Teaching a dog to calm down when you are out with them amidst exciting events can seem difficult, especially if your dog can’t seem to chill at home when nothing is going on! It might be that your dog seems always to want to be doing something or continually demand your attention. We’re covering why your dog expects you to interact with them constantly and what you can do about it so they can learn how to relax and settle down.
In the episode you'll hear:
- What creates a dog who expects to be entertained by you every minute.
- How your dog expecting to be entertained creates problems with relaxing.
- Why it’s important for our puppies and dogs to learn how to chill out.
- About using the foundations of Crate Games for your dog to relax.
- Why having dog beds will help your dog learn to settle down.
- What I do with puppies or dogs who chew their beds.
- The types of chew toys I use, including raw marrowbones, and the risks.
- Why you should never give your dog rawhide chews and what else to avoid.
- The steps to help your dog relax in a bed in daily life with you.
- How to help your dog or puppy get used to you leaving the room.
- The reason that your dog chilling starts small for the behavior to grow
Resources:
- Get Crate Games Online
- Podcast Episode 134: How To Teach A Dog Stay WITHOUT Luring, Collar Pops Or Using The Word “Stay”
- Podcast Episode 98: Puppy Home Alone: Are You Creating Chaos or Calm?
- Podcast Episode 55: Pro Dog Trainer’s Guide to Toy Selection
- Podcast Episode 83: The Dog Training You Do When You’re Not Dog Training
- Large Portable Travel Pet Bed
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
This is exactly what is happening at my house.My 18 month border staffy puppy is a rock star at training, but she expects to be, and often demands to be entertained. She stopped wanting to be in her crate or x-pen a couple of months ago. She is great when I leave her alone out of her crate, but when I’m home she wants my attention. This is especially true if I’ve left her for a few hours. It sounds like I should go back to the pen and crate. Is that what you would recommend?
This is exactly what has happened to us and no we are trying to fix it. Relatively quickly. We have a 3 mo Aussie. We’ve been playing Crate Games for a couple of weeks now and some parts have improved but other parts haven’t. She definitely feels if she’s not napping then she should be able to explore or play with one of us.
Thank you, Susan,. Definitely appreciate learning the steps to help our dogs chill. My dog is great till my husband comes home and then he expects to be entertained as that is something my husband had always done. Thank you for telling us how you teach them to chill in their crate. Love these podcasts.