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Calming The Crazy!
I’m working with a new client, Jasmine, and her 1.5 year old Portidoodle named Bronx. He’s a very friendly and excitable dog, easily aroused, a committed puller on leash, and extremely barky when excited. When I work with a dog like Bronx, I focus on all areas of his life to help him learn that CALMNESS is what earns him the things he likes.
At a recent lesson, we discussed the importance of every activity leading to a walk, as well as the walk itself, being focused on rewarding calm, attentive behavior. For Bronx, this begins with leashing: he must sit calmly as the leash is clipped on. Next, he is learning to sit and wait, with eye contact on Jasmine, as the apartment door is opened. Once given permission to cross the threshold, calm focus is required again in the hallway.
The next step is walking on leash to get outside. Thankfully, the apartment hallways are wide and quiet AND Bronx loves treats. He was quite willing to walk on a loose leash to earn treats. This led to the front door which can be opened by pressing a button. Because it automatically closes after a few seconds, Jasmine had to repeat this 4-5 times before Bronx focused on her and sat calmly in order to gain permission to exit. Patience is key in the teaching process.
Jasmine had described what Bronx normally does once outside, which is to pull mightily to his first outdoor potty zone. Instead, as you’ll see in the video (begun just a few seconds after he exited the building), Bronx was able to maintain a loose leash as he walked with Jasmine to that potty zone where she slowed down to see if he’d go, but Bronx was more interested in staying focused on her.
This is a great example of how important all activities leading to a walk need to reinforce calm and focused behavior.
In what other areas of an easily excitable dog’s daily routine would you recommend incorporating calm, focused exercises?
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8 Replies
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Dogs often become easily excited around feeding time and the moments leading up to food happening. I encourage these moments to be calm and boring and they will happen.
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That’s a perfect example, @jenz . Thank you!
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I think that another area of excitement is when guests arrive at someone’s home. I am working on this and polite greetings, however, choosing to work on them once the people have entered the main living space. I feel it’s just way too exciting to linger in the doorway/entry. I have quite a few private clients that have issues with over the top greetings and a couple pups with submissive/excitement greetings, so yeah, this is a huge area to work on calming behaviors and new behavior patterns, incorporated with management!
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Such a great example, @bernerlabreclectus !
Bronx is an absolutely crazy nut-job when a guest comes into their apartment, barking and jumping like a kangaroo, but we’re making good strides. He’s kept on leash to prevent access while excited, the barking has reduced by 90% already, and he’s now able to focus on a yummy food puzzle, at least for a little while.
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How do you do this best? My doggo is great with people outside the home, in stores, on walks but wants to bark non-stop when they arrive at the door, even after letting them in, he continues for some time. I have held onto him, and also tried teaching him to settle in his place. He is friendly towards them once he calms down enough that I allow him to go to them, but because he is a big dog, he can be intimidating.
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HI @Schatzimom ,
Have you experimented with outdoor greetings first? Sometimes, that can help with dogs who are feeling ‘protective’ of their home. You’re able to begin at much greater distances and show the dog that a ‘guest’ now is a predictor of yummy treats being delivered to the dog.
Otherwise, here are some things I may recommend, depending on the dog and the situation:- Exercise the dog before guests arrive.
- In the early stages, have guest text on arrival so the knock or bell is unnecessary, and thus doesn’t trigger the dog’s over-arousal.
- See if an immensely yummy stuffed food puzzle will help redirect the dog’s attention away from the guest. Or, keep the dog in a separate room, at first, thus allowing guests to settle in and the excitement to fade before the dog is released.
- Desensitize and counter-condition the dog to the sounds of knocks, door bells, door opening, etc. Basically, mock up approximations of the signals that indicate a ‘guest’ has arrived, teach an alternative response, step-by-step, and reward that heavily. At first, that means using family members to mock up the activities, repeatedly, so you can establish a new way of responding, rather than waiting to train when real guests arrive, which can sometimes be a rare event.
Looking forward to reading other member input.
Please let us know whatever you try and how it goes!
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That’s awesome, @virginiad ! Sounds like he’s making great successes and that will prevent failures and totally help him repeat new better choices patterns, right?
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He’s such a smart dog and learns quickly. At a recent lesson, I reminded his pet parent about meeting his exercise needs, as I think the lack of that is getting in the way of better progress.
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