Can impulse control be trained?
Kristian Schroeder
2025-06-24 15:06:39
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Impulse control is all about our dogs managing their own impulses, rather than us having to micromanage them and constantly tell them “stay,” “leave,” or “no!” By working in impulse control in our training, we can help our dogs learn to make good decisions and offer behaviour we like around many common distractions, exhibiting self-control and making better choices. It’s a good idea to start by teaching a few basic behaviours first, such as sit, so that our dog has some idea of behaviours that often “pay” well. If our dogs have a reinforcement history for these behaviours, they are more likely to try offering them when we start our impulse control training. The next important thing to remember is that we need to make it REALLY easy for our dogs to get it right. Another factor of impulse control is that we aren’t going to cue our dogs – if we ask our dogs to sit, stay etc then we are managing them; the goal of impulse control training is for our dogs to be managing themselves. We also have our Impulse Control Masterclasses that can help you teach you and your dogs all about impulse control. Our Puppy and Dog Training classes also cover Impulse control as well as other life skills that are vital for your dogs!
Haylie Ondricka
2025-06-24 15:05:08
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Impulse control is one of the most important skills you can teach your dog.
This community is geared towards modern, force-free, science based methods and recommendations.
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Hosea Spinka
2025-06-24 13:24:27
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It’s tempting to think this comes down to some inborn shortage of willpower — that you are simply too lazy or unfocused for the kinds of success you dream of — but according to Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, impulse control isn’t a fixed talent. It’s an ability you can train.
We also have a mirror image “no-go function” that is responsible for inhibiting impulses.
The trouble is that, as we get older, we often get fewer and fewer opportunities to exercise this no-go circuit.
But just because the comfort and opportunity of our modern tech-enabled lives doesn’t give us many chances to practice controlling our impulses, it doesn’t mean we can’t consciously set up a program to strengthen our no-go circuits and learn to inhibit our impulses.
Huberman explains that he personally aims to have between 20 or so no-go moments each day.
These are times when he consciously inhibits his impulse to do something to train his ability to recognize and put the brakes on his moment-by-moment desires.
Individually, none of these is a very big intervention, but they add up.
Small moments of self-control like those above act like a whetting stone, sharpening our no-go circuits through tiny repetitive acts.
And it’s only when you can control your impulses that you can craft the life you truly want.
Jonathon Bartell
2025-06-24 11:47:20
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Impulse control doesn’t come naturally to dogs, but with a little bit of training and positive reinforcement, you can help your dog to stay calm and learn self-control. Self-control doesn’t come naturally to dogs and is a skill that they need to learn. Impulse control is about teaching your dog to engage their brain and override their automatic response to a stimulus. Giving your dog mentally stimulating activities that are of low arousal will help to engage their senses and increase their overall level of calmness. There are some useful behaviours you can teach your dog to help them stay calm and learn self-control rather than reacting impulsively. We recommend teaching ‘sit’, ‘down’, and ‘wait’. Once your dog can do a ‘sit’ and ‘down’ on cue, you can practice holding these behaviours for longer periods of time. Slowly increase how long you wait when they perform a behaviour before you mark and reward them. Make sure to build this up gradually so that your dog doesn’t get frustrated.
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