INCLUDING THE DOGS!

Even the most mundane tasks like the nightly vacuuming and mop down are a lot more fun when we turn them into a training exercise and include the dogs! 😌. When a dog struggles around other dogs, she may raise her hair, growl, get super stiff and uncomfortable looking and become intensely mentally aroused. Dogs make unacceptable reactive and aggressive choices when they are left uncorrected in this state of mind, so before they can learn how to coexist, we must first correct all that mental arousal and pattern her calm mindset while also applying structure. The dog must also learn how to trust her handler by experiencing the handler advocating for her by keeping other dogs out of her personal space. I don’t even allow ‘snotty’ looks nor naughty thoughts between the dogs because these kinds of unchecked disrespectful moments feed mental arousal and ultimately accumulate until they lead to unacceptable behaviour. When we give the dog strong leadership- meaning teaching and upholding the rules and the boundaries, applying structure (place command, remote collar heel, follow command, crate) and discipline (impulse control) and holding the dogs accountable for giving her best effort for great mindsets and polite manners/behaviour, then we can make some wonderful improvements in the dogs state of mind and behaviour and help her to gain confidence and relax (trusting in her handlers advocacy) even around her former triggers!

If we are leaving the property, we can set our dogs up for great behaviour at our destination by making sure that they are calm and courteous before leaving the house, upon entry and exit of the car and upon arrival at our destination. These are all very important moments that we can leverage by proactively correcting (deescalating) all mental arousal (over excitement/mental intensity) and getting our dogs tuned into us so that they can better ignore environmental distractions and more readily accept guidance (follow commands!)