It’s the holiday season! This is when we expect our dogs to deal with many more social settings than usual. Dogs can quickly get overstimulated, especially if they are:
-Very young (teenagers and younger)
-Very old
-Not in perfect health
-Generally nervous/anxious
-Not well-socialised
-Not well-trained in social settings
It is essential to understand overstimulation in dogs to prevent accidents from happening this festive season and keep your dog safe and healthy.
Overstimulated dogs are much more prone to biting people or kids, stealing things, knocking someone over by jumping on them, stealing items, consuming non-edible items, barking excessively and even developing compulsive behaviours. By recognising this, we can prevent our dogs from becoming overstimulated by taking them out of these situations before it gets too much. And it’s our responsibility to do so.
Please remember this festive season:
-No bites happen out of the blue. If a bite occurs, it’s because you missed the signals or put your dog in a situation they can’t handle
-Most dogs are terrible in busy social settings and do better in calmer settings. These dogs do great being separated from large crowds and given enrichment to keep them busy.
-See to your dog’s needs before guests arrive or go out in public to minimise accidents, for e.g., having a sniff walk before guests come over and letting your dog nap before any social outing.
