Setting the Mood to Listen

Training dogs is a lot like teaching children. I used to be a teacher in an urban school, and learned a lot about teaching as a science--more than just an art.

One of the most important methods of preparing a classroom is to get the students into the "mood" to learn. If you don't calm them down and get them focused and ready to learn, you're going to have trouble getting them to focus throughout the class. Many teachers who have problems with classroom control don't use techniques like this to set the tone of every class.

I'm learning that the same is with puppies. If I wake Ruki up, and she's cranky, well, I have to give her some time to wake up. And then when she doesn't focus on me, and pulls on the leash, or won't go where I need her to go, I get frustrated.

So I bring her close, I put my hand under her muzzle and calm her down to focus on me. I'll do a few "sits" and "look at me's," which turn into "comes," and then *sometimes* :) we can get walking.

Also, when she has her "crazy times"--when she basically goes ape-shit--it's like recess. I let her go for a few minutes, and then I set the tone differently with sits, look at me's, and comes; and some space games to get her to stop and sit if I get between her and something she wants. Then she's back to nice, chill Ruki--which is a recent but welcome phenomenom.