Quote:
Originally Posted by BorderKelpie  It's not just dogs that shake off stress, my horse and parrots do it as well.
I usually try to 'lighten' the mood when I see that. Relieve pressure if training or whatever, or throw in an impromptu quick little game. Something to make the 'shaker' know you understand and are willing to work with them goes a long way toward building trust and bonds, and relieving stress in both you and the animal. |
Amen. Just walking a dog in a tight circle for a few turns or teasing him with your hand or that ball you always carry in your pocket can help relieve the tension he was feeling prior to the body shake-off. More than anything, a break for the dogs every 10 - 15 minutes for a quick walk around or tugowar or play session with his owner would help dogs decompress during an hour long training class. For already trained, calm, submissive dogs, this long training class would be hard for a dog to keep focus but for new-comers with excitability and behavior problems, it sounds really grinding. I had no idea today's pet-store dog training classes lasted a whole hour!!!
Many under socialized and excitable dogs have ADD-like restlessness and attention spans so trying to keep them focused and well-behaved for an hour is almost impossible. I think it's better to train dogs like that at home in how to focus on you, remain calm and keep their impulses under control in by fun, upbeat, highly rewarding, positively-reinforced very short obedience training sessions and then socialize them in very frequent trips out and about several times daily to places where dogs congregate during the day for short sessions so they gradually desensitize themselves to being around other dogs.