Taking Calm On The Road

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Taking Calm on the Road
Posted on December 27, 2010 by pawsitivedawgs| Leave a comment

We have introduced lots and lots of different ways of improving your dogs calmness and while doing this we have been pretty much managing his craziness. One of the downsides of our dogs’ cerraazzy behaviour is that we stop bringing them places – this serves only to de-socialise our dog and reduce their ability to cope in different scenarios (thus increasing the craziness).

Eventually in our training program we have to start bringing our new- improved-calmer canine out and about. Introducing your dog to new places is a great way of providing mental stimulation and practicing training exercises but for the cerraazzzy dog this can be a bit too stimulating.

Using lots of the calming tools we have already talked about is important plus working on a default calm response too.

Remember, you are responsible for keeping your dog safe and below threshold – if you know that your dog is not ready for particular scenarios leave him at home or have him cared for elsewhere. It is a good to bring your dog to as many places as possible but start out with calmer, quieter scenarios first until you have achieved a higher level of calm and control.

If your dog begins to lose focus – you might have difficulty getting his attention, he may not follow your cues or he may not respond to high value rewards – bring him aside or further away from distractions. Distance is your friend!

Be prepared:

If you know that you will be bringing your dog somewhere potentially exciting be prepared so as to prevent the crazy becoming a problem.

Bring your dog’s front leading harness/head collar and leash (also a muzzle if required), at least three different high value treats, a clicker if you use it, his mat, a bandana with DAP sprayed onto it, some Rescue Remedy liquid, several stuffed Kong toys, a tug toy and his crate if there will be a safe place to leave him confined. (Yes it’s almost like packing for a baby – minus the nappies!!)

Arrive early so that you are not hustling and bustling about and so that your dog can investigate the area before the action gets started.

Your dog might not yet be ready for the thick of the crowd but he may be ok with staying on the outskirts and practicing with you there. If you want to venture further, set your dog up in his crate with plenty of stuffed chew toys in a quiet, safe, sheltered place.

Take care leaving dogs in cars or other confined spaces during mild and warm weather – don’t risk it, leave your dog at home.
Calm & Attentive in New Places

This really useful protocol is based on one described by Sheri Gintner MS, CDBC for use with shelter dogs.

Have your dog on leash, bring at least three high value treats (your dog’s top 3 treats) and any other calmatives on your list.

Approach the area and while on the way check your dog’s focus levels by asking for simple cues such as ‘touch’ or ‘watch’. Reward with the opportunity to continue exploring or the lowest value treat you have. If you use the lowest valued treat first, if the dog gets bored with that we can move up to the bigger guns!

If you see any early stress or discomfort signals from your dog withdraw and give him what he needs – distance.

Work from your dog’s safe distance – the closer to his stress threshold, the longer this will take. Again, remember that some situations will not be helped even with training so work with your dog’s abilities at his comfort level.

Stand still and be boring. Try to keep the leash as loose as possible – tight leash=tense dog (and owner).

The first stage involves the dog stopping unwanted behaviour such as barking, straining, jumping, looking around etc.

At this basic level the dog doesn’t have to look at you he just needs to stop whatever he is doing. Click (or mark with a YES!) and offer a treat. Anytime he stops, even if just for a beat (to take in breath from barking for example) mark and reward.

Once we have less activity, we can up our criteria and get a little fussier. Now to earn his reward the dog must orient toward you and give eye contact for a beat.

If you find it turns into a bit of a stale mate and there is little progress try taking a step away from your dog. This often acts as a reset and your dog is likely to orient toward you when you move – don’t forget to mark and reward.

At this point you might be able to hold eye contact for a little longer, despite the distractions. While your dog holds eye contact feed him one treat after another.

When you get to ten treats, say ‘free dog’ to release him and bring him to sniff and look around. Start the exercise again.

Can you give 50 rewards to your dog? If so this is an excellent reinforcement history for being calm, quiet and attentive in a new and distracting environment.

This time after release and moving wait for your dog not only to be calm and attentive but wait for a sit too.

If your dog already has a default sit, this should be pretty easy in fact he has probably already been sitting. However, if your dog doesn’t have this or is a little too overwhelmed to sit, try moving further away or ask him to sit. It is preferable that he chooses to sit however.

Again, look for sitting with sustained eye contact – count out ten treats again. Release him and move around a bit. Repeat. Try to get up to 50 treats and move onto the next stage.

At the next level we are looking for the dog to lie down and give eye contact. If the dog looks at you but is only sitting or standing up praise him to keep him interested but only click & treat for lying down.

If he lies down mark and feed him treats, one after another. If you can feed 10 treats in a row, release the dog and move around a bit. Repeat the exercise.

In any one situation you may only achieve the first level of just being still. For some dogs, in some situations, this is a BIG achievement. But continue to expose him to this situation (remember below threshold from safe distance) and work on being calm and attentive.

Practice being Calm & Attentive everyday:

While out and about in new or everyday situations stop every few minutes or 50-100m/yards or so and be boring. Wait for your dog to settle and reward him. After a couple of minutes of calm continue on your walk.

It’s a good idea to bring a book or newspaper to entertain you and a stuffed chew toy for your dog!

Exciting Situation Tips:

* use calmatives such as DAP and Rescue Remedy, or even a Calming Cap
* move away from a distraction or stressor and work on simple cues at your dog’s safe distance
* use your mat as a target to settle on – if you have been doing matwork exercises this should help to act as a conditioned relaxer
* practice eye contact daily – wait for eye contact before asking your dog any other cue. Cues are in fact rewarding because they begin a sequence that leads to reward so by waiting for eye contact first you are rewarding your dog with a cue and then rewarding that with a treat or access to something fun.
* have several rounds of Jazz up & Settle down during and between these exercises, after arriving in a new or crazy situation, or anytime your dog seems to begin to lose focus

Don’t forget about the 2-leggers:

Don’t forget that your behaviour is also important here in determining how calm (or not) your dog will be.

If you expect calm attentiveness from your dog your own behaviour must reflect this. Move slowly and speak low and slow to calm your dog.

If you are petting him use slow, long strokes rather than patting him. Massaging action is preferable and if you have been practicing T-touch this is great when helping your dog to relax.

We are looking for calm attentiveness here so if your dog is bothering you for attention that is not right for this exercise. Use body cues to let the dog know that this is not the type of interaction that is wanted right now. Fold your arms and avert your gaze, you may need to turn your entire body away from a persistent dog.

Here is a lovely video from Patricia McConnell showing how to use body cues to help calm Buddy the shelter dog.

Sometimes using doggie calming signals may also help; these might include blinking slowly (this is a good one for this exercise as you will be rewarding eye contact), lip licking and big yawns with sighs.