After I posted this video, I was asked how I worked with my dogs to manage there excitement before a run.
There is no magic to it. It’s work and patience. Those two are very excitable and it took a lot of work and patience.
The behaviors are shaped with positive reinforcement. Good behaviors, mostly those we expect when the level of energy is high, need to be seeded very progressively.
Breaking it down in steps; Teach the pups basic commands (stay, sit, stand..). They learn the commands but also that expected behavior brings a reward.
I start working on line outs in our back yard, one dog at the time, with no expectation from my dog to go off for a run (lesser excitement and distraction). They are rewarded for staying still back to me while I hold the tug back. Start close to the dog, progress to farther back and for longer periods. Once dogs understand and are comfortable with standing still up front, I start asking for it on the trail, one dog at the time.
At the trail, they want to go, they want to run. My progress towards being ready to go and eventually getting going becomes the reward. I don’t progress through our “get going” routine before I get the behavior I expect. Takes patience and low expectations to start.
First expectations at the trail are to calm while being hooked, I don’t move back before they are calm. Eventually I can expect the dog to be calm while I move back holding the tug; then move back take a little more time before picking up the bike…Toughest step for those girls was to not react when I picked up the bike. Last step is staying calm all the way until I pick up the bike and some wait time.
To do it with the two dogs together. Start the whole progression from square one but with the two dogs, that time around being easier as both dogs have a really a good idea of what is expected, but again, don’t expect too much too quick. It’s all about progression, small steps, low expectations, patience.
Set up for success; example: two of my dogs would control there excitement better if sitting so I started line outs on the trail sitting, setting them up to successfully learn self control. We moved up to standing starts when they could successfully calm and wait in a sit.
Dont assume this is ever easy for your dogs, even once well trained… they are still excited to go. You can see here how Mopus is shaking. She’s not cold or nervous, she’s excited and working very hard to maintain her calm.
Most important through all of this: you can’t “teach” calm if not calm yourself.