How To Calm Down A Dog

6
how to calm down a dog

All dogs can get over-excited, or upset at times, whether they are puppies or adults. So knowing how to calm a dog can be a big help to any dog parent. If you feel like you’re living at the mercy of a hyper puppy, take comfort in the fact that dogs learn fast. Most young dogs grow out of this phase very quickly if people around them are consistent and reward the right behaviors.

Contents

Today I’ll share tried and tested ways to help your dog find her calm. The method you choose will depend on the cause of their unrest, whether that’s over excitement, anxiety or even stress. And you’ll need different coping mechanisms in place to calm down a puppy, compared to an adult dog.

Hyper Dogs

If you own a young Lab between 7 and 8 months of age, it won’t surprise you  that more people are searching online for when do Labs calm down? than any other breed of dog.

It’s not just because Labs are especially bouncy of course, but also because they are popular and big. A large bouncy dog usually makes more impact on those around him than a small one.

And it’s true, a boisterous young Labrador can be quite a handful. But fortunately there are several things that we can do to help our young Labs relax and calm down a little.

8 Months Old and Boisterous

It is not unusual for young Labs between 8 and 12 months of age to start causing injuries through their exuberance. Knocking children over, barging into old ladies, and jumping up at visitors are common crimes.

This is the peak age for excitable behavior. It can feel as though every social occasion is doomed to end up in tears. And it is no coincidence that this is the age at which many rescue dogs are given up to animal shelters or simply abandoned.

When Do Puppies Calm Down?

Puppies generally reach a peak of bounciness and mischief at 5-8 months old.

Smaller breeds often mature more quickly and may be pretty sensible by the time they are 9 months old or so. Big dogs often mature more slowly, mentally as well as physically.

When do Labs Calm Down?

Labs can be a little later than the average puppy in reaching the point at which you suddenly realise your pup is all grown up. But hang in there, it will come!

With the right handling techniques, most young Labradors begin to calm down around their first birthday. And are fairly ‘settled’ in temperament by the time they are eighteen months old.

In a moment we’ll look at ways to avoid some of the excitable puppy behavior that causes problems.

But first let’s look at how to cope when your Lab is on his worst hyper behavior

how to calm down a dog

How To Calm Down A Hyper Dog

A hyper dog is not a happy dog. He might seem happy as he leaps about – air nipping, barking, jumping at people, and so on. But he is actually a dog that doesn’t know where to put himself. And he is often actually quite upset.

Many people are quite shocked when the nice game they were playing with their young dog begins to get rougher and rougher. You may be tempted to shout at your dog if he nips you, or to give out a squeal.

Angry Behavior Won’t Help

Unfortunately, noises and angry behavior from you excites the dog more, until eventually he loses control completely

If you are scared, your dog will be scared too, and like most scared kids will behave even more inappropriately. So it’s really important that you intervene before things get to this point.

Remember that the hyper dog isn’t able to listen. He’s completely over the threshold and unable to calm himself. He needs you to help him.

how to calm down a dog

5 Steps To Calm Down a Dog

There are five steps you need to complete in order to calm down a hyper dog. The first two steps help you cope with the situation when it arises. The remaining three steps help to prevent your dog having a hyper episode in the future.

  1. Take control of your dog
  2. Calm your dog
  3. Change what you do around your dog
  4. Provide activities for your dog
  5. Teach your dog to relax

Step 1: Take Control of Your Dog

This is about physically managing your dog to make sure he doesn’t hurt you or anyone else.

It is important to be able to control a lively young Lab and you’ll find this easier to do if he is wearing a body harness.

You do not want to fight to clip a leash on a 70lb dog while he is nipping your sleeves or barking in your face.

So have him wear a training leash outdoors and a house line indoors.

Don’t take them off until you put him in his crate or sleeping area and leave him on his own.

Never use a choke chain or slip lead on a dog that has hyper episodes. He doesn’t know his own strength and he’ll hurt his neck.

Step 2: Calming Your Dog

Outdoors, the best thing to do is stop whatever you were doing with the dog when he got carried away, and start briskly leash walking.

Don’t hesitate, or try to engage a leaping, nipping dog in conversation – just pick up the leash and start walking.

Keep walking until the dog begins to relax as he walks along next to you.

If other people, children, or animals were exciting your dog, move him away from them.

Walking briskly but calmly around can help to lower your dog’s arousal level and let you get back in control of the situation.

Indoors you can use time out. Stop all play and place the dog in a crate or room by himself to calm down for a few minutes.

Give yourself a chance to calm down too, before bringing the dog back out again.

Step 3: Change What You do Around Your Dog

Very often dog owners unwittingly cause excitability, or at least contribute towards it, by their own behavior.

It is not difficult to ‘wind up’ a young dog.

This is not your fault. It’s just that humans and dogs play differently and interpret one another’s behavior differently.

It’s a kind of language barrier if you like.

Fortunately, you can soon put all this right.

Top Tip – be Low Key

Lots of over excited greeting and squeaky voices are rewarding for your excited puppy.

Pretend to be underwhelmed by your dog.

Talk to him quietly and calmly, and persuade other family members to do the same.

Top Tip – Avoid Physical Play

Another common mistake that new puppy parents make, is getting involved in a lot of physical play with a large young dog.

Inexperienced owners and teenage children often rough-house with a dog, pushing and pulling him, even rolling on the ground with him.

This is something you will need to avoid completely in future.

Have a look at this article – how to play safely with your dog – for better ways to engage with your growing puppy.

Top Tip – Don’t Ignore the Calm!

Your dog will be calm sometimes. Don’t ignore those times.

A while back my husband took one of our dogs to the vet for a booster.

An elderly couple arrived with their Golden Retriever. The young dog lay down quietly and the owners ignored it completely, chatting to one another.

After a few minutes the dog whined, and both owners turned to make a fuss of him. They then started chatting again, ignoring the now quiet dog.

Each time the dog whined, the owners paid him attention, and each time he lay quietly they ignored him.

This Encouraged Agitated Beahvior

Within twenty minutes, the dog was whining constantly and starting to become agitated.

They were no doubt convinced that the dog was upset because he was at the vets, when in fact he had been perfectly happy when he arrived.

The moral of this story is: rewarding and reinforcing good, calm, behavior is very important.

Step 4: Provide Activities for Your Dog

Young Labradors need exercise, mental stimulation and attention, but it needs to be the right sort of exercise and the right sort of attention.

Ignoring bad behavior, jumping, nipping and so on is important. But it is not the end of the story.

Your young dog needs an appropriate way of engaging with his family.

The Best Ways to Engage

The way to achieve this is through exercise, training and brain games.

Indoors, you can use puzzle toys and indoor games to entertain your dog in a calm and controlled way.

Outdoors you can focus on training your dog to do what he was born to do – fetch stuff for you.

Once his body and brain are tired, and you have put a stop to all rough play, you’ll find your dog’s behavior improving.

But there is one more thing you can do to help.

Step 5: Teach Your Dog to Relax

This is the final step in the process and the icing on the cake.

Dogs can be taught and encouraged to relax at home, and even in public places. You’ll find this a useful skill to teach your dog.

It’s a whole topic of its own. So do check out our ‘Teach your dog to relax article’.

How to Calm an Anxious Dog

The laid back Labrador isn’t a breed people typically associate with nervousness.

But nonetheless some Labs do experience anxiety, and some individuals are more disposed to be nervous of things than others.

Bad experiences in the past can make Lab anxious of repeating the encounter. Labs can also experience separation anxiety, or anxiety relating to old age.

The behavior of an anxious dog is very different to that of an over excited dog, so the process for how to calm an anxious dog is different to managing an excited dog.

Recognizing an Anxious Dog

Signs your Labrador is anxious include:

  • panting
  • drooling
  • pacing
  • barking
  • restlessness
  • toileting inside the house
  • destructive, repetitive or compulsive behavior.

The key to helping an anxious Labrador is to learn to read his signals when he tells you he is nervous.

Don’t attempt to push through them because his worries seem irrational to us, or you think he “should” be able to do something.

Always keep him at a point where he feels safe, then use training, counter conditioning, and medication if your vet recommends it to build up his tolerance and confidence around the thing which made him nervous.

You can read more about nervous Labradors here, and in the following section.

How to Calm Down a Scared Dog

Sometimes a Lab’s nerves are more than just jitters – he is outright fearful.

Moments of acute fear can happy to the most confident and happy-go-lucky of dogs, often in response to a powerful trigger, such as fireworks.

Signs your dog is frightened include:

  • yawning
  • nose licking
  • dilated pupils
  • trying to move away
  • barking
  • and growling.

Calming Frightened Dogs

Frightened dogs need to be separated from the thing that is frightening them.

You cannot hope to calm down a scared dog while the thing scaring them is still there.

Your Lab will only continue to get more scared, and eventually resort to aggression to try and drive the thing scaring them away.

Tackling Specific Situations

So far we’ve looked at how to manage dogs whose general disposition requires some calming influence.

But lots of Labrador owners visit this site and our forum looking for how to calm a dog down during a very specific event.

The next few headings are a round up of the most common questions we hear, and links to the pages where we have covered their answers in detail.

Then, we’ll look at calming aids you can purchase for your Lab, including medications and music.

How to Calm Down a Dog During Fireworks

Fireworks are perhaps the most famous dog frightener of all.

Most dogs will only experience them once or twice a year, which limits the opportunity for socialising them to the sounds at an early age.

We’ve written about helping Labs during fireworks here.

How to Calm a Dog Down in the Car

Some Labs are happy to spend a road trip asleep in the trunk. Others don’t seem to be able to settle.

Sometimes it’s because they’ve learned to associate car trips with a really exciting destination – the beach for example – and they’re excited.

These dogs might benefit from something calming and productive to occupy their time, like a favorite plush toy or blanket.

Or, since Labs are remarkably quick at learning landmarks, covering their travel crate in a blanket might keep them guessing your route until you’ve reached the end.

Other times, Labs can be unsettled in the car because car sickness is making them feel uncomfortable and anxious.

We’ve written more about how to cope with that scenario here.

How to Calm Down a Barking Dog

Dogs bark for a lot of different reasons, but whatever the trigger, our first thought is usually “how can I make it stop?”

We have a whole Barking Center dedicated to this and full of resources for working out why your dog is barking, and how to calm him back down to silence.

How to Calm Down a Female Dog in Heat

For owners of unspayed female Labradors, going into heat is going to be a feature of your lives from around the age of 10 months onwards.

Besides the physical signs, you might notice your female Labrador’s behavior is also out of sorts during heat.

Some girls become apprehensive and irritable while on heat, and you might notice they’re more reactive.

We’ve got lots of information about caring for your female Lab during heat here.

How to Calm a Dog Down for Nail Clipping

Clipping your Lab’s nails is a necessary chore.

Getting them used to it from an early age helps.

But if your Labrador already runs a mile at the sight of the clippers, it’s never too late to help them calm down for nail clipping.

This article is all about teaching your Lab to feel positively about nail clipping.

And this article ties up that process with some practical tips for getting the job done quickly.

How to Calm Down a Dog in a Crate

Lots of new Labrador owners hope to rely on crating their dog for short periods.

But settling calmly in a crate is a learned skill for many dogs.

There isn’t a quick fix to calm down a dog who gets agitated in their crate.

The Labrador Handbook by Pippa Mattinson(paid link)

But our crate training guide will show you the steps to get there with time and patience.

Calming Pills For Dogs

Whether it’s possible to calm a dog down with medication depends upon why your Lab isn’t calm to start off with.

It’s a good idea to have a chat with your vet if you are worried about your dog’s behavior. Especially if changes in behavior have been sudden, or if your dog seems to be showing signs of aggression.

If your pup is simply energetic and boisterous, then your vet is not likely to prescribe any kind of drug to alter their activity levels. But if they are stressed or anxious, there are remedies your vet might suggest to help ease their mood, for example dexmedetomidine (sold as Precedex).

Benadryl

A lot of dog owners also ask “can I give my dog Benadryl to calm them down?” We’ve written about using Benadryl for dogs here. But whilst it’s tempting to reach for an over the counter solution, we don’t recommend it without veterinary guidance.

Not least because the active ingredient has also been linked to increased excitement and nervousness in dogs!

Adaptil for Calm Dogs

One of the most popular pharmaceutical products for dog calming is Adaptil for dogs. Adaptil comes in plug-in diffusers and specially infused calming collars*(paid link) for dogs.

(paid link)

Both contain dog appeasement pheromone (DAP). There is evidence that DAP can relieve the signs of stress and anxiety during car journeys, fireworks, thunderstorms, and overwhelming social situations.

However, what it cannot do is magically make a happy and bouncy dog less bouncy. Which is why it’s so important to understand why your dog isn’t calm in the first place.

Calming Music

A different approach altogether, and one many dog owners are interested in, is using calming music for dogs. We’ve previously examined the way music makes dogs feel in this article. Calming sounds for dogs, such as this popular compilation*(paid link), can be used alongside other strategies to help your Lab cope with thunderstorms, separation anxiety and changes such as moving house.

Affiliate link disclosure: Links in this article marked with an * are affiliate links, and we may receive a small commission if you purchase these products. However, we selected them for inclusion independently, and all of the views expressed in this article are our own.

The Labrador Site Founder

Pippa Mattinson is the best selling author of The Happy Puppy Handbook, the Labrador Handbook, Choosing The Perfect Puppy, and Total Recall.

She is also the founder of the Gundog Trust and the Dogsnet Online Training Program 

Pippa's online training courses were launched in 2019 and you can find the latest course dates on the Dogsnet website

6 COMMENTS

  1. How do u calm a Pitt mix from running and barking at thunder storms .? He runs so long and hard I think he’s going to give himself a heart attack.

  2. Hello Katherine,
    I feel your pain. I have a just over one year old chocolate lab, and yes, he is so wonderful and sweet and he loves to be with me, but also yes, he is exhausting. I completely understand when you say putting him to bed offers the same feeling of relief you experienced when putting your 2 year old child to bed. You expressed my sentiments exactly. I guess we just stick with it. Our dogs will grow up eventually.

  3. I have a female Boxer/Terrier mix I rescued from the Harrisburg Humane Society 6 months ago. She had been turned in as a stray who had obviously had puppies fairly recently. She had no ID and they could not tell me much about her except she was about 2-1/2 years old. I have owned dogs in the past and they have been different mixed breeds who have lived with me until they got old, sick and passed on. This dog, Julie, is a different kind of dog — very friendly, very sweet, very quiet at home with me — but has episodes of excitability. She is having behavior training with two trainers and responds well for them and also me to some extent. But when she has the episodes of excitability (usually when she is in the company of several dogs at a time particularly at doggie day care where she goes one day a week and loves it, and also this week at a group training session with several dogs where she thought she was back at day care and just wanted to play and jump around with them). She weighs about 60 lbs and is a very strong dog. I am 80 years old and in good health but today particularly she was impossible to control. She wanted to get into the play area where the dogs were barking. She pulled me very hard and although she wears an easy walker harness she pulled her body next to mine (left a large bruise on my leg and may have hurt her own leg since she is limping a little). She knows where she is going for this one day a week daycare and starts getting excited and making lots of sounds half way in the car ride. I noted from your article that one thing to calm her down is to walk her around outside the building before entering it. The women who supervise the dogs say that she plays with all the dogs and one thing they have noticed is that she walks calmly outside with one of them when they go out to relieve themselves. I should probably also ignore her instead of responding when she starts getting excited prior to arriving at the day care. When we go out for a walk I have been avoiding areas where there are dogs or people and she walks very calmly with me. It has been suggested that she attend more daycare visits. I have a big fenced in yard but when we are outside she seems bored unless a couple of little dogs who roam free come to the fence and they exchange barks. She has toys which we play tug with. I always carry treats which seem to be effective although not when she is in the excitability phase. Other than the above we do not do much and could do more. I’ll speak to her trainers (whom she seems to respect more than me). Julie is a very smart dog who catches on very quickly; maybe the brain games would interest her or the training dummy. One trainer has suggested that Julie might be a good service dog with training such as law enforcement or a school or nursing home visitor. She obviously needs more than the love and affection I give her.

  4. Dear Person
    Thanks for the info.
    We have a lab named Harry
    He adopted him when he was 6 months old
    He is with us since July 2015. We do not put him on leash
    but that allows him to go out in streets and stay there for hours
    When my daughter searches for him and he smells her around him
    he comes back home along with her.
    How to stop him going out and doesn’t come back for hours?
    Please guide us and oblige.

LEAVE A REPLY