How do I train my dog to be calm outside?
Denis Abbott
2025-06-27 06:11:46
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To help your dog learn to be calm outside, it’s hard for your dog to learn how to settle when there are distractions, so it’s best to begin practicing somewhere quiet. Reward relaxed behaviours, to begin with you may just need to reward your dog for any behaviour that doesn’t involve staring at you, pulling on the lead, or barking. Sit quietly on a chair with your dog on the lead and a blanket on the floor, drop tiny bite-size treats to your dog as a reward for settling down on the blanket. Gradually reward more relaxed behaviours, this will vary between dogs – some will automatically start lying down so you can quickly progress to rewarding your dog only for this behaviour. Once your dog starts to get the hang of it and is shifting their weight so they’re comfortable and relaxed, you can start practising with them off lead.
Add in distractions, slowly start building up distractions by practising the ‘settle’ in increasingly busy areas or ask a helper to create a distraction by walking past, progressing to more exciting activities like sweeping or skipping. If your dog becomes unsettled or gets up, ignore them and wait until they settle again before rewarding them. If they won’t relax and settle, increase the distance from the distraction or make the distraction less interesting. Once your dog has learnt the basic objective of being settled, try training in different locations with more distractions.
Lori Spinka
2025-06-27 03:41:19
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Step one Place a mat, blanket or a towel on the floor so the dog has somewhere comfortable to lie down. Allow the dog to go over to the blanket and investigate. Reward the dog whenever they investigate or go near the mat. Reward them by throwing treats on the mat instead of giving them from your hand to help build a strong association that the mat is a good place.
Step seven Gradually include distractions and practice in different locations, using your dog’s mat as a cue to settle. This exercise should be calm and collected, practice at a time when your dog is already tired, encouraging calm behaviour from your dog. Remember to go at your dog’s pace. If they move away from the mat or break their down position go back a step and lure them back into position.
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