Check in On his Mind

A great way to find out where your dogs' state of mind is... is to open a door. When you open a door, does your dog wait patiently to be invited across the threshold? Or does he bust through like a scalded cat? If you answered the latter, then he's likely got an over excited and disconnected from you state of mind. Any threshold (doorways, gates, crate door, access through a fence, etc.) are wonderful places to teach your dog to focus on you (and not in what's beyond the door) and to control that spot until your dog is calm and waiting for permission. When we control access to things a dog wants to do or resources that a dog want to have, then we have to opportunity to affect his state of mind. Controlling those things until the dog is calm allows you to then use them as reward for that calm mind. And with enough practice, calmness will be the new norm.