Unhealthy Balance: Over-stimulating and Under-stimulating

This unhealthy balance can soon be corrected!

It's always easier to correct your dog's behaviour before seeking inwards to see how we might be adding to a behaviour or a situation. On reflection, we've narrowed it down a few things, one of the main areas is the unhealthy balance of Over-stimulating and Under-stimulating behaviours in your dog's routine.

Unhealthy balance: Over-stimulating and Under-stimulating If you have a dog that struggles to settle down, hyperfixated on toys, destructive or still high energy even after a walk, your dog is mostly over stimulated and running on adrenaline and unlikely stimulated in the areas they are craving. Things we recommend implementing: - Too many toys: Does your dog have too many toys? Yes it's lovely getting your dog new toys as they love it but this can be more harmful than good! If your dog is hyper fixated on playing, remove the toys from easy access and play with them for a set amount of time a day or as a treat. By limiting the access, it encourages your dog to settle down and playing it seen more as a reward rather than a neccessarity. - Promote relaxation:

If your dog struggles to settle down particularly after a walk, we recommend shortening the walk to three 20 minutes walks or two 30 minutes a day rather than one massive one. This is because your dog is mostly running on fight or flight and by breaking up the walk duration, you get the same benefits but reduce the massive hit on the nervous system (hence the struggle for relaxation). We also recommend looking at our guides on why you should do "Nothing" on your next dog walk and what to do when you aren't fancying a long walk for tips and alternatives that would better suit your dog. - Take into account their breed:

You would be naive to believe their breed has nothing to do with it when in fact, it has a large thing to do with it! Take the time to really understand your dog's breeds, what are their origins and what were they breed for. You will begin to understand your dog's strengthes and weaknesses, for example, if you've got a Border Collie, take the time to train them herding recall (even if you are at the dog park) and practice lead work. If you've got a Daschund, play hide and seek games and narrow it down to absurb finds such as spices, teabags, etc. rather than just dog treats.

-Integrate more mental stimulation: Now you have reduced your dog's walk time and scheduled in play time, it's time to integrate more mental stimulation. Mental stimulation is wonderful for draining energy without hyping a dog back up. Review your current routine and see what you could differently, i.e. replacing a food bowl with hand feeding on walks, lickimats, frozen kongs to sprinkling in your garden (if kibble only).

You simply need to tab into what you are already doing and ask yourself what could I be doing better? If you're not sure, book us in pet sit for you and we can soon offer tips that would work for you dog.

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