Please teach your dog to do this
This blog may not be what you are expecting. I’m not going to talk about obedience and teaching your dog certain commands (which I call cues, not commands - remind me to write a blog about that as well). As a dog trainer and a dog mom, my advice is to teach your dog to do nothing. I’m sure you understand that I’m not telling you to teach your dog nothing, I’m telling you to teach them to exist, to relax, to be calm, to be still - in as many different places and situations as you can - because learning to do nothing may be one of the most useful things they ever learn.
Nova has not always been good at this. She is a mover and a shaker and doesn’t understand why we would choose to do nothing when there are so many options for doing something instead. But that’s exactly why we have worked on it. If the only way you know how to exist in the environment is at 60 mph (metaphorically of course) then it’s pretty likely that you are not of a calm state of mind.
Why is state of mind important? I’m sure you have experienced situations that cause you to feel anxious, stressed, overwhelmed, frustrated, or on edge. Our dogs are capable of feeling a range of emotions as well and those emotions can positively or negatively impact them. If given a choice, I would rather my dog is able to enjoy a peaceful state of mind which will be reflected in their behavior.
I have worked with a number of dogs lately that whine, a lot. I’m not talking about that cute little whine they might do to convince you to give them a snack or the whine of desperation when their favorite ball is trapped under the couch yet again and they need your help, even though they were the one that pushed it under there in the first place. I’m talking about anxious whining, bored whining, I don’t know what to do with myself because we aren’t doing anything whining. The whining that starts when they see a person, or a dog, or a squirrel or something else they want to get to and can’t. The whining that may start off barely noticeable, but that will at some point escalate to barking, or even worse, screeching (yes, some dogs can make screeching noises). If your dog is not able to mentally remain calm, you will see a physical manifestation of their inner chaos displayed in the behaviors that they exhibit. Not only is this stressful for your dog, but it is likely to cause you stress as well.
I recently took an Advanced Family Dog class to The Rose Garden in Delaware Park. I figured a Monday evening wouldn’t be too busy and we could practice a variety of skills throughout the park; Surprise, we were met with absolute chaos. There were larpers (no, I am not making this up), children running and screaming through the playground, a gender reveal party, another training class of dogs, people arriving for an event with folding chairs and hula hoops (?), and other general park traffic. We could have asked the dogs to perform a lot of specific obedience skills but we would likely have set them up for failure, especially being their first class. So, change of plans for class that day, we asked them if they could relax, be calm, and simply exist in the sea of chaos; With their humans help, they did great. To some it may not have looked like they were really doing anything, but knowing the difficulty of the distractions they were presented with, the art of doing nothing was the biggest challenge of all!
In the photo above, Nova is waiting patiently in a public place, with traffic and people and other general environmental distractions. She is calm and even joyfully rolled in the grass shortly after I took this photo. Waiting use to be a nightmare, we most likely would have loaded back into the car and headed home before we hit the 10 minute mark, let alone 20 minutes. Because this was not possible a couple of years ago, I had to be more selective about the places that I took her. Now, she is able to travel more, experience more, and enjoy herself a whole lot more!
Have I convinced you yet? If so, you may be wondering, How? Practice makes for progress. Nova and I continue to practice and reinforce calm behavior in public places on a regular basis, and I encourage you to do the same with your dog. It very well might be one of the most valuable things you ever teach your dog to do!
While it may seem simple in writing, helping our dogs achieve a more peaceful state of mind can be challenging. If you aren’t sure how to get started or you need some extra help, send us a message!
