LAST week I wrote about how to approach a situation with a dog who may be excited, stressed or anxious.
I talked about "going to neutral."
So what exactly does that mean?
Going to neutral means allowing your dog to go into a state of mental calmness while remaining alert to your direction and commands. I like to call it Zen and the art of Dog Training.
Many dogs owners, when working with their dogs, try so hard to keep their dogs' attention during training when the dog is showing signs of anxiousness by being more anxious themselves.
They will pull out a treat bag and try to wave a variety of treats under their dogs in an attempt to get their dog to return their focus back to them only to have the dog ignore them or take the treat and eat it without interest or even spit it out. They will pop the collar and leash in an attempt to get the dog to release its gaze from an object only to have the dog become more anxious due to the increased physical pressure.
Dog owners will try anything but quieting their own behavior and ceasing all action. In other words ignoring their own dog. This does not mean the dog is allowed off leash or to do whatever it wants, it does mean that the owner keeps the dog on leash and in a command and waits.
Wait for what, you say? What the owner is waiting for and looking for is a dog that begins to show signs of relaxation in its body language. A relaxed body leads to a relaxed mind.
A stressed or anxious dog fidgets, it can't keep still or pants heavily for no reason. Well, the reason is that its heart is beating a mile a minute due to the stress and it is getting warm because of the increased blood flow through its body. An anxious dog is reluctant to look at you, or may give you a quick glance over its shoulder while its whole body is facing in the direction of the cause of its stress. It may start to whine or maybe grab the leash and tug at it in an attempt to release their tension. They may even try to jump up on you to release tension.
Many dog owners get frustrated with their dogs when they are like this and simply allow them to do what they want by letting them off leash or allowing them to not follow the command. This is not the correct thing to do as it simply rewards the dog for its anxiousness.
A relaxed dog will have softness to their eyes and facial expression, they may be panting slightly but their tongue is in its mouth. Their body will be faced in your direction or at the very least at a slight angle from yours yet lets you know they are willing to give you their full attention. And when you call their name they look at you, into your eyes and will give you that attention until you say otherwise. When a dog is expressing these behaviours then you know your dog is willing and able to take your lead.
Getting to that point of neutral behavior may take a while. You may be standing with your dog for 3 minutes or 30 minutes until it calms down. But it is important that you wait it out and not get impatient yourself as it simply undermines your training efforts if you do.
Going to neutral is a training aid as important as the sit, down or come and should be practiced with just as much regularity as those commands. It not only keeps your dog in a calm yet attentive state, but allows you to better manage your dog's behavior.
