time, you only aggravate the situation. With a good dose of patience and persistence, you can train your furry friend to calm down and thus be able to enjoy each other's company.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Teaching the Dog How to Behave Around the House
Step 1. Establish "ground rules" for the dog to follow around the house
Define the type of behavior he should maintain when he is indoors and work on the aspects that do not meet your expectations. If you are consistent with the limits you impose on him, you will see that he will soon learn to respect them. Do you want him to always be still and calm when he is at home? Or is there no problem if he barks when he sees another animal outside?
- Focus on rewarding positive behavior rather than punishing negative behavior; give him a treat or chew toy when he calms down.
- Respect the rules you have established yourself, avoiding making him play vigorously at home or making him nervous on purpose. If you decide on a whim that he can act like a fool when you generally discourage these kinds of actions, you just confuse him.
Step 2. Ignore his wrong behaviors
While it may seem counterintuitive, it actually works. When he misbehaves (takes off a shoe, barks or jumps on you), he is just trying to get your attention and, by giving it to him, you actually reinforce his negative behavior. You have to try to ignore him when he does something wrong; this means avoiding eye contact, not talking to him and not having physical contact.
- When he calms down and calms down, reward him by giving him attention; in this way, he understands that only when he relaxes can he get what he wants.
- If you find yourself in a situation that you just can't ignore (for example, he has put your daughter's favorite doll in his mouth), offer him something better in exchange (for example a piece of meat or a candy). Only give him this other item after he leaves the doll and avoid chasing him or tricking him into running away.
Step 3. Encourage quiet "predefined behaviors"
These are the actions the dog takes when he doesn't know what else to do. If he is hyperactive when not in the cage, his default behavior is likely to be running around, jumping, barking, or other similar actions. So try to turn this tendency into a calmer attitude (like sitting up).
- This training involves frequent rewards, so that the animal is stimulated to do the things you ask him to do. Reward him with only a very small gift, and give him one whenever he makes an effort on his own to behave the way you want.
- You can set the default behavior to be the same as the one you get on command; you just have to make sure you diversify your training, avoiding giving it the voice or gesture order when you want to reinforce the default behavior.
Step 4. Eliminate temptation
In order for your dog to act calmly and quietly, you can remove any possible temptation from the environment he frequents. For example, don't leave your shoes around if you know they tend to gnaw on them; close the door of the children's room, so that he cannot take their games; do not leave food unattended on the table within its reach. Testing his willpower hardly leads to positive results.
- If you happen to see that he resists temptation (for example, he walks next to a piece of chicken left on the table, but does not take it), you must take advantage of the opportunity and reward him.
- Basically, you have to use common sense; dogs are intuitive animals, but they are not aware of themselves. Regardless of how well you have educated your four-legged friend, you shouldn't expect him to always have perfect behavior; you have to help him where you can.
Part 2 of 3: Keeping the Dog Calm Outdoors
Step 1. Get him to exercise
A dog that does a lot of movement is unlikely to become hyperactive; however, there is a fine line between exercise and restlessness. The walk is a good way to release the pent-up energy, as is the game of retrieving; But make sure you don't get too excited while engaging in these activities.
- It is important that you exercise every day; the duration and intensity of training depend on the age, breed and state of health of the animal. Contact your veterinarian or animal welfare organizations to find out about your pet's needs.
- Also stimulate him mentally on a regular basis. You can even include these activities during his evening meal, in order to engage him to "get" food (for example, you can put the treats in a dispenser or in a specific toy that releases a few food at a time).
Step 2. Avoid dog playgrounds
They are crowded places that excessively stimulate these animals. It is best to avoid them completely while you are training your faithful friend to be calm and more obedient; however, do not prevent him from interacting with his fellow humans; find him a playmate (preferably the dog of a friend or family member) who is more or less the same age, size and temperament, with whom he can have fun every now and then.
- Prolonged and intense stimuli, such as an experience in a dog playground, may seem like a great opportunity for your furry friend, but actually doing so can make him more agitated, complicating the process of calming him down even in the long run..
- The same is true for other situations where there are many people and / or dogs (such as parades, festivals, concerts, farmer's markets, and so on).
Step 3. Train him to walk on a leash
If you are hoping to be able to take your dog to public places without causing awkward or difficult situations, you need to work hard to get him used to being on a leash. This tool allows you to easily understand his tendencies (the dog forgets to be tied when you are not holding the leash) and at the same time helps you to correct his wrong behaviors. This is a technique that takes a lot of time, patience, and works best if you use rewards to reinforce good behavior.
- Make sure he's not already overexcited before taking him for a walk. Let him calm down and wait for him to stop barking, fidgeting, jumping, or whatever else he is doing, before exiting.
- Never allow him to pull on the leash; always keep him close to you and stop walking whenever he jerks.
- Give him a treat when he pays attention to you and when he behaves well by staying by your side.
- Use verbal commands, such as "at the foot" or "adagio" and reward him for obeying; eventually, he will learn the meaning of these terms and respond accordingly.
- The first few times, keep a fast pace, so that it is less difficult for him to adjust to the normal pace of people.
- You can move the leash quickly and abruptly to let him know when he is misbehaving - just be careful not to pull, otherwise he may know this is okay.
Step 4. Have him wear a harness
If your dog's "wild" behavior is due to a form of anxiety or nervousness (perhaps due to a holiday fireworks), you can calm him down by wearing one of these garments that gently squeeze his body. Feeling lightly wrapped has a calming effect on animals (as well as people), because it is similar to a hug.
- This solution is even more effective if you only make him wear the harness when he is scared or anxious.
- You can find this type of clothing in pet stores or by asking your vet for more information. Alternatively, you can buy a generic pet garment and fit it to your furry friend (as long as it's not too tight); these are all solutions that you can easily find online too.
Part 3 of 3: Making the Doggie More Obedient
Step 1. Enroll him in a dog obedience school
If you can afford it, find a weekly training course run by qualified personnel. Many pet stores offer this type of service for dogs and their owners. The greatest benefit that is obtained from these courses is that the dog follows a real and tested training method; it is therefore a great option for first-time owners.
- Obedience classes only give you the tools to train the dog yourself. You don't have to think that they replace the work you have to do to teach certain behaviors to your furry friend; if you want to get results, you have to constantly engage with the animal outside of class.
- If you don't already know any schools near your home, search online or at other dog groups to find out what training courses are in your area.
Step 2. Use several rewards and praise your four-legged friend a lot
While some experts disagree on the best way to train a dog, many argue that positive reinforcement is the key to success. It basically consists of a reward system to teach the animal which behaviors are okay and allowed. The reward could be a dog treat, a physical display of affection, verbal praise (for example, exclaiming "good dog"!) Or a combination of all of these.
- If you want positive reinforcement to work, you need to give it the reward right after the good behavior; if you let too much time pass between his action and the moment of the reward, the dog is unable to combine the two.
- Many people find it helpful to use a clicker (a small device that makes a "click" sound when operated), as the animal manages to link good behavior with reward; you can find the instruction manual and equipment at pet stores or online.
Step 3. Read a book on dog training
You can find an infinite number of them on this subject, ranging from manuals for beginners, which provide the basic notions, to more in-depth ones that analyze the psychology of the animal. To keep things as simple as possible for you and your four-legged friend, start with a guide of some kind that offers tips that you can easily locate and follow.
Buy a book that is written by an animal behavior expert; check his references by doing an online search
Step 4. Minimize the time your dog spends in the cage
If he spends all night and most of the day inside the enclosure, he has few opportunities to socialize, he is bored and certainly has a lot of pent-up energy. The dog needs to learn which behavior is acceptable and which is wrong, but he cannot do it if he is locked up all the time. When an animal remains in a cage for so long, the moment it comes out it feels so relieved that it struggles to hold back its exuberance.
- The cage should be used especially when you want to train puppies to do their own needs. If possible, you should avoid keeping your furry friend locked up when you are at work or at night. With good training, his behavior should be acceptable enough that you can be trusted to let him loose around the house without constant supervision.
- Remember that although the cage prevents your dog from destroying furniture or peeing in the house, it cannot stop him from misbehaving in any other way. It is no fun having to deal with an animal that barks or howls constantly and it is a behavior that can also be maintained inside the cage.
Step 5. Teach him basic voice commands
These are "sitting", "on the ground", "stationary", "at the foot" or any other order you wish. By teaching the animal to respond to requests, you strengthen your image as a pack leader and its instinct to pay attention to you. The key to getting the right reaction to command is to use a reward system and always use the same word to indicate a certain desired behavior. For example, don't say "down" to order him not to jump and also to lie down.
- Consider using the leash during voice command training sessions (even at home); if the dog disobeys or doesn't pay attention to you, suddenly move the leash to correct him.
- Remember to reward him for having reacted correctly to the command (verbal or gestural) even if the good behavior was "stimulated" by a corrective gesture (the movement of the leash); otherwise, the dog will have no good reason to obey you!
Advice
- Be patient and consistent, the process takes time.
- Take him for a walk often to help him release excess energy.
- The more time you spend training him, the happier you both will be.
- The retractable leash is not recommended for training, because suddenly changing length is not easy to use to transmit orders or corrections.
- Have your dog neutered or spayed before committing to training. Not only is it a question of responsibility for controlling the animal population, but this way you have a more docile and less distracted specimen.
Warnings
- Never deny him food or water as a punishment for bad behavior.
- Avoid using the cage as a punitive tool, otherwise the dog will learn to hate the time he spends there, instead of considering it a comfortable refuge.
- Never hurt him or intimidate him; apart from being cruel and illegal behavior, the only thing you get is a frightened animal. Dogs don't learn from severe punishment.
- Older dogs have a harder time responding to training than younger ones.
