5 ways to control dog's impulses

Are you aware that you are the center of your pet's universe? At least until a cat runs by.

Dog owners have tried to control their pet's behavior with varying degrees of success. Working on the dog's focus (or lack of attention) is called increasing the dog's impulse control, and is an important part of teaching the dog good manners. The expected result is that the owner controls the dog's impulsive behavior during walks and other social activities. 

What does it mean to control a dog's impulsive behavior?

It means the dog owner's ability to control his pet's urges. If you have ever watched an agility dog ​​and wondered how it can concentrate and overcome obstacles at all while there are packs of barking dogs on the sides of the track, it is because the owner taught his pet to control his impulses.

What does uncontrolled behavior of a dog mean?

If your dog bursts through the front door every time you open it and charges at guests, the pet show a lack of control over its impulses. Dogs are not born with what we call good manners. It is an acquired quality. Which dog owners can instill and strengthen through training.

Just as parents raise their children who share a similar weakness to give in to impulses, dog owners teach their four-legged friends patience, calmness, and command-controlled behavior. 

So, the goal of a dog owner is to learn how to manage his pet, read to suppress, his impulses. If you are raising a puppy, you already know how difficult it can be. At first, puppies are very malleable, but when they reach adolescence, a demon wakes up in yesterday's puppies — they stop obeying and begin to act, guided by their own impulses.

Fortunately, practicing dog impulse control can help you: by teaching your dog to focus on the task first and controlling his impulses, it will be easier for you to train it later. 

Here are 5 ways you can train your dog to control the impulses of out-of-control behavior.

When it comes to teaching your dog good manners, remember to start small, set realistic goals, and build on past positive experiences. While the challenge sounds simple, being consistent is where many of us fail.

1. Start by teaching your dog to look at you.

The first step in working to control your dog's impulses is to teach the dog to shift his attention to you. As soon as the pet looks in your direction, offer him a treat. After the first treat, the dog has to make the next choice — either to look at you again, or to be distracted by exploring the environment. 

As soon as the pet decides to look at you again, you offer him a reward again. If your pet starts jumping on you and begging for a treat, ignore it. Important: the interval between the time the pet looked at you and received a reward should gradually increase, and treats should be replaced with verbal signals of encouragement and praise. When you teach your dog this behavior, not only will he be able to focus on you, because you are the bearer of all the interesting and tasty things, but he will also learn to control his own impulses. At the end of the 5th training session, the dog should sit quietly and look at you for 5-10 seconds. One workout should last no more than 3-5 minutes. 

2. By teaching your dog to focus on you, you can teach him to wait. 

Take a large piece of ham and repeat the first step — wait for the dog to look at you. But this is not enough, it must look at you in order to receive a reward. Starting from 1-2 seconds, you should gradually teach the pet to concentrate on you for up to 10 seconds, while you should hold his favorite treat in your hand. 

3. Play the “open hand” game and teach your pet the "no" command.

The dog is calm and stands or sits in front of you. Place a treat in your hand and leave it open for your dog to see the treat. If your dog is about to grab a treat, close your hand — open your palm again only after the pet has retreated. Always keep your hand open, unless your dog is about to snatch the treats out of it.

If the dog begs or scratches your hand, keep it closed and wait. Open your palm only when your pet has calmed down and is not actively trying to get a treat. Only give the treat to your dog when it looks at you, not at the treat. Over time, your dog will learn to respect your space and will look at you for the next signal.

4. Teach your dog the command “place”.

Not all dogs are naturally calm; some need to be taught to relax.

As a place for a dog, you can use a chair, rug, pillow, or a place near the owner's leg — any item that the dog associates with its personal space. The task is to teach the dog to sit down on command. First, teach your pet to take its place on command, and then — to remain in place until you attract its attention with another command. The signal system is familiar: the pet executes commands and receives a treat; the interval between the command and the treat gradually increases. If the dog does not follow the command, you ignore it. 

5. Encourage every controlled behavior of the dog.

After you have done a few training sessions to increase your dog's impulse control, you can apply the training algorithm to any of your dog's other daily activities. Some owners make their dogs sit and wait before eating. Others make sure their dog sits calmly before letting guests in. Many pet owners teach their pets to be calm before going for a walk.

Notes:

• How to react to your pet and in what situations — you decide for yourself, depending on your goals and other circumstances, for example, the presence of children. It should be noted that controlling the behavior of a dog in some situations can be difficult, but if you are patient and consistent, your pet will quickly learn to control his behavior — to remain calm in the most provocative situations. Another note: as a punishment, the dog must not be beaten. The only acceptable punishment is to deprive it of goodies and the attention of its owner.
• Don't give your dog a reason to guess what you want from it — not even all people can boast of this quality. The teams must be specific and the reward irreversible. With each positive reinforcement of controlled interactions between you, your pet will extend the logic of its behavior to situations that it hasn’t encountered before. 
• If you have any other ways to control your dog's impulsive behavior, please share with us in the comments to this post.