How can I get my dog to calm down? Continued…..

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: January 28, 2010
Dog wanting to play with her ball

Caffeine is ready to go go go!

A few weeks ago I discussed using “wait” to teach your dog impulse control and get her to calm down. But sometimes you might want your dog to actually lie down and relax. This is something that can helped with some training and practice too.

Settle means lie on your side and stay there. In the old days we used to call it “play dead,” but at some point someone decided that wasn’t politically correct. Will practicing this lower your dog’s activity level? Probably not. But you can’t quite ask your dog to calm down and relax if you don’t show her what it means, can you? And while it may not make your dog calm down, it is sometimes possible to get the mind to follow the body.

Settle is also an invaluable behavior to have when you need to check for ticks after a hike, trim your dog’s nails, or even brush her teeth.

We train settle using a lure, using “yes” to mark the position we want. Then we add the command and some duration. Finally we add the “OK” release to make the position have an implicit “stay.”

First, use a treat right on your dog’s nose and lure him to the ground in a “down” position. (On his belly.) Hopefully, your dog will lie on one hip or the other. Move the treat in the opposite direction so he lies flat. In the video, Buddha favors his right hip. So Dagmar takes the treat and moves it toward his left side so he lies flat.
Say “yes” and let him have the treat. If your dog will not lie on a hip, you can still use the treat to shift his body oe way or the other. Play around a bit and find his “favorite” hip.

When this is working well, start to say “settle” before luring so he can learn the command.

Next, add some duration to the settle by delaying the treat for a few seconds after he lies down. Also add “OK” at the end to introduce the idea of being released from the position. This duration is also where you can hope that the mind will start to calm down, following the body.

When you have some more success. Get rid of the lure and only reward for completing the behavior. From there it’s a matter of standing up (if you aren’t already) and rewarding your dog a random. Note that Caffeine does not get a treat every time! (Also note that she’s a total ham.)

In the interest of time, this video compresses 2 or 3 training sessions into less than a minute and a half.

 

Related Posts

  1. How can I get my dog to calm down?
  2. This Way! – Avoiding Trouble on Leash
  3. The Magic of Eye Contact
This entry was posted in Training Tips. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
  • I loved this video the first time I saw it...and I'm coming back now because I wanted to send this page to a friend of mine who could use this lesson for his dog! He's adopting the dog we had at Lake Shore who lived through neurological stage distemper I had mentioned in another comment, and the dog is making up for lost puppy time - a wee bit over-exhuberant! What a great resource you've got here, thanks!
  • Thanks again. Glad it's helpful.
  • Laura
    I LOVE this! I can hear the echoing thud of Rufus "dying" in a settle now! We really need to work on this because we have mass craziness going on in the tweens!
  • Nothing brilliant to add here, but I did laugh out loud at the end. =)
  • That video is adorable!

    I love the tail wagging the entire time.

    I've tried working on a settle type command several times with Ginger, never getting past the lure stage. (Which reminds me, we should try this again!)

    The main issue is she gets so excited about training (and even more excited about lures). Settle is just not in her vocabulary. I think a settle command would help her learn some more self control, though.
  • Isn't Buddha's tail awesome? Took us a while to get him out of his shell when we brought him home. He's a real clown now.
  • Caffeine is great!! This will be a really good command for Buster to learn. Ty, on the other hand, spends most of his day on his side - sound asleep!
  • Hmmmm. Maybe we could arrange a trade: Caffeine for Ty? (Just kidding!)
  • LOL!! Ty is funny - he has a personality more like a cat than a dog. I guess that has a bit to do with his breed and something to do with the fact that he's 5 1/2. The funniest thing is that Rod and I could not have ended up with to have two more different dogs if we had planned it!
  • Caffeine is almost 9. She's almost slowed down to twice normal speed. We joke that Buddha (the first dog in the video) is a Brittany Spaniel/Border Collie/Cat mix. Laziest dog on the planet. But when he gets the zoomies? Just duck.
blog comments powered by Disqus