My Dog Won't Calm Down

Mrs_PI

I have an 11 year old Collie cross who is fit and well apart from Pannas in his eyes, and he is driving me nuts!

He just will not stop - when I say stop I mean he is always running round the house like an idiot, either with a toy, or growlling at the washing machine and has even taken to kicking up a fuss if we pick a paper up to read or even talk :mad:

He is on Bakers senior food, get's 5 walks a day and I just don't know what to do

I know it sounds wrong that I want him to slow down and calm down but its getting to be too much, I love him endlessly but am finding it hard to cope with him running round 24/7 I thought by now he would have learned to settle but nope!

Can something be brought to calm him down, or a change in diets? walks ? anyone have any ideas please ?

sarah*a

Don't really have any suggestions but couldn't read and run

Have you asked the vet? Could be he's in pain and needs you to notice? Probably unlikely if he's eating well :think:

Have you had him since a pup? or is he a recent addition?

I know how maddening it can be - our girl generally keeps to herself but seems to get cross when we are on the phone sometimes - no idea why! She also likes to try to sit on my shoulder to watch TV - and she's a BIG dog! Was ok when she was a puppy :rotfl:

:cool:

Mrs_PI

I have had him since he was 8 weeks old

He eats well and shows no signs of pain, I am booking in at the vet next week but just thought I would try here to see if anyone had a idea of why

sarabe

Definately change his diet.

Bakers is rocket fuel for dogs.

How much exercise is he getting?

Has he always done this or is it a new behaviour?

My dogs only have chew toys in the house and they have to lie down and chew them. Toys that encourage tear assing around get played with outside.

Kaelea

oh I bet thats a nightmare for you, it must be hard work

is he food orientated at all? can you at least quiet him down with toys, a kong with a smidgen of peanut butter in? or a food treat ball, if he runs rounds with the toys, tie them to something so he has to stay with the toy?

does he like to be brushed, I can sit on the floor with a brush and my dogs instantly by my side and will let me brush her for hours, I also find it relaxing myself

I presume you can't wear him out physically with walks, so what about obedience training, wear him out mentally? that worked for me with a manic beagle x I had

I'm no expert I'm just trying to come up with ideas that might help .. I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along shortly

picklepick

You need to get rid of the Bakers food. It's like feeding a child Skittles for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

You need to find a high protein content quality food.

blue_monkey_2

I've got 2 staffies that are very high energy and they are now on Burns after our trainer recommended it.

I am not sure if it is the food or my training (which I have been doing a lot of) and they do still have their mad moments, but they generally much more relaxed and calm in the house now. I've always been told not to touch Bakers because it is full of bad stuff - more so if you have high energy dogs.

I found Pet Supermarket to be the cheapest place for Burns, it is expensive, but there is usually an offer code around for them to save some money. I got 2 x 15kg (1 puppy, 1 normal) delivered for £73, usual price around £100 for those - it is a lot of money but will last 2 big dogs, 2 months so costs me around £1.10 a day. So very worth it!! You can get smaller bags but I have noticed a difference within just 2 weeks.

WolfSong2000

picklepick wrote: »

You need to get rid of the Bakers food. It's like feeding a child Skittles for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

You need to find a high protein content quality food.

This - bakers is a really, really poor dog food (full of colourings, etc, and for an already potentially hyperactive dog like a collie, it's probably not the best food). Speak to your vet first, though, and if you do decide to switch, do it gradually so as not to make your dog ill.

I've seen hyperactive dogs really calm down once their diet has been changed. Without seeing your dog and its specific body language in person it's hard to tell whether the dog is hyperactive, stressed, or both. If he is stressed, he could be kicking up a fuss in order to gardner attention/reassurance.

If your dogs eyesight is deteriorating, this could also be causing panic...my family's last dog (the "puppy" who is now 13. lol) has cataracts, and his behaviour has changed as they've gotten worse. He now refuses to go up/downstairs unless someone is with him, so he feels reassured. If he wants to go, and there's no one about he'll just stand and bark. lol.

Anyhow - I think you're doing the right thing by seeing the vet, but if I were you, I'd look at changing your dogs diet. As I said, discuss this with your vet (Burns may be a good choice as it's all natural and our dogs did very well on the senior version).

If your dog has always been like this, it may just be that you have a hyperactive dog/the food is wrong. If it's new behaviour or it's escalated I'd be slightly more concerned.

Hope your dog improves/calms down soon .

hayley11

Agree about Bakers, our dog was bouncing off the walls on this, he calmed down a lot once we took him off it.

Worth getting him checked out at the vets first though.

Humphrey10

sarabe wrote: »

Bakers is rocket fuel for dogs.

No-one's told my dog that. She is 14 though so maybe without the Bakers (complete not senior) she'd been even less active!

OP we used to feed our dog Autarky, it's all natural ingredients etc and much cheaper than the other dog foods we looked at, she was fine on it eg good coat etc (though shes still OK with the Bakers too). They do a senior version too.

We only changed to Bakers complete because she appears to like it better, the Autarky she would sometimes go a day without eating it.

blue_monkey_2

Humphrey10 wrote: »

No-one's told my dog that. She is 14 though so maybe without the Bakers (complete not senior) she'd been even less active!

OP we used to feed our dog Autarky, it's all natural ingredients etc and much cheaper than the other dog foods we looked at, she was fine on it eg good coat etc (though shes still OK with the Bakers too). They do a senior version too.

We only changed to Bakers complete because she appears to like it better, the Autarky she would sometimes go a day without eating it.

Put warm water in it.

My dog would not eat dried so I used to mix a small can of meat in with it. I mocked when my dog trainer said put water in the dried food. She never turns it down and now has no meat, only dried food with a drop of olive oil for her coat and some warm water in it.