WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT PLAYTIME WITH YOUR DOG! Watching a dog be free and enjoying the outdoors is a beautiful thing! That being said, we must also keep in mind that while it does tire your dog physically, it also fills your dogs mind with excitement and adrenaline. When a dog experiences too much excitement, it can create an imbalance in his mind that can make it hard for him to focus, follow direction and socialize properly. If your dog tends to jump on people, bark too much or has trouble taking direction, the source of this imbalance might be that hes living a life with more excitement than his brain can handle. Fortunately, you can start changing your situation today! Here are some important tips to remember about playtime: 1-Playtime is a reward. Give your dog a beautiful structured walk first. Dogs crave structure and a sense of purpose, just like we go to work, get a sense of purpose, then enjoy our free time; dogs also need that formula. The walk is a job your dog needs in his daily life to feel happy and fulfilled. Playtime can then be the celebration of his accomplishment. This formula is at the center of every balanced and happy dog. 2-Structure the playtime. You decide when playtime begins and when it ends. This way, your dog will understand to wait for your signal to get excited. Otherwise, anything can trigger excitement and get your dog in trouble....if your dog sees a moving car, a guest entering your house, a child playing as a trigger, it can be dangerous. 3-Set limits for the level of excitement allowed during playtime. It can be hard for your dog to control his excitement once he enters that zone. His brain can take it to a level where they can unintentionally get in trouble. For example, they can hurt a human by knocking him over. Communicating clearly with your dog on what is not allowed during playtime will help his brain have a limit. Here is an example: when you play with your dog, you can teach your dog that jumping on you is not allowed...when crosses the limit by jumping on you, let him know clearly that you disagree with the jumping...wait until he goes back to zero and then start playing again. repeat consistently. 4-Balance playtime and structure. Take record of how many minutes a day is spent doing excited activities (playing with toys, going to the dog park, running around free during walks) versus the minutes spent doing structured activities (a walk in the follower position, waiting for food, chewing on a bone). This will help you see if your are feeding too much excitement in your dogs brain, and will help you readjust your activities to get the behaviour you want from your dog. Just like following a recipe, if you add too much sugar to the mix, your cake will be too sweet...in the same manner, if you add too much excitement to your dogs life...hell be too excited. But, if you add a lot of structure to your dogs life, hell be behaved and fulfilled. So Today dear Humans, take a look into your dogs daily life activities and you might just find what is holding you back in your dogs education! Remember not to judge yourself or others but rather to focus on the awareness you have gained and the solutions you have found. -Shelley, for the Revolution of Balance and Kindness
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 15:36:26 +0000
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