This is one of the most common questions I get asked and there are so many reasons for it. It is certainly not true that dogs that are over stimulated are always under exercised, in fact, I often come across guardians who are exercising their dogs more and more in order to try and tire them out, only to find that they just have a very fit, over excited dog!
Some dogs may be addicted to being excited which can happen during adolescence because the feedback loop that helps reduce impulsivity is not yet fully formed. Adolescence is a time of great vulnerability in its own right and behaviours can become addictive – literally – due to the chemical high. The more a dog practices these behaviours, the worse they get. Some dogs may get so stimulated they can’t rest – they then struggle with behaviours because they are sleep deprived. Others may be hyper aroused because they need to be on high alert due to a bad past, a poor welfare start or because they are struggling with separation related issues. Sometimes the dog’s genetics drive excitement – terriers, collies, spaniels and other highly motivated working breeds may be easily distracted by movement or smells and in some there has been a very specific gene selection for working motivation that can lead to challenges in the pet dog – the reddish tinted Golden Retriever is one such example.
Most highly stimulated behaviours are related to impulsivity in one form or another and in simplistic terms, dogs will fall somewhere on the scale of very impulsive to not very impulsive. For many behaviours it is best to think in terms of “frustration tolerance” – a dog may be more tolerant of frustration or less so. Frustration tolerance is something that has to be learnt, just as it does in humans – it doesn’t just come with age. Helping dogs learn that “sometimes life is boring” is one of the most important things we can do for them and the sooner this is done the better because the longer frustration goes on, the harder it is to deal with and the more frustrating it can be for the dog when we try to change the behaviour. For dog that have been in this state for a long time, we have to go slowly and carefully.
While we are often told that routine is important and helps dogs feel calmer, what happens if you are late home, unwell, the children want to pile onto your bed on Christmas morning with presents, or you want to go out and see a movie when your dog is usually demanding dinner or a walk? If we do not prepare them for the unexpected and the sometimes variable, we are not doing them any favours – we are consigning them to a life of stress. Being too predictable leads to its own problems, so while initially helpful for dogs that have had some serious anxieties in their lives, we have to find ways of helping them cope when life, as life is prone to, throws a curve ball.
We also have to be aware that dogs that are highly stimulated, can’t settle, bark a lot, seemingly don’t appear comfortable in their own skin and so on, are often in a state of stress the whole time. Their stress response system is constantly being triggered. This will affect the gut, putting it into dysbiosis (imbalance) and their long term physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. What may surprise some to learn is that the gut itself, is often a cause for the behaviour and when tested we find that it is seriously out of balance. When out of balance, the gut triggers the stress response system and we frequently see behaviours manifest because of this – our dogs find themselves in a vicious circle. Diet, the environment, neutering, vaccination, flea and tick treatments, age, early development, how a puppy was born and the puppy’s mother can all be significant factors in this. When working on behavioural support, we have to look at the whole picture in order for the work we do to have the greatest impact. When I work with people, I often recommend a gut test because I have increasingly found that the results correlate exactly with the behaviours we see.
This does not mean that by changing diet and rebalancing the gut, everything will go back to normal, because behavioural habits form but what it will do, is show us the areas to target and allow the behaviour work that we do to have a greater impact. Diet and the gut is often a highly significant factor in these behaviours or keep driving them even when we instigate behavioural support.
Sometimes dogs that are hyper aroused, pacing, easily distracted and unable to focus are in discomfort. Often this may be classified as undetected pain because it is not obvious, even to the vet. There are ways of assessing this and finding out more and Dogs in Motion, can help you with this. (PUT IN LINK)… Some of this pain may be gut related – even if your dog looks great on the outside. A gut that is out of balance leads to inflammation in other areas of the body and many of the dogs I have worked with that have undetected pain and gut dysbiosis are under the age of 2 years. Some have had quite serious issues that have gone undetected and we should not think that these issues only arise in elderly dogs.
Of course, at the other end of the scale, in older dogs, pain may lead to reduced sleep and this in turn increases inflammation and gut dysbiosis which in turn increase joint discomfort. There can even be an incorrect diagnosis of canine cognitive decline as the two things present similar symptoms. Sadly, just because a dog is older, cognitive decline may be incorrectly assumed. Improve the pain situation and we may find that there is no cognitive decline or where there is decline, it is reduced or slowed down. What we do know is that if a dog is in discomfort or stress for some time, there is a greater chance of it developing cognitive decline!
The most common thing I work on when supporting dogs with behavioural issues is frustration tolerance, calm and focus and in helping their guardians support them so that they start to feel in control of outcomes. By giving them more agency, by allowing them to be part of the decision making process and learn how to make better choices, we empower them. We also want to help them learn how to take responsibility by allowing them to problem solve their way to this. So much of what we do with dogs is transactional ie, telling them what to do and deciding for them. We control almost every aspect of their lives – when they go out, where the water bowl goes, when and what they eat, when they go out for a walk or out for a toilet break, when they get neutered, when they go to the vet and the list goes on. We put the lead on, put them in the car, pick them up, request they do something to get a treat, tell them what to do (sit, down, stay, come, bed etc) and almost every interaction with them is very one sided. By turning our interactions into a partnership, working in a more relational way, we can take our relationship with our dogs to a whole new level. Also by changing the emotional response to things, behaviours naturally start to change – even when we don’t work on a specific behaviour itself.
When we work with the dog’s mind, treat them as an intelligent and emotional being, allow them choice and to problem solve while at the same time looking at the wider aspect of their lives including their Mood State (see link to a fabulous talk below) gut health and diet, we can make some astonishing changes.
If you feel you and your dog are in need of support due to some of these issues – get in touch, no matter where you are as these are issues we can work on even remotely.