Calmness Leads to Reward

This week I had a follow up lesson with clients who own a very lively male Springer Spaniel. In fact he has two Ferrari engines for performance which is causing many behavioural problems.

One main issue is his over excitement when doing anything. When they arrive for training, he exits the vehicle in a hasty manner. Apparently, when they are getting ready to take him for a walk, he starts bouncing around with excitement. I asked the question: “if you were taking your son out and he was bouncing around, jumping and pushing at you, would you still take him out for his treat”. Obviously the answer is no. You wouldn’t reward bad behaviour with your children if they are being naughty. So why do we reward our dogs by taking them out on the walk they’re excited for?

Start as you mean to go on

Calmness leads to reward is a phrase I use repeatedly when training. If we and our dogs start training/walking in a calm state of mind then we can continue to achieve greater results through calmness. For example if we ensure our dog exits the vehicle when instructed, it ensures they are calm. All my dogs are crated in a dog transit box supplied by my sponsor TransK9. Not only do they travel safely, it ensures that when I want to take out a dog this can be done when they are calm and instructed by using their individual names. The same principle applies at home. If your dogs are over excited to leave, then ten minutes before you want to go out, place your dog in its crate. Get ready and then put the lead on in the crate and calmly walk them to your door. Tell them to sit whilst putting your boots on. Leaving the house in a calm state of mind creates a more controlled and enjoyable experience.

It’s important to look at things from an outside perspective, this is where I can help. Many owners accept over excited, uncontrollable behaviour which they shouldn’t. Remember to think, would we allow our children to behave in such a manner with total lack of respect and discipline?

Posted: January 30, 2020