My dog is still hyper despite exercise. Should I change his food?

This depends on why the concern arose - if this is due to obesity then yes, increased exercise and reduced food intake of the same diet may be sufficient. If however there is any concern about skin issues, liver or kidney function then no, a change of diet would be preferable. I recommend you telephone your vets office and confirm the reasons for the recommendation given

Hello. A 2 year old un-neutered male dog will require LOTS of exercise to tire him out. You may just have to exercise him more. Also, neutering will decrease the amount of restless energy he has and is a good idea for other health concerns as well. Try taking him for longer walks, playing with the ball so he gets a lot of running in. Be careful not to perform any of these when it is very hot out, if it is more than 25-30 degrees do not run your dog.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It sounds like GoGo is quite the energizer bunny! An agility class is definitely a fantastic ideal to keep a high energy Border Collie healthy. As far as food goes - you can't go wrong with brands like Purina, Hills Science Diet, or Royal Canin. There are a variety of diets offered by these brands, especially for active dogs. What veterinarians do not recommend are grain-free diets, or vegan or vegetarian diets, as these are associated with the development of heart disease in dogs. I hope this is helpful!

I am sorry to hear about your issues with Hyper's weight. I am linking to an article here on helping dogs lose weight for your information: https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-ways-to-help-your-dog-lose-weight/ You don't mention the amount of food your dog is eating. It is possible she is getting too much food for her size/metabolism. Sometimes we can help our pets lose weight by decreasing the amount of food we are giving. Other times we may need to switch to a prescription weight loss food for a little more help. In some instances there can be an underlying disease, such as hypothyroidism, that can be making it difficult for our pet to lose weight no matter what we do!!! For this reason, it is best to make an appointment with your vet to examine your dog. They can help determine the amount of weight she needs to lose, and help determine the correct amount to feed or recommend a diet change. They may recommend bloodwork to be sure there isn't an underlying cause for her inability to lose weight. Best of luck to you and Hyper!

I agree with your vet. That sounds like a reasonable plan. I don't think this has anything to do with what he is eating. If you think he is bored with his dry food you can speak to your vet about changing it but I would not do that just now. Don't change anything this week and see what happens.

Consistent exercise (walking on a leash is great) and some basic behavior training could make a big difference. Spaying her could also help keep her from wanting to roam quite so much. As she gets older her activity level will probably decrease some as well.

I see that Tikka is a young dog, of a very high energy breed - so it's very normal and expected that she will get wild and "bitey" on occasion :). If she has a crate that she is comfortable in, I would suggest giving her some type of special treat such as a bully stick, rawhide, or a Kong stuffed with peanut butter in her crate when she starts to get crazy - this is not meant as a punishment, but simply as a way to help her calm down and relax. Chewing is a very calming activity for dogs. Make sure that you teach her to go into her crate happily for a treat when you ask her to, so that it's easy to do this when she's overly excited. I would not recommend grabbing and pinning her, as this is likely to make her try and avoid you and may also increase her frustration when she is like this. Some dogs will even be one aggressive and start to bite with this kind of handling. It's much better to calmly redirect her to another activity in a positive way.