Why is my dog hyper in the morning?

If your dog is restless in the morning you might want to know why and what you can do about it.

This post will show you a number of possible causes and what you can do about it.

So, why is my dog hyper in the morning? Possible reasons why your dog is hyper in the morning are that there is an issue with its diet, it’s excited, it has separation anxiety, it needs to pee, or you might have encouraged the behavior by rewarding it.

There are actually a number of reasons why your dog might be hyper in the mornings and it could be a combination of factors. However, there are some things you can consider that will help you figure out the exact reason. There are also a number of things you can do to reduce how hyper it gets.

Why your dog is hyper or restless in the morning

Each of the different reasons why it is hyper in the morning will likely come with a number of clues.

Below, are a number of possible factors that are contributing to it and what would make them more likely.

Excitement

The reason why your dog is hyper in the morning is likely to be that it is excited. In the morning, it will be seeing you for the first time after having to be on its own for the night so it will be glad to see you which will likely cause it to become energetic.

In this case, you could try ignoring it until it calms down so that it learns that being calm will result in you giving it attention.

Separation anxiety

The cause could also be that it has some separation anxiety. This is where it does not like being left alone and the prospect of being left alone causes it to become anxious. This would be more likely if it starts showing signs of becoming anxious when you are about to leave it at night.

In this case, it would help to try to reduce how anxious it gets by doing something such as:

• Make it seem like you are about to go to bed by doing something such as turning the light out or walking to your room
• Reward your dog for not being anxious and repeat these two steps a few times
• Make more moves towards actually leaving such as by putting your hand on the door handle
• Reward your dog for not being anxious and repeat the process a few times
• Actually open the door and go inside for a few moments then come back and reward your dog
• Repeat the above, each time leaving it for slightly longer

Diet

It could be the case that there is an issue with its diet. This would be more likely if it becomes energetic after you have fed it. In this case, it would help to make sure that you have been feeding it the correct diet you can do so by talking to your vet about its diet and you can look here to see what you should be feeding it.

Encouraging the behavior

It might be the case that you have been encouraging it to become energetic in the morning by giving it things that it wants when it does it. If you tend to give it things such as extra attention, treats or toys when it starts being energetic then it might be doing it more in order to get those things.

Instead, it would help to reward it when it is behaving the way you want and to wait for it to calm down before rewarding it.

It needs to pee

The reason why it becomes energetic in the morning could be that it needs to pee or poo. This would be especially likely if it is a puppy or it tries to get you to let it outside and it pees or poos as soon as it goes outside.

In this case, it would help to make sure to let it out to pee shortly before going to bed so that it doesn’t have to wait too long until the morning.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider about your dog becoming hyper in the morning.

When your dog first started being restless in the morning

It would help to consider when your dog first started doing it since it could be the case that there was an event that caused it to start.

If it started doing it suddenly it would be more likely to be due to things such as a change in its diet, stopping letting it out to pee before bedtime, getting up at a different time than usual or rewarding the behavior. It would help to consider what else changed when it started becoming energetic in the mornings.

If it has always done it then it would be more likely that it is because it is excited to see you.

If your dog is always restless in the morning

It would also help to consider whether or not it is always restless in the mornings.

If it is always restless in the morning then it would be more likely to be due to things such as being excited to see you, separation anxiety or rewarding the behavior.

Whereas, if it is only hyper on certain mornings then it might be the case that the timing has something to do with it. If it becomes hyper only on the weekends when you get up at a different time then it could be the case that it is hyper because it is expecting you to get up earlier.

It is not unusual behavior

It is also important to consider that it is not unusual for dogs to become hyper in the mornings and it is to be expected that your dog will get excited since it is likely that it will be excited to see you.

How to get your dog to be calmer in the morning

Below are some options you have when getting your dog to be less hyper in the mornings.

Let it go out to pee

It would help to make sure that your dog is able to go outside to pee when you get up in the morning since it will be likely that it will need to pee or poo. It would also be likely that needing to pee or poo will be contributing to it being hyper in the mornings so letting it outside will likely calm it down slightly.

Make sure that its diet is right

It would also help to make sure that it is getting the right diet by talking to your vet about it and looking here.

Give it exercise

It would also help to make sure that your dog is able to get exercise especially if it is a breed that is meant to get a lot of exercise. One way to wear it out quickly would be to train it to play fetch.

Avoid negative reinforcement

It would also help to avoid rewarding it for being hyper. To do this you could wait for it to calm down before feeding it or giving it extra attention.