Four Legged Scholars LLC – Dog Training – Chagrin Falls
Are you feeling stressed that your dog isn’t listening to you? Do you also wonder why your dog is blowing you off? I understand the stress, and I can help.
When a dog isn’t listening he might not know the command. What about a dog that appears to know what you are saying and then doesn’t respond?
Many dog owners struggle with this in their dog training. Chagrin Falls residents will be excited that there is a solution to this problem.
What is that about? When a dog is stressed they are in their reactive or primitive part of their brain. This brain leads to behavior that the dog isn’t able to control easily. They are in a reactive state.
When a dog is barking, lunging or biting someone, they are definitely in their primitive brain. However, this can also happen when a dog is pulling on the leash and is overstimulated by the environment around him.
The best solution to this problem is to get your dog back into his cortex part of his brain. This part of the brain is where conscious thinking happens. With conscious thinking the dog is actually choosing to respond a certain way instead of reacting.
It will take much commitment and consistency in regards to dog training. Chagrin Falls will benefit from any owner’s determination to learn this process.
When there are family conflicts usually everyone is in their reactive part of their brain instead of the cortex. For humans switching back to the cortex can be done through breathing, exercise, yoga, meditation, and feeling emotions in a healthy manner (crying, punching a pillow, etc.).
For dogs they need support from us to learn this. Having them perform a command is what snaps them out of their reactive brain. You have to train them to use their cortex.
Subject them to a minor amount of stress and help them respond to a command.
Then gradually increase the intensity of the distraction or the trigger while helping them to respond to a command. This is called systematic desensitization.
It is a simple process once it is understood. For example if you have a dog that is reactive around humans, you can begin by training the commands away from distractions.
Then start adding minor distractions. Next, start having the dog respond to the command around scary humans at a distance.
Once you have that done then you can start decreasing the distance between the human and your dog. Each time the distance is decreased you will need to help your dog become relaxed by getting him to respond to a command.
It is a very gradual process. Learning to snap from reactivity to thinking takes much conscious effort on the human end and it is no different for dogs.
Don’t worry, we can actively help you learn this through private dog training. Chagrin Falls in Geauga county is an area we serve. We also serve Portage, Trumbull and Summit Counties.
Johanna Teresi, Chagrin Dog Training, Four Legged Scholars LLC, Chagrin, Dog Training
Contact us and tell us about your dog
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