How To Keep Yourself Calm

Isis (left Boxer), Jinx (right Boxer) and Kratos at the hotel.

While Isis has been taking this hotel detour with more grace then I would expect from her, we still have been working on keeping her calm. But what happens when you aren't calm? Perhaps you are like me and have an anxiety problem or maybe you're "once bitten twice shy" type. Whatever your reason, one thing is for sure. We need to control our anxieties just as much as our dogs.

So, when you feel the anxiety start to build in yourself, what do you do?

1. Sing a song and make it funny!
I promise your dog won't judge your singing voice. Singing requires your breath to be even and smooth which in turn will keep you from hyperventilating. Below are Isis' and Jinx's songs that I sing to them.

Isis' Song is set to the tune of 'Mary had a little lamb' & Jinx's Song is set to the 'Flintstone Theme'

"Isis is a bad dog,                       "Doodle, doodle doodle, she's a very bad dog she is.
bad dog, bad dog                       From the bed to the park down by the street.
Isis is a bad dog.                         She's the baddest dog you'll ever met."
Why? oh why bad dog?

Bad dog likes her chicken.
Her chicken, her chicken.
Bad dog likes her chicken.
Why? oh why bad dog?"

2. Use Code Words.
It's fun, you'll know if something is coming your way and so "oh shit"doesn't mean everything from a car flying towards you to a loose dog.

If you go for walks with other people, get them used to "Code words" for different scenarios but use ones that aren't alarming to the dog. For us, "Free Spirit(s)" = loose dog(s), "Sassafras" = Panic, too many triggers, get dog out of situation. "Hunters" = people, "Convoy" = cars

3. The "Tense & Relax"
The tense and relax is what I personally use to calm down if I am beyond over threshold. I wouldn't do this with a dog that is really sensitive to the leash but Isis doesn't mind. What you are going to do is hold your breath for 10 seconds. While you're holding your breath simultaneously tense every single muscle in your body. After, the 10 seconds slowly let out that breath while relaxing your muscles. You'll find this usually only takes once for your body to calm down. Still a little anxious? Try it again.

Have another method for calming yourself down? I'd love to hear it. Not all methods work with everybody but they can sure help.

Training Goals for Kratos This Summer (2013)

I’m just sitting here thinking about my training goals for Kratos this summer. I really want to set some concrete goals for this year even though not all of them will get done within the summer. It's just making me really really want to be in the new house. 

Here’s what I’m hoping will be accomplished with Kratos this summer:

• Heeling-  Kratos is working on earning his Rally-o title and our CGC. Kratos is relatively good at staying close to me when regularly walking. He tends to lag behind or pull away from me if we walk too long.

• Attention Work - I never really worked on attention with Kratos. I don't know why to be quite honest. I figure if we are going to work on his titles I might as well work on his attention to me while I'm doing it.
  
• Front/Finish- Kratos is very very respectful of space. He already know front but it's about 2 ft away and if I'm leaning forward it can be upward of 5. So, I'll be cleaning that up and getting him to realize "front" is a perfectly good reason to invade my space. Finish just needs some cleaning up as well.

• Moving Down- Kratos hasn't learned that yet so this should be good. He knows down at a distance and he knows recall so it shouldn't be hard to combine the two.

• Nose Work - I'm going to be working with the 3 pups on Birch plus it will give them something to do and entertain their minds. Kratos know blood trailing and he knows shed hunting so it will be fun.

• Go To Place - I'll be working on distance and speed for Kratos. He has an incredible place when distractions are added but he is a Mastiff so speed is slow and our distance from the mat slows him down even further.
  
• Recall - Competition style of course!! And working on it in real life recalls as always. I never stop training my recalls
  
• Off-leash work- I haven't been working on any off-leash stuff with Kratos because it makes my brother very nervous. Now, that Kratos lives with me and not with my brother. I've decided to start working on it so that I can take Kratos on off-leash hiking.

• Some Weird Issue That Will Suddenly Develop - Kratos has had a good 6 years without serious problems. I doubt he will develop any serious odd issues.

Please Share

What your training goals are for the summer. Do you have an issue that you are struggling through too?

Baseline & Off leash dogs

I finally have a baseline for Isis' Human Reactivity. In case anybody wants to know, it's about 40ft with the person sitting down. A lovely girl at the hotel was willing to sit there for us in exchange for a ride up to the store which I was more than happy to oblige.

Another thing, I noticed that around this hotel in NC most people will keep their doors open and just let their dogs run free. Thankfully, this hasn't happened with Jinx or Isis but it has happened with Kratos. Kratos is okay with dogs, only getting aggressive when dogs mess with his ears too much. But this still shouldn't happen for him just cause he won't fight back if attacked.

I can't wait to get into the new house.