Creating a Calm Canine

This is one of the things I get asked endlessly: How do I get my dog to calm down?!

There are many things than can lead to hyperactivity in your pup. Did you know that as natural predators, dogs should sleep an average of 20 or so hours a day? We'll discuss some of the things that might be working against your pup as well as simple things you can do to help create a calm canine!

~ Food.
The food you feed your companion can actually be causing them to act out-of-control! Think of hyperactivity as a allergy - certain foods can cause this allergy to flare up. Corn (and all it's by-products) are the #1 culprit here. Corn always causes hyperactivity and can even cause skin irritations as well as other allergies. Dry dog foods high in grains can also cause this. Look for foods that are free of corn, and limit other grains to one wholesome source.

~ Lack of Exercise.
Many of us lead hectic lives. We get up early and race through our day, by the time we get home: we're exhausted and our pup is ready to go! Don't consider your work done until your pup has been exercised. Make sure they get their walk, or a nice long game of fetch. After some physical exercise, try some brain work to ensure you wear them out! (See our post on interactive toys)

~ Constant Chaos.
Many of us don't give our dogs the kind of 'down-time' they need. Take time to give your pup some calm attention, engage in a bonding experience such as meditation, massage or Doga (Yoga with your dog). Breath deeply while you're with your pup, notice how their breathing slows as well. Take this time to just 'be in the moment' with your pup. If your pup is excited at first, simply remain calm and ignore them until they calm down. Once they are calm - try putting this on cue. At our house - we use the cue 'calm'. We've practiced being calm so much, that when I ask my dogs to 'calm', they do just that. Handy for the dog that's easily excitable!

~ Encourage Calm Energy.
Sometimes it's nice to have a holistic remedy to help you on your calm journey. Flower Essences and Aromatherapy products can be extremely useful for this. We offer a couple of remedies that will help your pup replace the anxiety and excitability with calm energy. You can find those at out store:
www.HappyHealthyPup.etsy.com

We hope you find these suggestions useful, we wish for every pup to experience calm energy.

*smooches to the pooches*

What I've learned from Dr. Temple Grandin

For those of you who are not familiar with Temple Grandin. She is autistic, and has done pioneering work for the autistic community, but also realized that her autistic abilities allowed her to better understand the animals. She is a renowned animal scientist. And I had the opportunity to hear her speak. The energy was amazing.. people were overflowing everywhere, the SLC Library auditorium, which generally seems large, seemed minuscule by the throngs of people. I loved it.


*Animals have feelings. Their feelings are the key to their emotional and physical well-being.*
I loved hearing this out loud! Just loved it!
After all, this is what my life work is based around. The fact that animals feel, and their emotional well-being is important. Temple speaks in her book about the importance of the emotions of animals, and also addresses the fact that their emotions directly effect their behavior. Beautiful & oh so true! I see it everyday!

*Animals Think in Pictures*
For most of us that work with animals in behavior modification, we completely understand this. She spoke specifically of fear and used the example of a horse that was scared of black hats. Any other color hat was fine - black was not. She found out that, during a procedure with the horse, someone splashed alcohol in her eye. The horse was looking at a person wearing a black hat. That is the photograph her mind took when she was scared. Ouch = Black Hats. This is true for any animal that has a bad experience... I could list hundreds of examples here, because I see them everyday. Dogs that are pinched, shocked, forced or physically manipulated. Their fear, anxiety and pain are real - and most often make an association.

*Flooding is not fixing*
I loved that she was able to make this point to the audience in attendance. There is a very common mindset locally, that you should just make the animal 'do it', that they need to 'get over it' or be forced in order to 'suck it up'. This couldn't be more wrong. Fear is a real emotion for an animal, and whether or not we see the threat - they do. Flooding is a psychological term for basically 'forcing'. She actually used the example of Cesar Milan - noted an episode where he forced a dog to walk across a slippery surface that the dog was afraid of. She literally gasped as she said it - it struck her as that inappropriate and cruel. Stating that more often than not - the fear worsens instead of getting better.

There was much, much more. And, if you have the chance to read any of her books - I highly recommend them.

One other thing I took away that evening is - never underestimate the power of friends. I loved seeing the others trainers I work with there, as well as rescue people, therapy animal people & other friends. What a wonderful opportunity to bring us all together!

*smooches to the pooches*