මේරි ඇලන්
When dogs are stressed, they become unfocused. Even well-established commands then fall on deaf ears. What dog owners can do to help their four-legged friends to be more calm and relaxed in everyday life.
When people suffer from stress, they often do yoga or listen to music. In contrast, dogs cannot regulate their nervousness independently. In a highly stimulating environment, their energy level can rise to such an extent that, in the worst case, they are no longer able to speak at all. But even if it doesn’t come to a total blackout: Even a moderate state of excitement impairs the dog’s ability to learn and concentrate. Numerous undesirable behaviors such as pulling on the leash, jumping up, or nervous barking have their origin here. How quickly and how often a dog reaches a critical stress level varies from person to person and depends on the breed, genetics, breeding, and age of the animal. However, education and training are at least as important. There are various methods that dog owners can use to help their four-legged friends to find inner peace.
To calm a dog down in a stressful situation, you can condition a state of relaxation. This is ideally done in a relaxed situation, for example when the dog is lying on the sofa next to you. Then you combine a verbal stimulus – for example, the word “quiet” – with a physical stimulus such as stroking or scratching. This releases the hormone oxytocin in the dog, which relaxes it. The aim is for the dog to calm down independently after a certain number of repetitions when hearing the word.
How many repetitions it takes to condition and when it works in a stressful situation varies from dog to dog. The triggering stimulus also influences whether the “learned relaxation” can be called up – or is already being superimposed. Five meters in front of a fluttering bird, relaxation, no matter how well learned, will reach its limits. It is important that the signal is recharged after each use, i.e. combined with a relaxing activity in a quiet environment.
On the Blanket to Inner Peace
Blanket training is a training method in which dogs independently learn to process and neutralize external stimuli. Depending on the temperament, resilience, and stress management of the four-legged friend, it requires a certain amount of time and endurance.
As the name suggests, the training takes place on a blanket. It should have the dog’s own smell and have a positive connotation. As long as he does not lie down safely, it is advisable to secure the dog with a leash. Depending on the trainer, the implementation of the ceiling training can vary slightly. What all methods have in common, however, is the goal that the dog remains calm on the blanket even after the owner has moved away from him. If the four-legged friend leaves the ceiling, the holder brings him back calmly every time. This phase alone can initially take more than an hour.
Only after the dog has stayed on the blanket for around 30 minutes without interruption does the actual resting phase begin. It can be increased to 30 to 60 minutes each time. “Blanket training is about the dog learning to calm down on its own. He has to learn that he doesn’t have a job to do on the blanket, he can just relax,” says dog trainer Gabriela Frei Gees from Horgen ZH. If you have trained often enough – initially two to three times a week – the dog will accept the blanket as its resting place. Then it can also be used, for example, when visiting a restaurant or visiting friends.
In order for a dog to be able to deal with external stimuli with confidence, it needs a certain degree of impulse control and frustration tolerance. Dog owners should work on both with their dogs regularly. Suitable everyday situations are, for example, leaving the house or the car, where many four-legged friends cannot go fast enough. Many storms into the open are almost headless and are hardly responsive, at least for the first few meters.
Dogs should learn to remain calm despite the joyful anticipation of the walk, to communicate with the owner, and to pay attention to his commands. In order to train this behavior, one should not (as usual) open the door at the urging of the dog. Instead, it is closed again and again until the dog has calmed down. Over time he will learn that he has to take a step back in order to get outside – or sometimes that he doesn’t make it at all.
“Many dogs have learned to always reach their goal and cannot deal with disappointment,” explains Frei Gees. Education in this regard can hardly begin soon enough. It is important for puppies and young dogs to endure frustration and develop a certain composure, says Frei Gees.
Become an Adrenaline Junkie by Chasing Balls
In order to process stress, the dog absolutely needs enough sleep and rest. It can easily be 18 to 20 hours a day. For a balanced, calm dog, however, the structure of the waking phases is also important. If you think you can train your dog to calm down with a regular exercise program, you are wrong. Everything that has to do with uncontrolled rushing and chasing is considered counterproductive by experts. «Excessive chasing of balls or hours of romping and fighting with fellow dogs will result in a physically broken, exhausted dog. In the long term, however, this turns into an adrenaline junkie who focuses on everything but his people,” explains Frei Gees.
Despite all the possibilities of consciously educating the dog to be calm in everyday life: A decisive success factor is the human being himself. Internal tension is transferrable, and if an owner is even just latently nervous, unfocused, or insecure, this affects the dog. “People should lead the dog through stressful situations with their inner peace and clarity,” says dog expert Hans Schlegel from Dulliken SO.
In his opinion, the breed or age of the dog play a minor role in comparison. “All dogs are easy to train, provided the human potential is there,” says Schlegel. He sees 80 percent of his job as a dog trainer in strengthening people mentally. Rest training is therefore also work on people, who often first have to learn to be allowed to be idle once in a while.