Part 2: Options for How to Help a Reactive Rescue Dog Find Calm

This dog moves around me as I sit quietly in the chair. I do not fidget or shuffle. I am talking as I teach, but if I were alone with him I would be silent. I’m observing him closely.  He doesn’t so much as glance at me, his attention is everywhere else. I considered three of my options:

Option 1: I could make him stop moving.
My first methods way back when were correction-based so I know the drill. I could correct him for his pacing and circling. And he would stop.

• Would he know how to find calm himself? No, you're causing his body to stop, his mind can stay just as stressed and disconnected. Over time, he might calm but it's the long way and the downsides of possible error too great.
• Would he know true inner calm was even possible? No.
• Would he be more likely to view me as safe harbor? No.
• Would I have changed his mind about how the world works? Not in the least.

If I took that approach, I would expect to earn myself a tense dog who was seated, probably at a distance and facing away from me, possibly rapidly panting, face wrinkled, still looking elsewhere. This gets you some physical control but, in my opinion and experience, creates little meaningful shift in a dog’s mind or spirit.

Option 2: I could wait for him to decide to stop moving on this own.
Marking each moment of calm and rewarding it well. And that may, over time, help him learn how to find his way out of stress when he wants to, but it probably will not help him to take a new road/make a whole new choice when stress happens. So, if I simply wait, what are the probable results?

• Would he know how to find calm himself? Maybe/Maybe not. In my professional experience, more often not, especially with dogs who have had frequent and intense miscommunications with humans.
• Would he know true inner calm was even possible? Nope, not in my experience.
• Would he be more likely to view me as safe harbor? Probably not. My experience is the dog stays equally disconnected, though may connect fleetingly until they decide to settle on their own after they become tired. They remain on alert and are quick to leap up, starting the same loop again.
• Would I have changed his mind about how the world works? Not enough for me.

If I took this approach, I would expect to earn a dog who continued to do what he was doing.

Option 3: I could set things up so he starts to make a new choice when he becomes stressed.
This holds the best chance, in my experience, of creating a whole new pattern in a dog’s mind and heart. It’s an approach in which you must be present with and for the dog, adjusting moment to moment with where the dog seems to be and what he is doing.

• Would he know how to find calm himself? Yes, because we offer him a better choice from the very start. Dogs like a better choice.
• Would he know true inner calm was even possible? Yes.
• Would he be more likely to view me as safe harbor? Yes.
• Would I have changed his mind about how the world works? It would be a start.

To go this route, you must be committed to your goal while never making it so rigid that you give the dog something to argue with. You must be ready to stay calm, as the dog has his own expectations about what you will do. You must be completely unattached to how long it takes while completely attached to his process.

It has been pointed out to me that I make many decisions with my leash every minute and that those are tough to explain. This is true, especially with these types of dogs. When to ask for a bit more because the dog can probably give it, when to give a little as the dog needs a little room, when to brace my hand without locking it, when to go with his flow while persistently suggesting my own. I am sure my leash work is a partial result of all those years holding reins in my hands.

Next installment of this series will describe what I did and why. I hope you find this helpful.

by Sarah Wilson

Author of MySmartPuppy.com handbooks: My Smart Puppy (book with DVD) and Childproofing Your Dog