# Very Excitable dog not sure how to calm down



## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

I have a 9 month old puppy he is a staffie cross rottweiler and we have had him for just over 3 months.

Bruno (the puppies name) seems to have random outbursts of which he gets extremely excitable he runs aroung the room jumps on furniture he is basically out of control he doesnt listen to what you say when his in this mood if i just ignore him he runs up to me and bits my arm ( not hard) and runs off this continues for a few minutes.

Bruno is taken out for an hours walk everyday so it cant be out of boredom or not going out, im a new dog owner so not sure how to deal with this any help and advice?

Kayleigh


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

leighhawkes89 said:


> I have a 9 month old puppy he is a staffie cross rottweiler and we have had him for just over 3 months.
> 
> Bruno (the puppies name) seems to have random outbursts of which he gets extremely excitable he runs aroung the room jumps on furniture he is basically out of control he doesnt listen to what you say when his in this mood if i just ignore him he runs up to me and bits my arm ( not hard) and runs off this continues for a few minutes.
> 
> ...


A lot of pups tend to do this at various times in the day, its sometimes reffered to as the zoomies. It mainly seems to be caused by hyper or over excitement. Some pups and young dogs also dont seem to know when to quit and get over tired and then it happens sometimes. They appear to be in their own world and just run around like something possessed and as you say dont listen and focus on anything and also the mouthy nippy behaviour starts.

It helps sometimes if you give them something to self amuse and wind down and then they should rest. Chews are good for this chewing is also a great de-stresser a lot of dogs like these Pure Dog | Stagbar antler dog chews | natural dog treats | organic dog snacks | hypoallergenic dog chews | long-lasting dog chews | teeth cleaning dog chews | low fat dog treats or any other safe suitable chews you can find really sometimes a selections good so you can rotate them.

Kongs are good too you can fill them with wet food or almost anything, again see link there is receipes with things you can fill them with and how to makke them last long The Best Durable Dog and Cat Toys & Treats from the KONG CompanyKong

Mine had these too again you can fill these with kibble from their allowance or virtually anything.
Busy Buddy Twist-n-Treat - YouTube

Buy giving him something like this he should learn to wind down, and at the same time have somthing to take out any mouthy nippy behaviour on as well as any stress, fraustration and its also a way to channel excess energy too as its mentally stimulating.


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## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

Sled dog hotel said:


> A lot of pups tend to do this at various times in the day, its sometimes reffered to as the zoomies. It mainly seems to be caused by hyper or over excitement. Some pups and young dogs also dont seem to know when to quit and get over tired and then it happens sometimes. They appear to be in their own world and just run around like something possessed and as you say dont listen and focus on anything and also the mouthy nippy behaviour starts.
> 
> It helps sometimes if you give them something to self amuse and wind down and then they should rest. Chews are good for this chewing is also a great de-stresser a lot of dogs like these Pure Dog | Stagbar antler dog chews | natural dog treats | organic dog snacks | hypoallergenic dog chews | long-lasting dog chews | teeth cleaning dog chews | low fat dog treats or any other safe suitable chews you can find really sometimes a selections good so you can rotate them.
> 
> ...


Hi,

Thanks for your respond i put these down to 'silly half hours' it just scares me a bit when he seems possessed lol and especially when he nips and runs away he normally stops after 5 - 10 minutes next time he does it ill try and get a toy for him to play with it might stop him going mad .


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

leighhawkes89 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Thanks for your respond i put these down to 'silly half hours' it just scares me a bit when he seems possessed lol and especially when he nips and runs away he normally stops after 5 - 10 minutes next time he does it ill try and get a toy for him to play with it might stop him going mad .


I would just pop him in another room like the kitchen with it and walk away and ignore him and just leave him to calm down. Then let him out but ignore him for a minute or two longer and then when you know he is over it and going to stay calm just give him some calm praise. The more you seem to try to stop them in mid flight otherwise the more they seem to get hyped.


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

Flynn and his sister (when she was here) would do the same thing as pups and they were very big at five months old. My trainer said they just needed to learn their boundaries in my front room and when they started to romp around like this I was to put them on their leads and sit down with them sitting next to me. It was just a way of showing then how to behave in my front room.
Once they settled I could take the lead off but if they started again it would go back on. You must stay very calm, not get annoyed or show any anger and say NOTHING just gently take hold of the collar and attach the lead then sit down. At first your pup will think he's going out and get even more excited but he'll soon learn what you want. Before you release him from the lead once he's been calm for ten mins or so, say 'good boy' and give him a small treat.

This worked with my two and there were two to cause havoc.


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## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

All the advice is very good... I was just going to add...

If he is on Bakers.. this wouldn't be helping, and could be making him worse as it's crap food. 

Also... do you do a lot of training/mental stimuation? 

If Merlin (18 weeks) is being a pain in the rear, we either play a game of find it with him, or we do some quick training, it soon tires him out. 

Although, don't let him get over-stimuated, and over tired... you can normally tell if they're becoming OTT about everything... in which case just remove all toys and either put him in a crate, or we hold Merlin, whilst stroking him for a while to calm him down 

Hope this helps


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

Spencer often gets the zoomies when he has a poo  Makes picking up very difficult at times. I have to just stand there and wait for him to stop.


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## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

WhippetyAmey said:


> All the advice is very good... I was just going to add...
> 
> If he is on Bakers.. this wouldn't be helping, and could be making him worse as it's crap food.
> 
> ...


Hi Bruno is on bakers and maybe this is the problem i always thought bakers was a good food to give him ? maybe it has e numbers in or somthing? thanks for the advice


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## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

leighhawkes89 said:


> Hi Bruno is on bakers and maybe this is the problem i always thought bakers was a good food to give him ? maybe it has e numbers in or somthing? thanks for the advice


Bakers is really awful (although I do feel stronger about it than some people on the forum) - I personally think if you read the ingredients and can't understand some of them... then it's not great food. It's got lots of e-numbers, additives and 'fillers' things they put in the food that doesn't benefit the dog.

Basically anything you buy in a supermarket isn't great.

There are better, for similar prices... these may help;

whichdogfood.co.uk

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/111437-raw-feeding-everything-you-need-know.html

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/189896-dry-dog-food-index.html

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/194976-wet-dog-food-index.html


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## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

WhippetyAmey said:


> Bakers is really awful (although I do feel stronger about it than some people on the forum) - I personally think if you read the ingredients and can't understand some of them... then it's not great food. It's got lots of e-numbers, additives and 'fillers' things they put in the food that doesn't benefit the dog.
> 
> Basically anything you buy in a supermarket isn't great.
> 
> ...


maybe ill have to consider changing his food then tbh i did hear that bakers wasnt great but when we brought bruno he had been eating bakers complete so we carried him on eating it and we have just introduced giving him meat with his dinner and he doesnt really eat his biscuits he just eats all the jelly and meat, i might get him some food that isnt so rich for his stomach


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## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

leighhawkes89 said:


> maybe ill have to consider changing his food then tbh i did hear that bakers wasnt great but when we brought bruno he had been eating bakers complete so we carried him on eating it and we have just introduced giving him meat with his dinner and he doesnt really eat his biscuits he just eats all the jelly and meat, i might get him some food that isnt so rich for his stomach


Some dogs it doesn't affect too much. Others are really affected by it. I fostered a Collie who was on it when we got her, and she was mental, changed her food and within two weeks her coat was better and knew when to chill out!

It's lacking is just about everything, also the food you feed can affect his health and can have the affect of the dog not living so long...

I recommend Skinners if you have a lower budget, as I fed that to Merlin before changing to Acana, which is good food, bit more expensive though, but you feed less... Unless you have a great dane... then it would be crazy expensive!

Oh and Bakers is quite expensive for what it is.


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## Dober (Jan 2, 2012)

He sounds like a lot of fun! 

Have you thought about taking him to a class? Classes are very tiring for puppies without having to worry about the physical stress on the joints of over-excersize. An hour of class for my boys is better than 3 hours of running


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## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

WhippetyAmey said:


> Some dogs it doesn't affect too much. Others are really affected by it. I fostered a Collie who was on it when we got her, and she was mental, changed her food and within two weeks her coat was better and knew when to chill out!
> 
> It's lacking is just about everything, also the food you feed can affect his health and can have the affect of the dog not living so long...
> 
> ...


yeah it is pretty expensive to be honest and it has quite bright colours in it so the vet did say any food with bright colours arnt good for a dog, ive also been recommended chappie as its light on their stomach ? and also how do i change his food without him being sick because i tried to do it progressivly before and he was just sick all night ?


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## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

Dober said:


> He sounds like a lot of fun!
> 
> Have you thought about taking him to a class? Classes are very tiring for puppies without having to worry about the physical stress on the joints of over-excersize. An hour of class for my boys is better than 3 hours of running


we have considered it but classes are quite expensive here and we are on a budget  i go on you tube alot and try to train him my self .. ive found a game that he loves and also wares him out a bit i hide treats around the house for him and he has to find them he always gets worn out by running around the house and garden .


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## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

leighhawkes89 said:


> yeah it is pretty expensive to be honest and it has quite bright colours in it so the vet did say any food with bright colours arnt good for a dog, ive also been recommended chappie as its light on their stomach ? and also how do i change his food without him being sick because i tried to do it progressivly before and he was just sick all night ?


What did you try him on? When I changed Merlin's over I did it like 10% and when his tummy was settled and was having firm 'toilets' then I moved on to 30% then 50% then 70% then 90% for quite a quite then 100% over about 2 weeks or so...

He shouldn't be sick.. Seriously read those links I gave you, they are really helpful - there is such good food out there, you just need to research it.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Would deffinately get him off the Bakers if you can for what it is its very expensive too and full of sugars as well I think and very little meat to a lot of other foods. It has been associated with hyper activity and also skin irritation in a lot of dogs and once off it they are different again.

You need to look for foods that have meat listed as the first ingrediant and highest percentage followed by recognisible ingrediants like vegetables and rice/potato etc. also no added aritificial preservatives colourings or flavours.
avoid ones that state meat derivatives or meal too it can be any old rubbish
quality foods will always list the actual meat used like chicken lamb etc.


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

I'd also agree with getting him off the Bakers. You can get a much better quality food for around the same price, it's not exactly a cheap food despite being absolute crap. Food can make a HUGE difference. I ran out of food at the end of last week so put Spen on Wagg for a couple of days till we could get more. He was horrible. Couldn't settle, destructive, clingy, whiny, couldn't focus and just generally a real pain in the backside. He's on the go a lot anyway so was a real nightmare with the effects of the food.


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## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

WhippetyAmey said:


> What did you try him on? When I changed Merlin's over I did it like 10% and when his tummy was settled and was having firm 'toilets' then I moved on to 30% then 50% then 70% then 90% for quite a quite then 100% over about 2 weeks or so...
> 
> He shouldn't be sick.. Seriously read those links I gave you, they are really helpful - there is such good food out there, you just need to research it.


i tried him on a puppy mix from wilkinsons but he didnt like it i will def have a look at them websites.


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## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

leighhawkes89 said:


> i tried him on a puppy mix from wilkinsons but he didnt like it i will def have a look at them websites.


That will most likely be just as terrible - I tried looking up the ingredients online but can't see to find them...

Seriously - I am not saying this for fun. It really can affect the way a dog behaves...


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## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

WhippetyAmey said:


> That will most likely be just as terrible - I tried looking up the ingredients online but can't see to find them...
> 
> Seriously - I am not saying this for fun. It really can affect the way a dog behaves...


what do you think of the chappie dog food? do you think it would be worth a try?


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## WhippetyAmey (Mar 4, 2012)

leighhawkes89 said:


> what do you think of the chappie dog food? do you think it would be worth a try?


No. It's almost as bad.

Read the links I gave you.

If you can't be bothered then just have a read about Skinners... if you're on a budget it's actually cheaper than chappie, but a lot better.


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

Try foods like Burns, Wainwrights, Naturediet, Naturesmenu. Go for a food that has meat as the first or second item in the ingredients list. Avoid food with "meat deritatives" because this is not fresh meat, its animal parts like feathers that have no nutrition.

Burns natural dog food products for adult dogs, puppies and working dogs | Burns Pet Food

Wainwrights Dog Food for Sale at Pets At Home

| Naturediet

Natures Menu − Natural Dog Food and Natural Cat Food | Raw dog food, BARF diet for dogs, Natural Feeding


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