Ask A Dog Trainer: How do I stop my dog from bolting past me with excitement?

Q: How do I stop my dog from bolting past me with excitement?

A: If your dog is bolting past you with excitement, there's a high chance that they have an overabundance of improperly channeled energy. Depending on how much daily and healthy exercise this dog gets, it will respond to you with a recall or when you're coming home with a much calmer energy.

However, it doesn't stop just at sufficient exercise, because a lot of the times that dogs are bolting past people they're just really happy or they just really want to play. So it's important to have clear communication with your dog through both your energy and your body language that when you stand up tall and call them, they should come to your heel and sit.

This is where the discipline part comes in, because without rules, boundaries and limitations, your dog will do whatever they want to do. If your dog clearly understands that you've set the rule that when you stand up tall and call them, they are to come and sit at your heel, they will respect that.