It can seem to us that it is easy to read our dog’s emotions. You walk up to your pet, hang around them for a bit, and infer how our pet is feeling by observing their movements and vocalizations.
While the last thing a pet owner wants is for their dog to suppress their emotions, there’s no getting around the fact that very strong displays can sometimes be bothersome or even dangerous. A dog loudly barking because they’re getting impatient for their dinner is annoying and unpleasant. Dogs that get overly excited for walks or when they see other people or dogs, can also cause accidents when they run, lunge, or bark excessively outside.
The challenge for pet owners is teaching their dogs how to manage those emotions so they can avoid engaging in destructive or bothersome behaviors. Canine emotional regulation is squarely focused on helping pet owners with that challenge.
What Is Canine Emotional Regulation?
Upon reading the term “canine emotional regulation,” you might have assumed it’s related to controlling your dog’s emotions. Of course, controlling your dog or anyone’s emotions is impossible. None of us can help the way we feel, and that’s not what emotional regulation is about.
Instead, canine emotional regulation is about moderating your dog’s emotions in terms of how they are expressed. More specifically, it’s about regulating emotional reactions (and associated behaviors) to better match a given environment or situation.
Feeding time is a good example of when emotional regulation can be helpful for dogs. Let’s say that your pet is the type who hops around and barks whenever food is around. This may have been cute when your pet was still a puppy, but it’s more disruptive now that they are fully grown. You understand their excitement over food but still want them to control their reaction.
There are quite a few scenarios where canine emotional regulation could be very helpful. Working with a trainer is an excellent way to teach your dog to regulate their emotions during any of those situations.
It’s important to note that canine emotional regulation is not necessarily something your dog will automatically learn during obedience training. However, a skilled trainer can teach you how to help your dog learn to better regulate their emotions.
What Are the Components of Canine Emotional Regulation?
A successful emotional regulation training program should focus on several key components. Let’s get into those components here:
Emotion Management
The core component of an emotional regulation training program is emotion management.
As we said earlier, controlling a dog’s emotions is impossible. That’s why canine emotional regulation programs are not focused on invalidating how our dogs feel. Rather, these programs focus on teaching dogs how to manage their emotions.
You cannot blame your dog for feeling excited after getting a whiff of their favorite treat, but you can teach a better behavior. This is done by guiding your dog to offer the appropriate behavior for that situation (a sit, or down for instance) and then reward your dog when they display that response.
Hiring an experienced trainer who can spend time teaching both you and your dog will start you out on the right foot. According to the American Kennel Club, playing certain games can also help dogs build emotional management skills.
Energy Management
Your dog may also need more opportunities to use their energy in positive ways so they can better manage their emotions. Before giving your dog their favorite treat or exposing them to whichever things get them most excited, you can take them out for a walk. Taking them for a walk is helpful because it uses some your pet’s energy reserves. By the time you practice with the thing that they get so excited about, your pet is likely less liable to start into the inappropriate reaction.
You can continue this as your dog begins to regularly offer the more subdued reactions. Soon enough, your pet will realize that energetic displays don’t help them get what they want. They will understand that staying calm is better because it allows them to snag their favorite treats faster.
Environmental Adaptation
One more critical component of canine emotional regulation we want to highlight in this article is environmental adaptation. Compared to emotion and energy management, environmental adaptation is a more complex concept. This time around, you aren’t just trying to elicit an appropriate response from your dog. You’re also trying to draw out that appropriate response based on environmental factors.
The key to teaching your pet about appropriate emotional displays in specific environments is gradual exposure. Examples are dog parks and other outdoor venues you intend to frequent. While in those environments, work with your dog to teach them more appropriate reactions and then practice until they have it down pat.
Teaching your dog skills for emotional management opens up their world as well as yours. Your dog can enjoy other people, places, and animals with these skills.
Ready to transform your dog’s behavior? Dive deeper into canine emotional regulation with our expert training techniques. Visit our Dog Training Page now and start your journey towards a happier, well-behaved pet
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