Impulse Control Is a Skill Not a Personality Trait
October 12, 2025
I work with a lot of “hyper” dogs. Dogs that can’t seem to settle, that bark and spin and bolt and jump on everything.
And what I tell those owners is simple:
Your dog isn’t broken. They’re untrained.
Impulse control doesn’t come built-in. It’s a skill we have to teach.
The myth of the “overstimulated dog”
It’s popular right now to blame everything on overstimulation.
Too many distractions. Too much excitement. Too much world.
But overstimulation isn’t always the problem. The real issue is often under-training.
Dogs that have never been taught how to manage their arousal state will default to what works:
Barking to get what they want
Jumping when excited
Dragging you through doorways
Whining, pacing, lunging, spinning
That’s not misbehavior, it’s unregulated behavior.
How impulse control is taught
Impulse control isn’t one behavior; it’s baked into everything we do.
You build it by asking your dog to wait, to hold position, to stop and think before acting.
Some of my favorite impulse control exercises:
Sitting at the Doorway
Crate release drills
Structured feeding
Place command with duration
Heeling through distractions
Recall with delay
You’re not punishing excitement, you’re teaching regulation. That’s a big difference.
The cost of not addressing it
Dogs that never develop impulse control grow into:
Leash-reactive dogs
Frustration biters
Jumpers, barkers, pullers
Anxious wrecks in busy environments
Impulse control training prevents that. It gives the dog a way to cope, to focus, to process stimulation without panicking or exploding.
What it looks like in progress
A dog that used to drag you through the front door now waits calmly while it opens.
A dog that once jumped on every guest now holds Place until released.
A dog that couldn’t stop barking at every noise now looks to you first.
It’s not magic. It’s muscle memory. And it gets stronger the more you practice.
Final thought
Stop describing your dog as “hyper” or “too excited.”
Start training the behaviors that teach patience, focus, and control.
Impulse control isn’t about shutting your dog down. It’s about teaching them to pause, think, and choose.
That’s where maturity comes from. That’s how calm gets built.