#27 - Teaching your dog to settle outdoors
Enjoy hanging out outside with a calm and quiet dog
Earlier this month I talked about how a long leash can be used to keep your dog safe while you’re at camp or taking a long break. Some of my favorite outdoor moments with Bucky are hanging out at camp, me chilling in the hammock or preparing a meal with a friend, while Bucky calmly looks out at the forest. It took us a while to get there. For weeks after I adopted Bucky he would bark at me the second we stopped walking, whether I was taking a quick picture or looking out for cars before crossing the road.
If you have a young dog, or a new dog you might be experiencing some of the same issues. So how can we help our dogs go from always needing to be on the move outdoors to being able to stay calm and still?
In this article we’ll look at
Why teach your dog to settle outdoors?
How does your dog currently behave when your are stopping for a break outdoors?
Why is your dog currently struggling to settle outdoors?
How can you manage your dog’s environment to help them settle outdoors?
How to teach your dog to settle outdoors?
Why teach your dog to settle outdoors?
The most common answer to why I want to teach a specific behaviour to my dog is because it will make his life or mine easier. Knowing the why behind the desired behaviour can grow our patience and resilience when teaching our dogs.
If your dog can settle outdoors, i.e. sit or lie down calmly near you outside despite distractions, it opens up the number of activities you can do together. You'll be able to hang out with friends at a park, outdoor event, or restaurant patio with your dog. You'll have a more relaxing time car camping. You'll be able to enjoy your breaks with a chill dog during your hiking and backpacking adventures. What activity are you most looking forward to enjoying with your dog?
How does your dog currently behave when your are stopping for a break outdoors?
In other words, what baseline are you starting at? Your dog is not a machine and that baseline will likely change according to how physically or emotionally tired they are. If your dog's baseline seems to vary, try to notice a pattern. What else happened on the days that your dog struggled the most to settle outdoors?
You have your dog's baseline. Bucky's was: barking after 2 seconds of pause during a walk.
You know what you want to achieve. For Bucky I wanted him to eventually be able to hang out calmly at a campsite for a few hours.
You're almost ready to start training, but first...
Why is your dog currently struggling to settle outdoors?
It can be challenging to deal with a dog who can't seem to calm down, but I promise, they are not doing it to piss you off. They’re doing the best they can with their limited understanding of the world. Let’s try to see it from their point of view so we can more easily teach them behaviours we deem appropriate. Here are some reasons why your dog might be struggling to settle outdoors.
They are under-exercised.
All dogs have exercise needs that vary depending on their age and breed. If those needs are not met they will likely have a harder time being calm. People often talk about daily exercise needs but if your dog has not exercised adequately for months, they are in a deficit that won't be fixed in a day.
What can you do? Make sure your dog has enough time to exercise both physically and mentally on a regular basis, ideally every day.
They are overstimulated.
When you move into a new home, you might be a little on edge during the first few weeks. Your brain is busy cataloging all the noises in your environment, analyzing them to make sure you are not in danger. Slowly the sounds of the garbage truck, or the house creaking, will fade in the background. Dogs operate in the same way, but with a much greater sense of smell and hearing. When they are around too many new things they can get overstimulated and have a harder time staying calm or using their cognitive functions (e.g. listening to you).
What can you do? Learn about canine body language and your dog’s body language in particular so you can notice overstimulation in your dog and eventually the warning signs for overstimulation. Give your dog plenty of opportunities to rest and exercise in a known environment. For example you can provide fitness exercises and enrichment activities in your home to meet their exercise needs without overstimulation.
They are anxious about something in their environment.
Dogs that have had traumatic experiences or inadequate socialization might be anxious in certain situations. How can a dog-reactive dog relax enough to sit still in a park where there are off leash dogs running around? They will be in high alert.
What can you do? You’ll need to do some groundwork with desensitization before you expect them to settle outdoors.
They were not trained to settle outdoors.
Being calm and still might not come naturally to dogs -especially young or high-energy dogs- so it's our job to teach them.
What can you do? We will talk about this in a section below.
How can you manage your dog’s environment to help them settle outdoors?
When teaching a dog a new behaviour, it’s good practice to reduce the number of “errors” they can make by using management. When you are teaching a recall, you want to keep your dog on a leash or enclosed area until their recall is reliable, so they don’t learn that it’s more rewarding to ignore you. When you are teaching them to settle outdoors, you should only ask them for what they’re capable of.
When I want to hang out at a busy park with Bucky I will take him on a long walk beforehand, so he’s more inclined to rest and will sometimes bring a bully stick to occupy his attention. If there is a stimulus in the park that will overstimulate him -like bubbles- we will settle far enough that he stays under overstimulation threshold.
At a campsite you could use a crate, tent or car as a familiar area where your dog is more likely to relax.
How to teach your dog to settle outdoors?
To teach your dog a new behaviour, break it down into many smaller pieces.
Say you want to be able to go to the local city park with your dog to watch your friends play softball. What are you asking of your dog?
Stay calm around people throwing a ball and occasionally using a whistle
Greet friends gently
Ignore people, bikes and dogs walking around the park
Mostly ignore all the smells and sounds
At your cue, lie down or sit on the grass or a mat without moving much for 2 hours.
You’ll need to teach your dog that all those stimuli are not dangerous and they don’t need to react to them. You can dog that by desensitizing them to specific stimuli (e.g. bikes, kids screaming), letting them investigate that particular park at times when it’s quiet so they can get familiar with the smells and sounds.
You will also need to teach them that when you give a certain cue, it’s a signal that it’s time to settle and nothing exciting is going to happen. You can start that by rewarding them for a few seconds of silence and stillness, when you stop during a walk. In parallel you can teach them to sit or lie down calmly on their mat at home for a few minutes at a time at first.
Start from your baseline and then, at your dog’s pace, increase the difficulty by increasing the duration of the behaviour and/or the distractions in the environment. This might sound overwhelming, and maybe initially progress will feel slow depending on your dog’s baseline, but the more your dog learns, the easier it will get for them.
Happy training!