How To Calm Your Dog Down

Learning how to calm your dog down is crucial as it teaches them an important life skill. Some dogs do this naturally, and others tend to be more hyper and struggle to relax, which can cause problems for their owners. 

A common solution is to physically restrict a hyper dog with a crate, pen, or lead. This may work for some dogs, or as a temporary solution, but it will not work for all. This is because we can’t change the genetics of these dogs. Some dogs will always have higher energy levels, they just need an appropriate outlet. Through training, we can teach them to control their energy and release it at appropriate times. 

Impulse Control 

The more a dog controls their impulses, the easier they will find it. 

We need to teach dogs something which by default creates the emotional control they need. One way to do this is through bed training. Use food to lure your dog to the bed. During this training, we want to engage with the dog in a manner that gets them to match their energy levels with ours, which is an important life skill for your dog. 

To start this training, we want to encourage a high energy game with the dog as they need an outlet for their energy and you are giving them one. As you progress, put values into the training to teach the puppy to control their energy. 

This can be done over several sessions, depending on the dog’s capacity for food and engagement. You can use a lead to help with this training.

Bed Training

Start by creating a positive association by throwing bits of kibble onto the bed. Your dog will love this, and whilst they are eating the food on the bed, calmly say “bed, bed, bed”. 

Once your dog is comfortable with going to the bed, you can start luring them onto it, ensuring you guide your dog into a down position rather than a sit as this is a more stable position. 

Once this pattern of behaviour of going on and off the bed has been created, you can introduce a brief pause. Using your voice, encourage your dog to stay on the bed in a down position for a brief period of time. 

Pair your voice and energy with what you want from your dog. 

On and off the bed should be high energy and engagement from us, then calm it down with our voice when we want the dog to be relaxed on the bed. 

After 1 or 2 seconds of calm on the bed, release it with the high energy ‘finish’ command, where your dog can come off the bed again. 

This is useful as your dog can quickly understand that the stillness is part of the game and because the game is enjoyable, they will be happy to repeat it! 

It is important to note that once your dog has been rewarded for coming off the bed (or ‘finishing’), we need to control their energy again. Use calm praise while your dog is in a sit, and then bring the energy up again when sending them back to the bed. 

The key to this is repetition. 

Vary the time your dog stays on their bed in a down position. Build this up to longer periods of time. This way, your dog will learn to sync its energy with your input and the words associated with it. 

How To Calm Your Dog Down

You can’t change a dog’s character from high energy to docile, but it is possible to teach them to control their emotions for periods of time that extend as they gain experience. 

What your dog learns on the bed can then be transitioned onto lead training, playing with toys and retrieving games. 

Always encourage controlled bursts of energy. This could be running in circles on the lead, playing tug with a toy or chasing a ball, then suddenly asking for calm in a sit position. The reward is for the game to begin again.