Why is my Golden Retriever hyper?

If your Golden Retriever has a tendency to act hyper then you’re probably wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you common reasons why Golden Retrievers can be hyper and what you can do to calm it down.

So, why is my Golden Retriever hyper? 

Common reasons would include not getting enough exercise, looking for attention and boredom.

Other possible reasons include being in a new location, you having encouraged it inadvertently with rewards, separation anxiety, a lack of training or feeding it the wrong foods. 

And, how to get my Golden Retriever to calm down?

To get your Golden Retriever to stop being hyper you should make sure that it is getting lots of exercise if it is a healthy adult.

You should also take the time to give it lots of training so that it looks for your command before it does certain things.

You can also be calm yourself and avoid rewarding the behavior. In addition, you could try giving it things to be distracted with such as toys or even calming chews or bones. 

It can actually help a lot to take the time to figure out why your Golden Retriever might be acting hyper since it will make stopping it much easier.

Possible reasons why your Golden Retriever is hyper

Below are common reasons why your Golden Retriever might be acting hyper and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.

Exercise

When Golden Retrievers do not get enough exercise, they will often become hyper. This is because they are meant to get daily exercise and a lack of exercise will cause them to become bored. It would be more likely that a lack of exercise is the cause if your Golden Retriever tends to be more hyper when it has not been able to get any exercise.

Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise per day as healthy adults. However, if it is a puppy, it is recommended to limit exercise to 5 minutes per month age because its joints are still developing (source).

Attention

It could also be the case that it becomes hyper because it is trying to get extra attention out of you. If you don’t give your Golden Retriever a lot of attention throughout the day but you do when it is hyper, it will likely have learned that behaving that way will get your attention causing it to do it more.

If you think that this might be the case then you could try ignoring it when it is trying to get your attention by acting hyper and then rewarding it with your attention when it is being well behaved.

Boredom

The cause could be that your Golden Retriever is hyper because it is bored. This will likely stem from not getting enough exercise, training or attention so it’s important to make sure that it does.

Location

If your Golden Retriever is not hyper in one location but it is in another then it is likely to be because it is being excited by all of the things going around it that it isn’t used to.

It’s not uncommon to be able to train a Golden Retriever to do something in one location but to not be able to get it to do it in another. This is due to all of the new things going on around it. So, when you’re training it, it’s important to train it in multiple locations.

You have been encouraging it

The cause could also be that you have encouraged the behavior by giving it things it wants when it behaves that way. If you tend to give it things such as toys, treats or extra attention, when it is hyper, it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards.

Instead, it would help to reward it when it is being well behaved and to follow the other tips below.

Separation anxiety

The cause of the hyperactivity could be due to it having separation anxiety. This is where it does not like being left without you and it can cause it to become anxious. There are a lot of other symptoms that often come with it like peeing inside or being destructive while you’re away or becoming anxious when it sees that you are about to leave. This would be more likely if it starts being hyper and anxious when you are about to leave.

A lack of training

Your Golden Retriever will behave the way it wants to if you do not give it any training. The way it feels like behaving is unlikely to be the way that you would like it to behave which is why it is important to make sure to give it training. It would help to start with the basics and then to build up from there.

Feeding it the wrong food

The cause might be that there is an issue with its diet. It might be eating things that it should not be or it might not be getting the right nutrients in its diet. This would be more likely if it tends to act hyper when it eats certain foods or if it has started doing it since a change in its diet.

How to stop it from being hyper

Below are a number of options you have when getting it to be calmer.

Train it

To get your Golden Retriever to stop being hyper, you can give it lots of training.

Start by teaching it to do simple things such as to sit in an environment like the home where there are not many external distractions. Once you can get it to do that you can build up to teaching it harder things such as to come to you on command.

Once you’re able to get your Golden Retriever to listen to you in less distracting environments you should build it up to teaching it to do the same in more challenging environments.

You can watch the video below for advice on training hyper dogs.

Give it exercise

It is important to make sure that your Golden Retriever is able to get the daily recommended amount of exercise. It is generally recommended for them to get an hour of exercise per day as healthy adults.

You might find that walks alone aren’t enough for your high energy Golden Retriever so you’ll need to find ways to wear it out even more. One way is to play fetch with it. By doing so you will be able to get your Golden Retriever to do a lot of running over a short time period that will be more likely to effectively wear it out.

If it is a puppy, you could wear it out by playing with it and training it.

Don’t reward the behavior

It’s important not to encourage its hyperactivity. So, you should be careful not to reward it when it is acting hyper. Instead, you can try ignoring the hyperactivity if you can and then reward it when it is being well behaved.

Keep it occupied

In addition to the above, you could also give it things to be distracted with such as toys, bones and puzzle games. But, it would help to avoid giving it distractions after it has started being hyper so that you don’t encourage the behavior.

Calming chews

There are chews that you can buy that are designed to calm your Golden Retriever down. This is something that you might also want to try.

Get help

If you can’t get your Golden Retriever to stop being hyper then consider getting help from a dog behaviorist. By doing so, you should be able to see why it has been being hyper and what you can do to get it to be less hyper.

Things to consider

Below are some things you can consider about your Golden Retriever being hyper.

It won’t be quick

When training your Golden Retriever, it is important to have patience. It would help to train it to behave a certain way in specific situations, stick to training it over the long term, to make sure that it is getting the right diet and to give it daily exercise.

Be consistent

It’s important that you train your Golden Retriever on a consistent basis. If you just train your Golden Retriever once and then stop training it for a while then it will forget its training.

Use positive reinforcement

If you punish your Golden Retriever for acting hyper then it will likely think that you are punishing it for the last thing that it did which is coming to you. A better alternative would be to use positive reinforcement training where you reward your Golden Retriever for behaving the way that you want it to and to avoid rewarding it when it misbehaves.

How old it is

It would help to take the age of your Golden Retriever into account. If it’s still a puppy then it will likely calm down as it gets older but it’s still important to take the time to train it now even if it is still young.