Is Calmness always the answer?
Marley might be a senior boy these days who is very little trouble. But in his youth Marley was quite the challenge!
He was reactive to just about anything and everything. Dogs, people, joggers, cyclists…carrier bags floating in the wind!
Marley struggled with a lot of changes and he needed a huge amount of work on almost everything and I always did the best I could.
One thing I was often advised with Marley was to reduce his exercise and to stop playing toys. I was advised by colleagues that he couldn't handle the cortisol and it would make his behaviour more challenging and problematic.
So I diligently took away his favourite ball, his fun toys and reduced his walks hugely.
Over time Marley's behaviour actually got worse. He seemed to have far more inconsistency in his training and when he reacted it became the explosive episodes again. The ones where he couldn't come down for hours after.
I realised over time that the problem was that this obsession with keeping him calm, was actually creating much worse issues.
Without the outlets for adrenaline, without the physical exercise and freedom to move , he became frustrated and more anxious.
Marley needed his walks. What should have been explained was that it's the quality of the walk that was the problem. Not the actual walk.
The issue was that the walls were full of triggers at a distance he couldn't handle. What he actually needed was walks at quieter times with much more space and an opportunity to be offlead , safely. Able to sniff and zoom, and be a dog. Freedom walks became a part of Marley's training success.
In addition we reintroduced his toys. Marley LOVED his ball. Rather than take it away because he struggled to switch off, I used it for training and used it to help him understand what behaviours I wanted. To help him learn emotional regulation.
Marley thrived on an increase in walks- not because of the actual exercise, but I began taking him much different places alot more suitable.
Trying to force Marley to just go on a handful of walks, and have no toys or exciting games really caused Marley issues.
Forcing him into calmness created adrenaline seeking from him, increasing his reactivity. While calmness is important, it shouldn't be advised at the detriment of meeting a dogs needs.
As Marley got more needs met, and we increased our training skills in other areas Marley thrived.
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