Puppy Dimmer Switches: A Guide to Calming Your Excitable Puppy

Ever feel like your puppy goes from zero to sixty (or in this case, zoomies!) in a heartbeat? They bark at every dog, wrestle with their toys, and seem incapable of settling down. Sometimes, all this crazy excitement is actually a sign of being overtired or overstimulated.

When our puppies reach a stage where they can't seem to calm themselves down, it indicates a lack of self-regulation. This is a sign that your puppy needs to learn how to calm themselves down.

This is something you can teach.

Imagine your puppy's energy as a light switch that can be turned on and off. Currently, your puppy might be at a stage where they switch between being fully excited or not excited at all. Instead of having this on and off switch, we want our puppies to gradually build up their excitement and smoothly return to calmness, much like a dimmer switch that slowly brings up the lights to full brightness.

So how do we achieve this effect with our puppies? By teaching them. Let's explore one way to help your puppy's excitement and calmness levels function like a dimmer switch.

Playful Pump-Up

Get ready for some fun! Engage your puppy in an exciting game of chase or tug-of-war with their favorite toy or even chase around the garden. This will naturally increase their arousal level. Keep it short and high energy – just a few minutes of active play is enough. This stage is designed to pump up your puppy in preparation for the calming phase.

Sniff & Settle

Mid-play, grab the toy and calmly put it away. Scatter a handful of treats on the floor. Make sure they're extra smelly to grab your pup's interest. Encourage them to sniff out the treats! During this sniffing time you can start to add in a cue word like “Settle” or “Calm”. Sniffing is a calming activity for dogs. Encourage your puppy to sniff for the treats for a few minutes.

Playtime, Round Two

Once your pup has finished sniffing for the treats, it's time to bring the fun back! Reintroduce the toy and get ready for another round of play. Repeat this process of play, sniff break, and play again. Over time, your pup will start to anticipate the calming sniff session after playtime. This will help them learn to self-regulate and transition from high energy to a more relaxed state.

The Puppy Dimmer Switch exercise is a great way to help your puppy increase their arousal level and bring it back down quickly. Remember, training your puppy to calm down is not an overnight process, but with consistency, patience, and the right techniques, your puppy will learn to self-regulate their energy levels effectively.

Happy training!