Tips to Stop a Dog From Getting too Excited or in Trouble at Daycare

For this Los Angeles dog training session, we help 6 year-old Pitbull mix Blackjack; sharing tips on how to calm down an excited dog.

Right away I noticed that Blackjack started to lower her head anytime I went to pet her. The Body Mechanic for a confident dog is to keep their head parallel with the ground or raised up. Petting dog who is acting insecure can actually increase the insecurity so I stopped petting and pointed this out to her guardian.

Next I used a trick to boost a dog’s confidence that many Dog Behavior Expert’s use to stop dogs from lowering their head this way.

By starting to and stopping the petting of a dog under its chin this way, you can help boost its confidence. You can literally boost a dog’s confidence qand self esteem by petting them under the chin this way.

Being in an unbalanced state of mind is a contributing factor for many unwanted dog behavior problems. This was the case with Blackjack who got into trouble at Daycare by acting aggressive to other dogs when she starts to get too excited. Its not unusual for dogs who get over excited to get into trouble when they get too worked up. Fortunately Blackjack goes to an amazing dog daycare facility that works with dogs who have issues. Most dog daycares simply kick the dog out. This is why we think so highly and refer client to Wags to Whiskers.

I had discussed this issue with the guardian on the phone when we booked the session and offered some tips; a big one was having the day care gove Blackjack time outs throughout the day. This can help stop the dog from getting so tired it gets cranky.

Another secret to stopping excited dogs from turning aggressive is to really do the same thing, but quicker; giving the dog a time out when it starts to get excited. I handed my camera to the guardian so he could record me sharing tips to help an excited dog learn to stay calm and not act aggressive at dog daycare.

Many people wait too long and the dog’s excitement level is so high it takes them longer to calm down. If you can stop the dog before it gets to the midway point of their energy spectrum range, it can calm down faster. If you consistently stop the play when it gets to spirited, the dog can actually learn to play with a less than excited intensity level.

This tip to stopping dog excitement works for all types of dogs, so you dont have to be a professional Pitbull dog trainer to do it. I recommended the guardian share the above video with the dog daycare attendants so they can practice this trick to stopping dog excitement with Blackjack at Wags to Whiskers.

I also went over a focus command and hard targeting exercise that the guardian can use to redirect Blackjack’s attention or reposition him. These are a few great ways to stop a dog from getting into trouble before it actually happens.

To help the guardian remember all the positive dog behavior tips we shared in this in home LA dog training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video.