Best calmer

[Sheri]

Can anyone recommend a good calmer for hyper dogs please?

I have tried the herbal powder canikalm and its has had no effect

My dog is a 8yr old Collie x spade bitch, she has a happy healthy lifestyle.

She gets very very hyper, runs in circles, stalks my ferrets she just seems to go into a trance!

We've tried loads of options with exercise, food etc so I'm just after a calmer!!

 

[CAYLA]

Im not sure you will find a good calmer for energy levels, you could try a dap collar for her, it's a natural calmer but maybe more so for stress or anxiety, have you tried some hide and seek games with the treats, i.e kongs stuffed with goodies, nice natural goodies (not the **** they sell them with) more like strong smelling tuna/sardines mixed with her food, and hide them so she has to seek and sniff them out, lovey juicy butchers bones (uncooked) full on cows legs for her to knaw on and swap her treats/long lasting goodies accordingly so she does not get bored, and also I know you say exercise but have you tried cycling with her or agility or swimming, she obs has a very active mind aswell as high energy levels, there are a few colli owners on here that could point you in the right direction, but im not sure calmers are the answer.

What are you feeding her on?

 

[Sheri]

Thanks for your help, she fed on Dr John's Bronze along with my other Collie cross, he is also very active but will sit down and chill out unlike Lillie!

I do think its an anxious thing and maybe a bit of mothering instinct as when she guards my bird she growls if my other dog goes close.

She does get lots of exercise and stimulation, she can come in totally ruined and will still stalk, hound them. When we go out she gets totally beside herself with excitement.

She was in kennels for a long time she went in as a stray in Sept, had pups in the October and they of cause were re-homed as soon as but she was left until the following April when I fell for her - hence doing circles all the time when she gets hyper or anxious.

I just want something to chill her out - bless her

 

[CAYLA]

obsessive and fixating behaviour is common of collies, I think hers will no doubt have been made worse by the pound/kennels, can you imagine such an inteligent active breed such behing bars with no exercise she would no doubt have started the spinning in there, it's a tyical behaviour collies display when in a kenneled environment.

I recently took a collie from the pound, she spun and fixated on the other dogs when they moved, I found an aid to snap her out of it, for instance an alarm, quick as you like, (I used a sharp check on the long line) something to make her stop and think "what the hell was that" it has to be quick and interfere with the bahaviour she displays this would be more of a negative reinforcer, as opposed to positive, i.e distraction wit treats/toys something she holds in high regard.

For the guarding or stalking, again you could use an alarm/rattle bottle and "leave it" firm voice and herd her away your self, literally make her move to another room or area for time out, she then associated her behaviour with a negative noise and removal from the area/fixating object, collies are smart and learn pretty quick, so I would introduce a new rouine for her behaviours as again I don't think the calmer will work, the DAP collar may help.

Does she show excitable behaviour otherwise, jumping up? bouncing off the ground? barking in the car? or is it jsut a few things?

 

[Kellys Heroes]

Try the DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) collar or DAP diffuser - plug those in in a room where they spend a lot of their time and it diffuses the pheromone around the room. It has no effect on humans.
Be warned though - it is quite costly and though it made our Goldie behave almost as though she was stoned (!) it had no effect on our GSD whatsoever (who it was for).
Worth a go though - and is her food quite high protein? A low protein food should help.
As Cayla says, very tough long lasting treats give them some focus for a while and keep them busy!
Good luck
K x

 

[Sheri]

Thanks both

Yeah its only this that she does, apart from normal dog behaviour (excited when going out etc)

I looked at the DAP collars but your right they are mega bucks! but then if they work I suppose

I've tried her on loads of different feeds (my other dog is a fussy eater) and they don't effect her really.

I've got to do something though as I've tried the treat/ loud noise etc and she simply goes straight back to it - this can literally go on up to 50 times an evening lol!!