After bringing your new puppy or dog home you are now finding that he is not as calm as you thought he would be. You are now finding that he rarely sits still, is barking excessively and is chewing away at your expensive furniture. If your puppy or dog is exhibiting any of these behaviors, then he is probably suffering from hyperactivity.

It is important to understand the difference between your puppy or dog merely being an over-energetic ball of fun and suffering from true hyperactivity. True Hyperactivity is a medical condition, fairly uncommon, which sees the dog exhibit frantic behaviors such as restlessness, panting, chasing his tail, and collapsing with exhaustion. It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference, so if you are not sure then it may be advisable to see your vet.

What you may need to consider is that your puppy or dog may be hyperactive because that is simply the way it has been bred. An example is a Collie, a herding dog, which has been bred to have lots of energy to carry out is work. So it is very important to understand the characteristics of different breeds before you choose one to take home.

Training a hyperactive dog can be a challenge. In this article I have given some ideas on how to achieve this.

An over energetic dog requires plenty of excercise to wear him out. This can be done by walking your dog for at least half and hour twice a day and playing games such as fetch, find and frisbee. This is not only exercise for your dog but also a great way to keep you fit and healthy.

For excessive and inappropriate barking, you should command your dog to stop given in a stern voice. If your puppy or dog does not stop barking even after you have commanded him to stop, then pull him away from what he is barking at and give a correction, a sharp tug on his collar will do. If your puppy or dog is outside and does not stop barking, you should command him to stop through the door and not open it if you are not ready to let him in. If he does not stop then you could try and kick the bottom of your door from the inside. Hopefully the loud noise will startle your puppy or dog enough to make him stop.

To stop your puppy or dog from chewing your house to bits, it is a good idea to place your valuables out of reach. Then choose a few sturdy toys for your dog to play with. Play regularly with your dog with these toys in order for him to have positive associations so that he is more likely to play with them when left alone rather than chewing your possessions.

Using a crate is a good idea when during those times when you are not interacting with your puppy or dog. As dogs like the comfort of a defined and confined space, this will act as a tranquillizer and calm your hyperactive dog down.

After all the hard work you are putting in training your puppy or dog, it is very important to give positive feedback for wanted behavior and negative feedback for unwanted behavior. Hopefully you can now start to use these techniques in order to train your hyperactive puppy or dog.

Visit my Training Your Puppy website to read more about training your hyperactive dog and about how to solve other problems such as a digging dog.