I’ve owned Boston Terriers since I was a child – it seems like my family always had at least one. Today, my girl keeps me going with her active behavior. She was a bit challenging initially, and I had to learn how to tire out a Boston Terrier early in our relationship.
Boston Terriers sometimes require extra help with being tired out. This can come from walking them daily, using playful activities, and mentally stimulating them. These dogs require both physical and mental stimulation to overcome boredom.
You should read on if you’re interested in learning more about how to tire out your Boston Terrier. I will also cover methods to calm your dog with suggestions on what kind of mental and physical stimulation you can provide to overcome boredom to prevent bad behaviors.
Ways to Tire out Your Boston Terrier
If your Boston Terrier is really excited and acting wild, you’re probably wondering what to do. You’re going to need to provide daily exercise and mental stimulation.
Did you know that lack of mental stimulation can actually result in an overactive pup? When your dog gets bored, she will react differently, depending on her age and
Walk Your Boston Terrier Daily
A daily walk will do two things for your Boston Terrier: burn up some pent-up energy and provide much-needed mental stimulation. She’ll be exposed to various smells, sights, and sounds that will engage her mind.
The ideal walk should be a minimum of 45 minutes to one hour. This doesn’t have to be all at once. You can break it up over multiple walks throughout the day to fit your schedule, but you will need to try to hit this time to ensure your dog gets enough stimulation and exercise.
If you have had successful training and your dog will respond when you call her, letting her off her leash at the park is one of the best solutions. If not, opt for a retractable leash to allow her as much freedom as possible.
Use Playful Activities
Many methods can tire out your Boston Terrier, but make sure you employ some that involve you, as those will be her favorite. Try some of the following to tucker her out:
- Fetch
- Frisbee
- Jolly ball
- Tug of war
- Backyard agility
- Play with toys
Mental Stimulation
In addition to all the play and physical exercise, don’t forget about the mental stimulation. Challenging your dog’s mind can also tire her out. Boredom can lead to a lot of behavioral problems, so try out some of these ideas for entertaining your Boston Terrier:
- Environmental enrichment
- Chewing
- Puzzle toys or feeders
- Learning new tricks
- Food enrichment
Calming Your Boston Terrier
Sometimes your Boston Terrier will just have an excessive amount of energy that needs to be released, or you’ll need to find a way to calm your pup down. You must have several techniques handy for when situations like this arise.
Physical Exercise
Again, physical exercise may be needed to release some of your dog’s energy. This may be an extra long walk or added playtime. The goal is to get her to use enough of her energy so that she can calm down and behave normally.
Quiet Time
You can also try providing your Boston Terrier with some quiet time. She may respond well to the soothing sounds of silence. Give her a space where she doesn’t have any stimulating sights or sounds and let her rest.
Alternatively, you can try some calming music. Nothing with a fast beat is a good idea. If you could fall asleep to it, it’s probably soothing enough for her.
Aromatherapy is a nice touch as well. You can use it alone or in combination with silence or calming music. Unfortunately, using aromatherapy will require planning as you will need the scent to diffuse throughout the room to be effective.
Seek the Help of a Trainer
When everything you try doesn’t work, don’t give up hope – call in a professional. Your dog may have some deep-seated behavioral issues that she needs to address. A professional trainer can figure out these and advise you on how to proceed.
You’ll be given methods of handling the situation when your Boston Terrier becomes too much to handle and find out the root cause of the problem.
Provide Mental and Physical Stimulation When You Are Gone
You will need to figure out how to keep your Boston Terrier physically and mentally stimulated while out of the house. Interactive toys will keep her busy as she will have a lot of different things to do throughout the day. She’ll be both active and challenged mentally.
Because Boston Terriers enjoy chewing, you can also leave her plenty of chew toys. With these as an option, she’ll be kept busy the whole time you’re gone and won’t have time to think about you not being there.
If part of your dog’s problem is loneliness, you might leave a television on in the room with her. She may feel soothed from the sounds of people talking and be less likely to act up when you come through the door.
Provide a Massage Or Use a Calm Hold
Giving your Boston Terrier a soothing massage is also an excellent technique for calming her down and may even tire her out. You’ll want to rub around her shoulders and neck to get her to relax and then move onto the belly.
Additionally, you can try something called the calm hold technique. When your Boston Terrier is really acting up, kneel beside her, put your hand on her shoulder, and hold her in place. You don’t need to talk; just keep your hand on her until she relaxes.
Reward Calm Behavior
You also want to teach your dog to calm down and reward her calm behavior. When she responds correctly to commands to calm down or reacts the right way when you initiate a calming technique, give her a treat.
As she begins associating calm behavior with treats, she will repeat the behavior more and be less wound up.
Final Thoughts
While they are excellent companion animals, Boston Terriers can be a handful when they are excited with energy. You must provide solutions promptly to help them release this energy to avoid negative behaviors.
Boston Terriers respond well to daily walks, increased mental stimulation, and meaningful play sessions to tire them out. Physical and mental stimulation is required to calm them down and prevent negative behaviors. Always ensure you reinforce good behavior with a reward so your dog knows to repeat that behavior often. Don’t be afraid to seek help from a trained professional when you can’t get a grip on your Boston Terrier’s high-strung behaviors.