# My hyper golden



## Golden willow (Dec 20, 2012)

Hello good people
I'm a long time reader first time poster.
Firstly let me thank you all for the all the great info on this forum.

I have a few things to ask you guys but I'll start with just the one issue......
1st issue and the most imports is my goldens hyper behavior / over excitement. I have tried capturing calmness training and I'm giving her other basic training.
Since she was 8 weeks old she has always been hyper.( she is now 2 years old)
Never staying still for more than a few seconds.
If she wants to go from point A to point B she will sprint there.
She always is very jumpy and the slightest noise will make her jump up. She never falls asleep in the house because there is somthing going on. 
When there are people around she hyperventilates very badly.
I know this all sounds like normal golden behavior but her enery level is genuinely through the roof especially if there are people around.
I take her for long walks every day but she still gets over excited at any situation and begins to hyperventilate.

What can I do to help calm her down??
Thanks!!!!


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

The things you describe, the jumpiness, hyperventilating, not being able to settle and sleep, all sound like anxiety to me. You could try some natural calming things like Rescue Remedy, and / or a "Calming Collar" and see if it helps her calm down. If she is really always like this you could also consult your vet about prescription anxiety medication. And it would be helpful to get with a certified behavioral trainer or vet behaviorist for an evaluation and recommendation.


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## Golden willow (Dec 20, 2012)

Hello mylissyk 
Thank you for your reply
I have never considered anxiety as the reason for her behavior. 
I also have never heard of a calming collar or rescue remedy but I am looking them up. I will try both those things and will post the results.

Is it safe and ok to keep her on these things long term and ongoing???
Personally I'm a little wary of keeping her on long term medication.
And could she have anxiety from a very early age??

Thanks!


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I have a now 10 year old who was much like you describe for the first 7 years of his life. He wasn't anxious but just has a zest for life. In looking through his pedigree I could tell he came from a working background. While we adopted him as a rescue I was able to contact his breeder and learned his sire was exactly the same. We ended up giving him a job, which was daily ball collection at a nearby church playground. He could chase and retrieve them endlessly. See if you can up her exercise in a safe way or give her a job that exercises her mind through puzzle games or outings to a dog friendly store. My guy calmed down a bit but is now enjoying his second puppyhood with his kid brother who is 21 months old. At this stage in his life I am thrilled he is so active.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I agree that you need to investigate all possible options here. I have discovered that dogs are like children and no two are exactly alike. However, you can see patterns sometimes and it might help us to know a little bit more about how you manage your dog, what your lifestyle is like?

1) How much DAILY exercise or training time does your dog receive? What do you consider to be exercise? A leash walk? Off leash fetch? Is your yard fenced and do you spend time every day playing out there with her? 

2) How many hours is your dog home alone while you work or run errands etc?

A lot of people say that their Goldens are fine with a leash walk around the block in the evening, but the truth is that they are working dogs and if you have ever seen them do what they were originally bred for (retrieving water fowl in the field) you can easily see that the average suburban pet lifestyle is no way enough exercise for these dogs. In the field they are sent for a retrieve and they run and swim 100 yards or more at top speed and return the same way and they can go for hours with brief resting in between. If you've ever seen a preschooler who can't sit still when he doesn't get to play outside you can get an idea of what it would do to a dog who needs vigorous aerobic exercise most days of the week if they rarely get it. If you don't do this already, try to make sure your dog gets aerobic exercise that gets her heart rate up for 20 or 30 minutes 5 days a week. Things like swimming, frisbee, soccer or playdates with other nice young dogs of similar size. Unless you're extremely fit, you probably can't run with your dog fast enough to make a big difference. 

The same goes when you take a very bright dog who was bred to work closely with humans and expect him to lie quietly at your feet while you watch t.v. or play on your laptop. Some dogs can do it as they get older, but when they are young their minds are active and need to be occupied. THey want to interact with you and will get into trouble if they don't have things to do or think about. It only takes 10 or 15 minutes a session once or twice a day to help with this. DO you you have an obedience club or agility club where you could take lessons with her? Put her on a 30 foot long line and use the suggestion Dallasgold gave on playing a retrieving game. Look up dog training videos on youtube. Kikopup is one who comes to mind who gives wonderful tutorials on teaching your dog new things and also working on some ways to teach your dog self control. Just like people, some dogs struggle with self control more than others. Do a search for teaching "Leave it" as a start. 

Spend a couple weeks, mark your calendar or keep a journal so that you can show your vet what you've done. See if some of the suggestions for management can help with your dog so that if she does require medication you can be confident that you've tried other things first. I wish you luck with this and hope that you find some ways to make her life and yours happier. I have a family member with an extremely active Golden who is not easy to live with so I have sympathy for what you may be going through.


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## Golden willow (Dec 20, 2012)

I also agree with you guys about the exercise and stimulation being a factor.
I try my best to giver her plenty of exercise . This consists of a 20min walk and off leash running around a park. As soon as she gets the leash of she will sprint around until she gets puffed out ( about 15 min ) then when she is puffed out this would be the time we head for home. She gets trips away every few weeks to different places eg other parks and things like play dates. Even with this I don't think it's enough for her but as I'm working 10+ hours a day 6 days a week my time with her is limited. I'm also in between houses at the moment that takes up more of my time.
She has a mountain of toys witch gets rotated and kong brain stimulation toys that she doesn't seam to interested in. 

She has an excellent pedigree. I got her from a champion show breeder. Both her parents are grand a supreme champions. My main reason to get her from a show breeder is that they have a great record of breeding with good bone structure and health as a #1 priority. This is the case with her parents both having near perfect hip and elbow scores as well as a thorough history of good eye a heart health.

I am very happy with her and love her endlessly. My main concern with her is not so much her energy levels as she can get puffed out rather it's her extreme excitement when there are guests around. She is trained to not jump up on people and she never does but as I mentioned she begins to hyperventilate and her excitement goes through the roof sprinting around guests and her heart beat sky rockets.
I should also mention that when people come around and she gets to interact with people I make her sit and stay before I release her but while she is sitting and staying she starts trembling with what seams to me is excitement and she can hardly contain herself and when I give her the release cue all that pent up excitement comes out.
The sad thing about this is you can clearly see how much she wants to be around people but I have to stop her and remove her from the room as her behavior becomes very hard to deal with. The end result is not being able to let her roam free around guest due to her over excitement and her getting even less human attention.

Is there something I could try with her to calm her down around people??

Thanks All


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

Golden willow said:


> Is there something I could try with her to calm her down around people??
> 
> Thanks All


My understanding is the thing that will help her calm down is being around people, lots of them, a lot of the time. I believe she's missing human contact. Goldens really, really like people, some more than others. What you need is ten or twelve teenagers to run her around, throw frisbees, pet her and ruffle her coat. 

I'm interested in what others have to say.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Rescue Remedy and calming collars are natural remedies, so they should be ok to give her as needed.


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