Hey all, here's another quick post from the Ring Confidence Facebook group:

When a dog is stressed at a trial, the instinct is usually to calm them down. Slow things down, keep things quiet, wait for them to settle.

But lowering arousal to an optimum level doesn't always look like calming. Sometimes our bodies need motion to regulate itself.

Think about what we do when we are the ones that are anxious. We might bounce our knees. Tap our fingers. Twirl our hair. We can't sit still. And while all of those can be a sign that we are getting dysregulated, they don't necessarily contribute to the dysregulation. Our nervous system is attempting to soothe itself.

In my household, we have a gigantic crash pad. We have a swing that can sway back and forth as well as spin in circles. And we have a "dancing pole" that also allows spinning, climbing, and jumping off of. And one of the kids thrives with deep pressure and heavy work. Not just being squished, but the act of pushing hard against us with all their might to try and move us.

Dogs can be the same way. For some dogs, the thing that actually helps them isn't stillness, it's movement. Things like high hand touches, spins, or any type of moving engagement. You're not trying to rev them up further. You're giving the dog's body something to do with that anxious energy, a way to move through the arousal rather than just sit in it.

And yes, for some dogs, this will spiral them up further, and it especially depends upon how far "gone" they are. Just like my kids, they can really easily tip into franticness and not doing purposeful, controlled movement.

For one of my dogs, heelwork games are a really great example of using movement in a purposeful way to calm him and help him feel safe in the agility ring before starting, especially with delays. I do a mix of stalky slow time, followed by really fast bursts and turns, and then back to controlled slow movement. It keeps him on the edge of his toes, releases built up pressure, and dials in that arousal to a thinking level in a fun way.

For other dogs, it's a fine line of giving them an outlet versus overpowering them with our own energy. If we get too big, too intense, too insistent in trying to get them moving, we end up adding pressure instead of releasing it. It starts to feel like nagging. The goal is to invite the movement, not demand it.

For Ginny, movement is a really fun release for her, but it also isn't something she can always access right away. I might need to start with connection through stillness games, like a chin rest or a low hand touch, and then I can move into more big movement releases like her boings and following me as I move!

It can be such a fine line!

So if your dog is spinning up at a trial and your instinct is to hold them still, it might be worth asking whether a little controlled movement would actually get you to that thinking place faster. It takes some experimenting and seeing what works for your own dog.

I do this experimenting both outside the ring and also inside the ring with our transitions to the start line, or between exercises, and even during delays in the ring.

What does your dog need to settle in at a trial? Stillness, or something more active?

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Upcoming Classes

Registration opens September 22nd for TEAM 2 obedience, and Oct 22nd for the new 3wk obedience game class! Put it on your calendar now so you dont forget!

Teach a retrieve from step 1. Have fancy fronts and heeling through pivoting. Teach the foundations for marking a line, and more! Obedience is fun!

TEAM 2 Obedience!

Obedience can be intense, it can be fast, it can be creative, and most importantly it can be joyful for both you and the dog!

In this class we will look at using a few simple games that you can build into a variety of training exercises to bring more engagement, creativity, and joy into your training.

Up Your Game! (3 Week class)

Follow me on the social media platform of your choice to try and catch all my daily training videos. I hope they inspire you to try something fun with your dog! And join my free facebook group on building ring confidence for dog sports!