Week 2: Reducing Arousal
- Exercise (What do to and what to avoid)
- Brain Games
- Diet
- Other Tips to Reduce Arousal
- Training: Conditioned Relaxation
- Training: Sudden Environmental Change as an On Switch
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EXERCISE
When I mention exercise, people tend to think of fetching balls or toys. That’s a very intense exercise that tends to leave the dog tired, but still amped up. If you look at the life of a feral dog or a wolf, you don’t see that kind of intense chase-chase-chase. You see an animal seeking out a food source and acquiring it (in a burst of activity if they are hunting), consuming, then resting.
So it’s not that you can’t give your dog toys or even play a little fetch, but here’s a general rule of thumb:
- seeking exercises are preferred to repeated chase-bite exercises
- if you do an intense activity, help your dog calm down afterwards
By “seeking” exercises, I mean activities that put your dog in seeking mode, engaging the SEEKING system that Panksepp describes. When a dog is exploring her environment, she gets a cascade of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with euphoria. A long walk in an interesting area, for example, where you let your dog stop to smell along the way, is ideal.
The SEEKING system is that which impels us to seek our environment for information that will help us survive, whether the location of tasty nuts or a link on a new internet dating service. “It allows animals to go out in the world and enthusiastically look for the resources needed to live.” Dopamine-energized, this mesolimbic SEEKING system, arising from the ventral tegmental area (VTA), encourages foraging, exploration, investigation, curiosity, interest and expectancy. Dopamine fires each time the rat (or human) explores its environment. “I can look at the animal and tell when I am tickling its SEEKING system,” Panksepp explained. “Because it is exploring and sniffing.”
Want a more technical article? Click here.
Want a video? Here’s Panskepp doing a TED talk (it’s about 17 minutes long):
Back to your dog. For another an example of an activity, hiding a tennis ball or food puzzle for your dog to find will tire your dog out and engage the SEEKing system, yet it builds up a lot less arousal. As they say, “A tired dog is a good dog,” but being physically exhausted and still hopped up on adrenaline is not ideal. Providing exercise that involves exploration, where your dog has to use her brain and senses to go find something, helps her truly get tired and relaxed.
If you do fetch with your dog, then finish up with something that’s more calming, like secretly scattering a handful of treats in your backyard as your dog goes to fetch. Then get the ball back and signal All Done and let your dog go find the treats on her own (don’t make it an exciting game where you chant “find it”). Alternatively, going to a forest or some other smell-rich location for a walk afterwards can also be calming. A calm massage session can also help your dog practice the off-switch.
Tug games should also be followed with a time of relaxation. I am of two minds about tug. It can be a great way to help your dog learn to alternate between excitement and relaxation, if you practice doing so. If you play tug and then leave the dog with that level of excitement, it is probably not helpful for her frustration later. I found that when I stopped doing tug and fetch with Peanut, his overall arousal level dropped nicely and he had more self control in other settings.
A treadmill is also a good option for exercise for your dog. I recommend that if you do this, you film so that you can watch your dog’s body to be sure she’s not walking in a way that’s uncomfortable or might give her some pain. For example, if you only ever stand on one side of the treadmill, she will walk with her head turned that way and that may lead to pain. Or if the speed is too slow or fast, she might walk with an awkward gait. This video from the Canis Film Festival is a good start on how to teach your dog to be comfortable with the treadmill:
In the next section, we’ll discuss more brain games as a way to help reduce your dog’s overall arousal and also help her have a more interesting and satisfying life.
BRAIN GAMES
While dogs, like people, will take food that is offered to them, that’s not what they prefer. In fact, decades of research on contrafreeloading indicates that animals prefer to work for their food rather than having it provided for free. Well, most animals. It seems that cats actually do like having staff. So instead of putting your dog’s food in a bowl each day, have him work for some or all of it by putting it into food puzzles.
Food puzzles and exploration of the natural world are both good for the brain and your dog’s overall welfare. As researchers on the “eureka” effect wrote, “opportunities to solve problems, make decisions, and exercise cognitive skills are important to an animal’s emotional experiences and ultimately, its welfare.”
Food puzzles come in many shapes and sizes and you can even make your own. For example, I made puzzles out of empty vegan ice cream containers for Peanut and Sagan:
You can get your dog interested in tennis balls, acclimated to the sound of metal, and entertain her, all at the same time, by making this easy food puzzle. Video is by Debbie Oliver CPDT-KSA of Miss Daisy’s Dog Camp:
<p”>Get creative! There are lots of great commercial food puzzles out there, but using some creativity will also help you check off your Rule of Twelve checklist at the same time. For example, letting your puppy knock around a plastic milk jug with kibble in it will help him with sound sensitivity. In that case, your dog is the one that makes the sound happen. We are usually less afraid of events that we can control.
Jolein van Weperen is a great dog trainer and author in the Netherlands who specializes in impulse control and environmental enrichment. I was very impressed with her wide variety of puzzles and toys for dog “brainwork.” I love the way she trains. It is available in in English and in the original Dutch.
Here’s Emily Larlham’s video of Jolein’s puzzles:
Here’s some more. The “Treat Trapper” is an exercise that is meant to be done in a relaxed and thoughtful way, not just throwing it around. Watch how Jolein teaches this, in two parts. It’s pretty clear, even if you don’t speak Dutch:
Here’s another video by Jolein with one more puzzle idea:
Here’s another video I like, on how to make a Snuffle Mat, by dog trainer Lindsay Kinney of Kinney Canine Academy in Minnesota:
DIET
Nutrition plays a big role in the physical and mental wellbeing of our dogs. Their diet can influence their attention span, stress level, and frustration tolerance. If your dog doesn’t feel well or is full of corn and sugar, you’ll get a different response than if your dog is healthy.
Many dogs are allergic to common food ingredients, like chicken or grains. This can lead to itchiness, upset digestive systems, and other issues that might be part of the reason your dog can’t seem to sit still or is easily frustrated. Imagine having an itchy rash or an upset belly and then having to focus on doing your taxes!
I’ve found that for skin and gastrointestinal issues, a holistic veterinarian or licensed canine nutritionist is usually a better resource than a regular western veterinarian. If you have a dog who is taking pills for allergies, there may be some better remedies based on food alone.
Very high protein foods can also cause dogs to be hyperactive, so when you prepare or purchase your dog’s food, look for a moderate to low amount of protein, from a good source (avoiding words like “by-product,” “meat,” “animal,” and “digest.” Carbs should come from low-glycemic index foods, rather than ingredients such as corn, which are high in sugar. Dogs who are already high energy don’t need to be amped up on protein bars all day.
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