A Great Dane puppy can be all over the place non-stop! Just like young children, they are full of energy and curiosity to explore their world.
The question is when do they calm down and what can you do to calm this over-excited and boisterous pup?
In this post, you will learn why a Great Dane puppy may not be calm, what to do about it and when Great Dane puppies calm down.
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When Do Great Dane Puppies Calm Down?
Great Dane puppies typically calm down between the ages of 2 and 3 years. Several factors influence their over-excitable nature and certainly, there are methods you can implement to help them be calmer before they reach this age.
Let’s take a look at the reasons why a young Great Dane is not calm and what you can do.
Reasons why a Great Dane puppy is not calm and what to do
Lack of training
An untrained dog or puppy will always be unruly and will act out. Training provides methods to teach a puppy desirable behavior which also helps them be calmer.
What to do: Engage a professional dog trainer or you can personally train your puppy by learning the methods yourself. Training does help to have a more calm puppy.
Read More:
Pent up energy
Great Dane puppies have a little bit more extra energy compared to older dogs.
With this energy, they will be quite active, very playful, and curious to learn from their environment by sniffing or biting things.
Without activities that can redirect this energy, they can be very restless with destructive behavior as they try to find ways to engage and entertain them.
Related: Do Great Danes run away?
What to do:
Provide the correct amount of exercise to your puppy to use their energy constructively.
Until they are at least 18 years old Great Dane puppies’ joints and bones are still developing and are very delicate, therefore provide non-strenuous exercise at least 90 minutes a day.
Taking brisk walks is enough and this prevents the development of orthopedic disorders due to injury of the joints and bones.
Need for mental stimulation
A puppy’s mind is very active and requires daily mental workouts. This develops their cognitive skill essential in problem solving and improvement of memory.
Without their minds being engaged, they become bored and tend to find something exciting to do which may lead to destructive behavior as they explore.
What to do:
To overcome this, provide outlets for mental exercise or stimulation such as interactive or puzzle toys.
This will give your puppy something to concentrate and work on. After this activity, they will tend to tire out and rest.
This calms them down and reduces the constant search for activities to do to engage their minds.
Wait period before spay/neutering
A male Great Dane that has not been neutered will be more stubborn, dominant, restless, and hard to control or train because of the surge of testosterone hormone.
This male Great Dane will also be sexually over-excited and have a desire to roam around to find a female to mate. They will go to any length to find a female Great Dane.
This may lead to destructive activities such as digging under the fence in an attempt to escape your home, dashing from the front door, or jumping over the fence.
This puts them in danger and even in line for accidents when they reach the road.
A female Great Dane will also have the same desire to find a mate and will have a roaming drive to find a mate.
What to do:
Neuter your male Great Dane and spay the female dog.
Neutering does not change the personality or habits of a Great Dane. Your dog will still be the same with their personality.
Neutering only alters behaviors associated with male hormones therefore after neutering, a Great Dane will have controlled behavior due to less influence of the male hormones.
This will be displayed by having reduced undesirable behaviors such as roaming in search of a female, mounting tendencies, less aggression, and bullheadedness which are all triggered by male hormones.
A female Great Dane that has been spayed will also have a reduced drive to roam about in search of a male dog when in heat.
Read More:
Anxiety problem
An anxious puppy is a restless one and can be very destructive in your home.
Anxiety comes about due to separation anxiety which means your puppy feels stressed when they are separated from you or there is a change in their schedule or environment.
Loud noises in the environment can also trigger restlessness.
The anxiety results in your puppy trying to find self-soothing mechanisms that can be destructive such as digging, scratching of doors, indoor ‘bathroom’ accidents, or tearing up of furniture.
What to do:
Create a calm environment for your puppy. For example, put their crate away from areas in your home with loud noises or activity.
Separation anxiety is common in Great Danes and it is vital as a Great Dane owner to learn how to control and stop it.
Train them to overcome separation anxiety so that they can be calm. This reduces restless behavior triggered by anxiety.
Lack of a schedule
A puppy may not be calm because of a lack of a structure whereby they do not have a laid-out schedule for daily activities.
The absence of a routine schedule creates chaos and confusion with a puppy. A puppy needs a routine.
What to do:
A daily routine helps to manage time for activities which also helps to calm them down.
Create a daily schedule for your Great Dane puppy around activities such as playtime, meal times, and training.
By following a routine you will be able to direct his energy to set activities and properly manage them.
Age
Puppies of all dog breeds will tend to be a little more hyper and excitable than adult dogs.
It is natural for them to have a lot of energy, curiosity, and eagerness to move about and explore the environment. So it is natural for them.
What to do: A young pup’s age and nature is a factor that you have to patiently wait for them to grow and eventually as they get older they do calm down.
Enjoy this stage of their life because they grow up so fast and in a matter of time they will grow into a more mellow adult.
Summary
Great Danes are naturally calm dogs but when they are puppies, like all other dog breed puppies, they are very excitable and can be a handful.
Great Dane puppies also can seem to take forever to calm down, factoring in the time when this happens.
As a Dane owner, understanding factors that make them so hyper can help you put in place measures to help them be calmer to give you peace of mind.
I hope this post helped in understanding when Great Dane puppies calm down and what you can do about it.