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Advice on calming him down please

meljoy

Well-known member
I wonder if anyone can give me some adivice on a new bevaviour Leo has developed. Everytime I get ready to go for a walk he starts this over excitable behaviour.
He used to get excited when the lead came out and so we did the usual sitting and waiting for him to calm before we carried on.
Well the excitment has now escallated to practical hysteria :sl*p:
As soon as I get the lead or even put my shoes on he starts dancing in circles and barking! Ive tried sitting down and ignoring him until he calms but as soon as I start to get ready again off he goes!!!

Yesterday it took us ages to get going. I wouldnt let him out of the door until he stopped whinning but as soon as we were outside he started barking again.
I know you have to wait for them to calm down but even just going out for a short walk is taking an age before we've even started.

Anybody got any advice? He's driving me crazy:bang:
 
I would try not to give away any sign that you are about to take him out until you are ready to go and go quickly, personally I would not bother with all this waiting for him to calm down, he probably does not understand why you are going to go out them change your mind then change it again and go.
In my opinion (others will disagree I know) getting excited and going crazy is part of the fun of going out, one day when he is old you will wish that he still was able to jump and go crazy.
 
Totally empathise with you Meljoy -we had two cavaliers and walk times and travelling in the car to get to the park used to be quite stressful. Never really cracked this problem when we had the two cavaliers together as it used to become a bit of a barking contest, but when our first cavalier died, it became a bit better.

We tried the whole making them wait thing and it didn't work -just prolonged the agony! Definitely found that if there was no big build up to the walk, and you effectively took the dog by surprise, just popping on the lead and going, this eliminated much of the excitable behaviour. Our dogs used to sense it was walk time by the behaviour of everyone around them -going to get pooper scopper, lead, coats on, etc., so if you can do all this out of sight of the dog, it should help.

Our two wore harnesses, so part of the problem was it took a bit of time getting the harness on which just whipped them up even more. Our new rescue cavalier Waldo is SO much better, no barking, a perfect angel in the car and will wait patiently to go until we are ready.

But I know how stressful it can be, particularly in the car with a dog with a sharp sounding bark -I would go with the surprise element and eliminate the build up, taking into account that the build up does not just include getting the dog ready but the whole other ritual of getting your coat on etc. Dogs can definitely sense a difference when it is walk time and when you are just going out without them.

Keep us posted on how you get on.
 
Thanks for your responses. James I never thought of just enjoying his energetic ways, You're right I should just lap it up as one day I'll be wishing he were dancing around in circles at my feet.

I think I'll take your advice and just try and get out of the door as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Pagep, I could try and secretly get ready but Leo follows me everywhere so he's know the minute the lead is brought out.

I'll just accept this is how we start our walks and stop stressing about it.cl*p
 
I'll just accept this is how we start our walks and stop stressing about it.cl*p

Excellent - I'm sure quite a few of the "problems" we all experience from time to time are made much worse by our own anxieties about them!

Rolereversal.gif
 
I wonder if anyone can give me some adivice on a new bevaviour Leo has developed. Everytime I get ready to go for a walk he starts this over excitable behaviour.
He used to get excited when the lead came out and so we did the usual sitting and waiting for him to calm before we carried on.
Well the excitment has now escallated to practical hysteria :sl*p:
As soon as I get the lead or even put my shoes on he starts dancing in circles and barking! Ive tried sitting down and ignoring him until he calms but as soon as I start to get ready again off he goes!!!

Yesterday it took us ages to get going. I wouldnt let him out of the door until he
stopped whinning but as soon as we were outside he started barking again.
I know you have to wait for them to calm down but even just going out for a short walk is taking an age before we've even started.

Anybody got any advice? He's driving me crazy:bang:[/QUOTE

I have the same problem but not with walking but feeding. As soon as I go to get their bowls to feed them, Jasper goes crazy, he's barking or singing and Holly is twirling or dancing. So we have a singer and dancer in the family! Lol.
I think it is so funny. Now I say speak and he barks and he does. Not everyone will agree like James said.
 
I sympathise; this is a pain! :) If you want to stop this behaviour, then everything has to halt -- not just that you sit down and wait (which was the right way to try first) but that the lead goes away, the walk doesn't happen for 5-10 minutes, then try again. The only way to change this is a slow process of extinguishing the behaviour by not rewarding it. As long as he sits and waits patiently, you proceed toward the walk. Or have him learn an excellent reliable sit-stay or downstay -- if he is in a sitstay, he cannot be running around and spinning and barking. (Same with food -- if mine bark etc, I just totally halt until it stops. Quiet gets further progression; barking and unwanted behaviour gets none. They learn pretty quick but it takes initial patience and problems generally get worse (eg more and louder barking/activity) before it is extinguished. This os quite normal.)

But as others say -- does it matter if he gets overexcited before a walk? :)

One other thought -- if he only get s a single walk, then maybe that's the cause of the overexcitement.I'd try a couple of walks a day. I have five that get about 4 walks a day (as I have no garden for them to pee/poop) and while they all are eager for a walk it is no big deal in terms of behaviour/excitement as it is just a normal structure to their day and they get lots of walks.
 
Thanks again everyone.
Karlin thanks for your advice. I did think about the more walks aday approach. He gets one big walk aday then when the evenings get lighter I walk him then too. This may help.
Feeding isnt an issue as when I put his food down he doesnt touch it until I say so. His "leave" and "Sit" are really good. He's brilliant with this but then Ive been doing this since he was a pup.

I'll keep trying, but like others said so what if he gets excited before we go out(y)
 
i agree with karlin, the more you get out with them the more blase they become . i take ruby everywhere i can , even if im just popping to the corner post box,this way shes always happy ,doesnt mind if its a long or short walk and does it all with no fuss whatsoever apart from a happy wag of her tail when i say fetch ur lead :D
 
I agree with the 'more walks' theory too. Up till last summer we owned a mobile home, so that meant when we stayed, we went for lots of walks for peeing/pooping and general exercise. Bosco never got excited when the lead came out. At home, with our regular routine, he is like Leo and gets hyper and really bouncy. So- familiarity breeds content I think!
 
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