Teaching Self-control

Teaching our dogs self-control in the face of distractions and food is important. It makes living with dogs easier, teaches them to resist their impulses and is an important part of the growing up process. It also teaches them to be gentle in the way they take treats and can keep the dog from being accused of biting someone, when they are really just trying to steal a sandwich. Self-control around food can even protect your dog from accidental or intentional poisoning.

We also want to teach our dogs a specific "leave it" exercise to really cement the idea that not all food is theirs for the grabbing. This exercise flies in the face of your dog's natural heritage as the consummate scavenger.

Gimme here:  When we were walking in the woods, I found a dead bird and ate it.  That worried my person because the bird could have been poisoned and I might have gotten sick.  So to keep me safe, my person taught me "leave it".  

Months later we had a chance to see just how well I had learned the lesson.  We were walking in the woods and I found a really cool dead animal and I wanted to eat it too, but my person said, "Gimme, leave it" and kept on walking.  So I dropped it and ran after her.  She gave me a LOT of good treats, almost all the treats she had with her I think.  They were really yummy.  When we came back by the dead thing, I only glanced at it and then pranced along with my person and got even more treats.  Being smart is a good thing.  I'm just saying.

Dogs teach self-control between each other very quickly. You'll start teaching self-control during the proofing part of the eye contact game. Make sure you use food in proofing so your dog learns to maintain or re-commit to eye contact in the face of food distraction. This same process of proofing is added to recall, sits, downs and loose leash walking.

There are many exercises that you can teach your dog to help them learn self control and many of them will also make your dog safer. Some ideas include:

• waiting for a release to eat meals after you set the dish down (starting by the dog showing calm self-control as you put food in the dish while its on the counter… and gradually requiring the same calm self-control as you set the dish down on the floor)

• waiting for release to go through any door (house door, crate door or car door) whether coming or going

• "mine" vs. "yours" game