Tuesday Training Byte: Teaching your dog to calm down

Puppies have little to no emotional self-regulation. They seem to be going full out until they finally fall to sleep. Let me say that most puppies seem hyper and we must remain the steadfast calm if we expect them to learn that behavior. If we bring any intensity into the situation, the pup will feed off of that and get more ramped up.

First, make sure that your pup is wearing a snugly fitted flat buckle collar that he can't pull out of. For teaching this, I like to use the command, "Chill" as it is one syllable and distinct from other commands. When I give the command "Chill"- I make sure that i say it in a lower tone and more slowly (similar to when I give the command to "Stay"). If my pup is wiggly, jumping up, nipping, and obviously wound up, I grab the collar and maybe some fur with it firmly while I put my other arm over and around its mid-section as I pull the pup into me. For some pups this sudden restriction of freedom will set off a huge struggle response. Just say "Chill" and continue to hold him until you feel an obvious clear relaxing. As soon as that happens, continue the hold but slightly looser and mark the behavior with a "Yes", good chill. Then release your dog. Remain very calm yourself and pet your dog if he is still settled down nicely. If he starts acting wildly again, repeat the process and hold a bit longer. Hold on for a good 20 seconds after he relaxes before turning him loose. Do not keep drilling the chill command. You will notice that soon he will not struggle for long. Repeat no more than 3 or 4 times and then end the session with a gentle belly rub or treat. Happy training!

Here is a video link that shows the holding technique part way through it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbP0H0VliTY

Securing your puppy until he calms down, then give an immediate reward or praise.