Relaxation can come in many ways. The most common and quickest form is to simply take a breath and let all the air out as our shoulders come down. When we are working on training with our dog, I try to take a breath before the training begins or before an event occurs that we are training her for. It might be when we want her to relax and chill. We have an activity that we do with her where we have her lay down on a mat, and relax. She shows that she is relaxed when one of her back legs is kicked out to the side.
I ask her to relax and give her a treat every 15 seconds. I increase the duration between treats until she eventually puts her head down and relaxes. She actually takes a breath before she closes her eyes when we are intentionally training it. What I do during this training session is be relaxed myself. I will occasionally take a deep breath verbally so she can hear me. It actually helps them to calm themselves.
Relaxation In Use
Relaxation is also very good for emotional control. When we are walking with our dog, and I see a dog up ahead that she might get excited about, it is important for me to relax and sort of plan how we are going to approach the situation. With practice, our dog will be able to calmly walk by on the same side of the street. Until then, we walk on the other side or around the dog so that she does not get over aroused. While we are walking past them from the other side of the street, I am calmly giving her treats, or counter conditioning as she is watching the other dog and remaining calm. Once the dog passes, I stop the treat machine and carry on. The whole time I am remaining calm to assist her in keeping her cool.
If I am feeling frustrated with our dog because maybe she is barking or something, I can use relaxation, and take a breath to bring myself down to work with her. Part of what helps me to relax with her is knowing that she is still learning and until she has had enough training, I can’t expect her to always do what I am asking her to do, and even then, it might not happen but I am ready for it. I can also be pro active when I know something is going to happen that she gets aroused or excited about, and take a breath before it happens.
Types of Relaxation
Breathing
The quickest and most common way to relax is with breathing. It can be done easily while out on a walk, when something happens inside the home or even when we are thinking about the things that we want our dog / puppy to be able to do.
Visualization
Using visualization to relax could be imagining that we are somewhere that we find calming and peaceful. I like to visualize the activity that we are working on if it is a complex one. I imagine me guiding our dog through the event successfully. This is relaxing for me. I take a breath and see it happening with ease. Then of course chaos ensues until we are able to coach her through the behavior.
Sound
Using calming music or listening to the sound of the ocean can be a calming. Some even listen to rock music or something more fast paced to relax. It is all individual.
Following are some great Relaxation Tips from Harvard Health
