Overexcited dogs most likely lack stimulation or are just plain bored, and there are different ways of correcting this.

First off, ask yourself what role you play in your dog’s behaviour? Dogs will sense their owners energy and reflect back. If you are full of energy, stressed, worried, sad, nervous or anxious you will see a changed behaviour in your dog. If you come home and the first thing you do is get your dog excited over the fact that you are home by greeting and cuddling them, they will learn that overexcitement is acceptable because they are being rewarded for it. Ignore them for just a few minutes until they settle down, then give all the love and affection you want. A dog doesn’t understand hello and good bye the same way humans do. They understand attention and no attention. Attention while presenting bad behaviour=reinforcement of that very behaviour.
Also make sure that when you intentionally get your dog excited – follow through! Don’t wind them up and then call it quits when you’ve had enough. Follow through with the “play-time” until it is out of your dog’s system. 

Hyperactivity in dogs can come from psychological needs as easily as it can from physical needs. Take them out for a walk or give them a task to preform. Giving your dog a mission can change their state of mind completely. You will notice a sense of pride when you put a little backpack with your water bottle for your dog to carry. The hyperactive behaviour will redirect from being unfocused or easily disrtacted into getting this job done!
Remember that even though you take your dog out for a walk to get rid of built-up energy it’s not an excuse to pull or walk uncontrolled. They will still get tired by walking nicely next to you.

There can be many reasons your dog bites or keeps mouthing the leash, for example they can be bored, overexcited, frustrated or just like having something in their mouth. You can prevent this by letting your dog have a stick or a toy to carry on the walk. You can also teach your dog the “out” command to let things go.
Some dogs might think the leash is a toy, therefore it might be useful to take away the “charm” of it. By putting the leash in front of your dog, wait until they switch focus onto something else (preferably you) and reward immediately for not being interested.

Pulling can become a big problem if not dealt with in time. If you are experiencing difficulty controlling your dog on walks it’s best to book a training session with us. But here are a few quick tips:

*Keep your dog on a short leash. Don’t worry, they will still get the exercise they need.

*Use small subtle corrections often rather than hard “pops” of tugs on the leash a few times. Sometimes you might need to give a less subitle tug initially to let your dog know that you only accept a certain distance from you.

*When they start pulling, change direction. This will throw them off balance a bit and forget what they were pulling towards. Walk a few steps in the other direction and turn around again and continue your walk.

To be consistent is key regardless of methodology. Grab your dog’s attention with treats or toys, or anything that’s rewarding for them. Once you have their attention it is important they learn the “look” command.

The goal is to never repeat yourself when giving your dog a command. If you ask them to sit they should sit, the first time you say it! If you then go ahead and say “sit” again without correcting the refusal to sit the first time, you are teaching your dog that they are in control of when they sit because they learn that you will keep repeating the commands until they feel like executing it.
Control your feelings, if you are worked up or uncertain as you give a command, your dog will turn a deaf ear. Have a friend/family member observe your behavior and give you feedback — or even film it so you can see for yourself. Also ask yourself if your dog truly knows the commands you’re asking for. They simply might not understand what you want them to do.

Make sure your entire family is on the same page when it comes to interaction with the dog. As mentioned, consistency is key! Use the same commands, don’t repat yourself and mark the behaviours you don’t like.
Pay attention to underlying issues like your dog’s emotional state. They might not listen because they are busy being scared or nervous because of another dog across the street or focused on claiming territory.

So much can be gained when you have your dog’s full attention. You will be more successful with keeping them out of trouble like running out into the street or picking up something from the ground when they listen to you.

Nuisance barking can be quite a problem and we are often asked what to do about it.
Barking is perfectly natural for dogs, be it for warning, protection or expressing excitement it is still one of their most important forms of communication. Usually it is not very long lasting and is hardly a problem for most dog owners, they are after all just talking to you, just letting you know what’s on their mind.
But excessive barking on the other hand could be an inconvenience and is mostly caused by plain boredom or lack of stimulation.

Undoubtedly, this is a strong indication that there is a problem that needs to be dealt with. Our initial reaction is to ask ourselves what problems the dog has but what we really need to focus on is us, the humans! Ask yourself these questions: Do you give your dog enough stimulation and exercise? Could you unintentionally be encouraging the barking? Or could the problem simply be that your dog suffers from anxiety?

It mostly comes down to how you treat your dog when they are excited. How many of you pat your dog when they bark, telling them “there, there, it’s ok…” or if the dog is smaller, pick them up when they get excited over something.
Think about that for a second.
You are actually rewarding a behavior that your are trying to get rid of. This is called unintended positive reinforcement and it can do more harm than good.
Touching and patting your dog is rewarding for them, if you give them that reward when they are displaying a behavior we do not want to encourage you are in fact doing the opposite of what you want to achieve.

When clients ask us this question, the first thing that comes to our mind is to teach the dog how to bark. This might seem a bit confusing, but let us break it down for you.
If your dog learns what barking is and knows how to bark on cue, they will also learn what not-barking (i.e being quiet) is and you can just as easily have a command for that too.

Secondly, we want to point out the importance of exercise and stimulation. A dog that gets to have an outlet for all that energy is often a dog that dosen’t feel the need to bark excessively.
Contact our trainer if you want to know more about how to deal with this.