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This is the Puppy Training Podcast , episode 161

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, teaching your puppy how to settle and

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relax . This

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podcast is designed to help you on your

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journey of becoming best friends through love and

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learning , as you train your own dog from

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home , and I'm here to help you every

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step of the way . This is the Puppy Training

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Podcast , and I'm your host , amy Jensen

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. Hi

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you guys , I hope you're having a good week . We're

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back from the holidays . At

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the start of a new year . I'm always anxious to

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get back into routines and

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schedules I don't know . It doesn't think of

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for my brain to just know what's happening . The

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holidays are also fun . It's fun to be chaotic and

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relax and chill right

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, which is what we're talking about today on the podcast . How

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do we help our dogs settle and

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relax ? Sometimes it's easier said than

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done . Today , in fact , I have

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an extra dog at my house . I'm boarding a dog

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for a friend While they are on vacation

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. Some are sunny and warm . It's

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okay . It's pretty warm here in Utah too , and

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, yeah , we're just working on

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settling and calm , so you might hear them in the background

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coming and going . I've got three of them and they're working

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on some good chews right now

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and they're being good with them

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, so we'll let them keep chewing and

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then hopefully they're quiet in the background

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but they're settling and relaxing

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, and today I want to teach you guys how to get your dogs

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to do that , even if you have one dog

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or two dogs or , like me , you have three dogs

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at your house . Today , before we

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dive in , make sure you check out our

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classes and courses that are upcoming . So

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everything you guys that we do here

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at Baxter and Bella is currently available

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to our members online . So once you

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sign up and you become a member , you have access to

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everything that we provide

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. Now , occasionally we do

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teach things live , meaning via Zoom , of course

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. So our basic puppy

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training , which is our puppy kindergarten course , our

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games and activities course , we're starting

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a new AKC home manners course all

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of those things are coming up in the month of January

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and you can sign up on our website

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and register to come to those via

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Zoom . So you'll be in your living room with your dog

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at a puppy class . Basically

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, right , you're taking puppy class from home , but

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we're teaching it live . Now everything we teach

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live is already recorded . It's posted on our

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website so you can go and view those courses

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on demand , but it's kind of fun to do a live

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class as well , so check that out if you

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are interested , all right

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. So for the topic of the day , we are talking

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about , again , relaxing

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and getting our puppies to settle . So I

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know that when you bring a new puppy into your home , it

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is an exciting experience , right

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? But with it I also want you to recognize

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the responsibility that we have of teaching

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our puppies essential life skills

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when it comes to living in a human household

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, simply because they are not human

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, all right . So they need to learn things like

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staying calm , practicing patience

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, exercising impulse control , and

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today I want to talk about how you can

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use some effective techniques , or what those techniques

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look like , so that you can achieve these goals of helping

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your dog settle and relax in a human household . So

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we do this through creating routines , using

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positive reinforcement . We like to play

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lots of games , play a super powerful you guys

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, and then some relaxation training

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. So let's talk first about establishing

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a routine . Dogs like to know what to expect

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, right ? I just mentioned that the end

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of the holidays , my brain also

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likes to know what to expect . We do that as humans

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. We like to have you know , and some of my kids are this

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way more so than others , but some of them really

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just do so much better if they know

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what to expect , right , my daughter wants

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to know when the next vacation

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is . She wants to know when soccer

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is . She wants to know , you know , anything

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that she just can wrap her brain around

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and plan on . She starts to relax

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and settle because she knows what to expect

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. Now our dogs are very similar . Are they giving

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them a routine and a ? A

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daily schedule just helps them understand

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what to expect . They thrive

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on predictability and a consistent

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schedule helps them understand when it's time to

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be active and when it's time to

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relax . So designating specific

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periods of play , feeding and rest

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gives your puppy the ability

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to associate certain activities with designated times

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. And then they relax . So when it's playtime

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, practice playing and then settle for

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one to two minutes . That might mean asking

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your dog for a downstate or a

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go-to-bed behavior , right ? Or , if your puppy doesn't

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know those things yet , the verbal cues we

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can lure them into these behaviors to

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help them , teach them , show them

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what to do Now repeat the play

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for two to three minutes so go back to whatever you were

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doing a game or tug

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fetch some kind of physical exercise

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and then go back to settling

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for one to two minutes , which again is just

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helping them come back to that zone one that we talk

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about in our course . So help your puppy learn

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to manage their own behavior by taking breaks often

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and rewarding them for relaxing and

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then return to play , and we're just going to go back and forth

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between the two so they learn to

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self-manage going back and forth

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between the two . Next , let's

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remember positive reinforcement . This serves as

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a powerful tool in shaping our dog's

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behavior . Whenever my puppy exhibits

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calmness or they settle down willingly

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without being asked , even if they just plop

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down on the floor , I like to reward them with a

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treat , food rewards , a praise

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, a little bit of praise or some affection . It doesn't have

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to be big . In fact I don't want to interrupt

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the calm . So what I might do is

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if it helps them drop maybe

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half a little piece of cheerio right in

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between their front paws , or if that gets

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them too excited because it's food and my dog's really

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food motivated , then maybe

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I just say good boy , right . Or

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maybe I just rub their belly a little bit or stroke

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their ears , something that will help them stay

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in that calm position , but I know that they

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like , so this creates a positive

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association with calm behavior , encouraging them to

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repeat it . Consistency in

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rewarding desirable actions is essential for

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reinforcing the behaviors that we want

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to cultivate in our dogs . So here's

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an example for you In the kitchen . Teach

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your dog what gets rewarded , instead

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of them running through the area putting paws

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on counters to see what's up there or trying to beg

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food off of your toddler . Try

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setting a dog bed in the corner of the dining area

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and reward your puppy for laying on it . Good

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, intermittently meaning every so often and

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randomly , with different rewards

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to keep interest in this activity . Over

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time , lengthen the time required

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for the next reward to fall . Now

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you've taught your dog to go lay on a mat in the kitchen and

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that earns them rewards . You've

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taught them a good behavior you like and also

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effectively avoided problem behaviors like

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counter surfing , begging or running

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like crazy in the kitchen area . Teaching

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your puppy to stay on a mat does require some patience

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. Dogs have very little , naturally

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, so we must teach them that waiting

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equals rewards . Training

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your puppy to wait for things requires a patient

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approach . Start with simple exercises

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like making your puppy wait before you

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set down their food bowl or before going outside

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, before you open the door , have them wait and then release

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them to go outside . Using

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little , simple cues like wait or stay throughout

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the day , it really helps your puppy

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understand the concept of I wait and

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something good happens Again

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. That doesn't come naturally to them , that must be

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taught . So be consistent with

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that , be repetitive with that . Use

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it throughout the day so that they understand

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I wait and good things happen

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. So gradually increase the duration

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that you're asking your puppy to wait or stay

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and this helps them become more accustomed to

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the concept of overall patience

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. Consistent repetition and using that

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positive reinforcement that we talked about will

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help your dogs understand the value

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of waiting and that there is value in it . That's

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so foreign to them . I

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like to teach patients to my dogs through games , so

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I try to incorporate games into our daily

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routine . This can be fun and effective

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and it teaches them patience at the same

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time . So try to make everything a game

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if possible . I like to do simple activities

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like wait or stay games because that develops

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impulse control in my dog . If any

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of you have demand barkers , meaning the dog barks

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at you for attention or barks at you to give them food

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faster or barks at you because they

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want something we call

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that demand barking . Teaching them

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to wait or stay helps

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them be patient

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and control their impulses , and that barking

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will go away . So again , start with

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short durations and we just gradually

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increase the time that our puppy is

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willing to wait , so rewarding

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them at two seconds and then five seconds and then

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10 seconds , and then 20 seconds and then 40 seconds

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, and then go back and throw in a couple easy ones like five seconds

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or 10 seconds to surprise them , and

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you'll see that your puppy gets better and better and

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better at waiting . So games not only

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provide mental stimulation for your dogs

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, which is super important , just as important as physical

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exercise but it also creates a positive

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bond between you and your dog . So

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if you need ideas for patience games , check out our website

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. In our members area . We have a games and

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activities page chuck full of

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games that teach patience and

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impulse control . All

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right , let's talk about relaxation training

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, so teaching our puppy . We've already talked a little bit about this

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. Essentially , having our puppy do a stay or

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go to their mat or go to place

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is somewhat of a relaxation

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training process , but

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a little bit more about it would be teaching them that

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it's important overall

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as part of the daily routine . So we like to incorporate

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these short little relaxation sessions into

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our daily schedules and I like to focus

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on calm behavior such as laying down or staying

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quiet , and then again we're just gradually extending

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the durations of these sessions and we reward

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our dogs for maintaining a relaxed state

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. So , like I mentioned before , sometimes when

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we're doing relaxation training , our dogs are on alert

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, like I asked them for a down and they're in

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a down and they're staring at me intently . Okay , they're

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not super relaxed , but they are staying

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and they are waiting . We want to take that

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to the next step of instead

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of them feeling like they're on cue . I want

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to start to notice this relaxation training

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of my dog just naturally

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chooses to lay down and relax and

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I like that and I want that to happen more

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so . Fostering the idea of

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we play and then we settle , and then we play

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and then we settle , and the training

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of the stay and the go to place All

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of these things combine into

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helping our dog be able to naturally relax

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more so on their own throughout

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the day , and you're giving them time because

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of the routine and the structure that you've created , they

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start to relax into it , meaning , oh

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, I know that right now I'm going to settle because it's subtle

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time , and then we're going to go play , and then

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it's maybe great time for a while , right , and then

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we're going to go play and then we're

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going to . You know , amy's

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going to go back to work and I can just settle on this mat next

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to her and take a nap . So that starts

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to happen . As we're creating these daily

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practices of getting our dogs to wait

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and to stay and then alternating

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between play and settle , and play and

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settle , they become better at

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managing their relaxation abilities

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during the day . It becomes part of a

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natural part of them , really . So

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you can introduce your dog to a specific

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cue , such as settle , to signal to your puppy that it's

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time to relax . Try

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using a very calm tone of voice and encourage

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them to lie down in a designated spot and

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then reward them initially for laying down

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in that spot , but then try just

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going about what you're supposed to be doing and see if they'll just relax

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into it . Doing this when they've

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just exercised , right , They've already gotten a drink , they've

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already gone to the bathroom and it's around nap time . It's

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a great time to start to practice some of this , where

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they're settling , not even necessarily

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in their crate or pen anymore . They're out

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here where you are and they're learning to relax

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next to you , so that settle cue

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can be important to signal to them

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it's time to chill Now

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. Also , environment makes a big

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difference , so ensure that your puppy's environment

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supports a calm demeanor right . Minimize

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distractions such as loud noises

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or excessive activity . Try

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to keep things a little more quiet still . There's

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not kids running through the room . If we can

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at all possible , try to create a quiet environment

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. That will help your puppy want to also quiet

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down . Now again , consistency

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is paramount . You guys , be patient and persistent

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in your efforts as we start to train

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, settle and wait behaviors . Understand that

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every dog is unique and the learning process

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takes time right . It's really easy for me to explain

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this to you in 15 minutes , but recognize

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this is going to take some time

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, right , for your puppy to understand and to really

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get the gist of this new

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routine that's happening . So be sure that your

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entire family is on board and they know the rules for your dog

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. The more everyone follows the same rules

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, the quicker your puppy will catch on . So be

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sure to help your puppy see the benefits of following the

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rules using the positive reinforcement techniques

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that we talked about . A little bit of

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a side note on that reward , reward , reward

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that first year of training . You guys Make

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sure you're not bribing your dog but

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rather paying them . This means you ask

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for behavior , the dog gives you behavior

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, then you pay them for it . If

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you get in the habit of showing them the payment

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to bribe them to do something , so you're showing

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them the payment before they're

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actually doing the behavior , they will become

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dependent on seeing what the reward

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is first and you'll even start to see them

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start to decide is it worth it or not . So

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be sure that you lose the lure as quickly as you can when

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teaching new behavior and get to that

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mode of the . I ask for behavior

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, the dog does the behavior , then I pay

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the behavior . Okay , we can help

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you with this inside our members area if you need assistance

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. But you guys remember , training

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your new puppy to settle and wait for things is an investment

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, right ? It's a building a relationship

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between the two of you and it's leading

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to a well behaved canine companion

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, which is what we want when we have a dog living in

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our homes , so through a combination of routine

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positive reinforcement , using specific

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cues like wait , stay or settle

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, and patience , you can guide

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your dog toward a calm and composed

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demeanor . It is possible . Remember

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that building these habits takes time . So approach

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this process with consistency , understanding

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and a commitment to nurturing a

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positive bond with your dog . You guys , I wish

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you the best in 2024 . Happy new year , happy

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training . If

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you have a question about anything you heard on this

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podcast or any other puppy training question

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, visit my site , baxter and Bellacom

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, to contact me .