Off-Switches: Just breathe!

When we got her, Pip was not an easy dog to live with. This is because she came with no off-switch, no impulse control, destructive tendencies, fear of many different things, and enough energy that I'm surprised she doesn't glow. She's a fun dog, though. Absolutely a joy. She's still not easy to live with, but life is SO much better now that she's gotten an off switch.

My boyfriend has said: "I love Pip. When she's good, she's perfect and just so much fun and so sweet. When she's going crazy, I wish she belonged to someone else."

Almost 90% of training her has been on her behavior issues. A lot of work on DS/CC. A lot of work on impulse control and training the off-switch. This blog is going to be about building Pip's off-switch.

It was very, very easy for Pip to get overstimulated. She would become very bitey if she got too excited.

 She still gets pretty bitey, but it's a lot better than it used to be. A lot of people would correct the dog. This would cause, especially for a terrier or a working breed, the dog to get more bitey. It just adds fuel to the fire.

You'd have to use much harsher punishments which has risk of fallout if you did want to go the correction route.

Coincidentally Pip  also has an intense fear of hands,  water being sprayed, and any sound like a shake can (all suggested methods to correct a busy dog) but the work that I've been doing with that is another subject for another blog post.

Another thing people do for a dog that can't settle is to give the dog a LOT of exercise. While Pip definitely gets ample exercise, I'm not running her for miles and playing fetch and tug all day with her. All that does is give her the body of an Olympic athlete so she requires MORE exercise... and it doesn't teach her to settle herself as she has to wait for  her body to become exhausted to move before she can relax.

While it's important to make sure Pip has exercise and mental stimulation, it is more important for her to learn how to be calm and relaxed. For her, the crate has been an immense help. I don't toss her in the crate as "jail time." Instead, I carefully built value for the crate using crate games and rewarded calm behavior in the crate. The crate is simply "calm time."

When she's rowdy and just being crazy and bitey, instead of getting frustrated, I instead can ask her to get into the crate. She usually runs right in and it's amazing how quickly she relaxes in there. We shut the door and open it and she comes out, more centered. Again, crates are not time outs. They are how she can find zen. It's a very useful technique for her because it was so hard for her to learn to relax. It was a fantastic first step for her.

Pip choosing her crate.

It's not hard for Pip to go into the crate to relax now because she doesn't want to be so frantic and crazy and out of control. She wants to be calm and centered and focused because it feels better. 

We also use mat training as another calm zone for her. In the apartment, we use her bed. Out in public, we use a towel that is folded in half. Whenever we see her using her bed or her crate, we reward her and tell her what a good dog she is. The reward doesn't have to be a treat. It can be a simple smile and making her feel like she made a good choice. A lot of trainers underestimate the power of a reward like that.

Pip choosing her bed.

And that brings me to my next point: If you want your dog to be able to choose to relax, you have to allow them to make the choice. My boyfriend always just wanted to toss Pip in the crate every morning because she is crazy in the morning, especially with the people leaving for work and school walking by our door. Once in the crate, she'd immediately calm down.

However, just throwing her in her crate to calm down isn't giving her practice and it isn't teaching her how to relax in a situation like that. So I just gave her treats and praise whenever I heard someone passing by. Now, she is a lot less barky and even cuddles up with us for an extra hour or two every morning rather than spending all of that time in a crate. Mornings are a lot more quiet and comfortable for everyone!

Pip is a lot happier now that she understands how to relax!

Training an off-switch is just one part of an important foundation which includes focus, attention, the ability to make good choices, and building a work ethic. And it's all possible with clicker training and positive reinforcement based techniques. Pip is not 100% yet and is a work in progress, but she's getting there and people are amazed that she's a rescue that I've had for less than three months at this time.