Helping your puppy manage their overexcitement
If your puppy is so excited when you get home that they’re racing around the room, jumping up and nipping, barking, tearing your office clothes apart or tugging at your ankles, then they’re overly excited.
It makes sense. Dogs live in the moment so it may not make any difference if you’ve been gone for 5 hours or 5 minutes, they’ll still be excited to see you.
It’s very good for your self esteem to be greeted with so much enthusiasm, but if this over the top behaviour is bothering you, here are some tips to help you manage it.
How to manage your puppy’s over-excitement
Exercise and Games
Your puppy will need to burn this energy off, so it’s best to factor this into your schedule.
If you’re working long hours, have an extra late afternoon snack so you’re not tired and hangry when you get home and you’ll have the energy to take your puppy out for a walk before you start making dinner.
One of the biggest adjustments I had to make when I adopted Amelia was factoring her needs into my schedule (and I had to kick this up another notch when I had babies as well).
It took a bit of planning to meet everyone’s needs and I had to make sure I wasn’t tired and hungry but it meant our training, exercise and walking sessions were much more enjoyable.
Teach your puppy to “hunt” for their food
If you don’t have time for a walk as soon as you get home, feed your puppy their dinner in a puzzle toy, kong or by throwing it all over the lawn so they have to hunt for their food.
This will keep them busy and entertained while you make your dinner or have a rest.
Implement Time Outs and Calming Breaks
Do regular calming breaks through out play time, to bring your puppy back to earth so they can focus on you again and catch their breath (mmm puppy breath!).
It doesn’t take much to get a puppy so wound up that they don’t know where to direct all their energy and this usually results in biting, barking and being quite OTT.
Implement a Time Out if they bite too hard or you just need some space, but just ensure your puppy has had plenty of opportunities to burn off that excess energy before they go into time out.
For more puppy raising tactics, save your seat in my free masterclass
“3 Simple Tactics for Raising a Well-Behaved Dog”
