| Tip of the Month- Creating Calm | |||
| One of the most common problems with dogs is hyperactivity. It's okay for your dog to get excited when they meet someone new, or is introduced to other dogs. This is acceptable as long as that excitement doesn't lead to excitement related behavioral problems, such as jumping on people or pulling on the leash to get closer. One method I use is "creating the calm". There are several ways to "create the calm", such as simply asking your dog to sit, or turning and walking away from the trigger. A trigger can be people, kids, dogs, etc.. If your dog cannot sit on command consistently, then this is something that you should work on with your dog, because it is a fundamental command that can be used in various situations. Since your dog is excited, he might move from the sit position to get closer to the trigger. Don't worry. Remain calm and repeat the "sit" command. The faster you are with the correction, the faster your dog will understand what you are asking them to do. You might event have to increase the distance between the dog and trigger. Even if it takes 5 or more times, stay consistent. Sometimes we give up out of frustration when our dog doesn't listen, but the objective is to achieve the behavior we want. |  |
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| The point of this "sit" excercise is to get the dog to settle down before we continue with the introduction. This is a very important step in "creating the calm". If we don't show the dog how to be calm in these situations, the will continue to act off impulse, which is usually an excited behavior. They won't get calm on their own unless we create it, or they run out of energy. We want to start rewarding the dog for getting calm. You can apply this before feedings, before walks and introductions, or any other times when excitement gets the best of them. All of those things are rewards to dogs, and if we give it to them while they are excited, then we are rewarding that excited behavior, and it will continue. Wait for your dog to get calm and then get closer to the people. If your dog gets excited, then stop in your tracks and correct your dog verbally. If he continues to get excited, then move further back from what they want to get to. At first it might take 5-10 minutes before you can get your dog calm, but if you are consistent that time will get shorter and shorter. If this does not help you, feel free to contact me by phone or email for more detailed information. B. Good a.k.a. "Half Man Half Pit" 678.702.6859 or bgood@halfmanhalfpit.com I am working on some training videos which might be more helpful. |
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