Dog Trainer Offers Simple Tip on How To Keep Pups Calm When Guests Come Over
Do your dogs lose their minds when guests arrive to your home? If so, you'll definitely want to hear what Steve Del Salvio, Owner of Pack Leader Dogs has to say about it. And he also offers a simple solution to the problem.
Steve shared a video on Friday, March 8th of the one thing you can do to get your dogs to remain calm when guests arrive. It's easy to do, effective, and it's definitely something I'm going to try out on our new puppy! The solution? Get rid of all of their energy!
Steve recommends "significant structured exercise" before your visitors arrive. That makes a lot of sense! When we want our dog to calm down, we wear her out. I wish he would've explained what to do after they walk in the door, but he said he'll share that answer in another video.
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How To Keep Your Dogs Calm When Guests Arrive
Commenters wanted more details, and @KingKoa asked, "What is considered exercise? My 1-year-old bully has a ZERO chill button... he’s always on." Steve did provide more details in his caption, and it was helpful.
Steve suggested that if you know guests are coming over you need to "dramatically" increase your dog's exercise on that day. If you have a very busy, high-energy dog, you might want to start doing it days before the event.
When he referred to structured exercises he recommended "long walks or hikes with your dog at your side, bike rides, and treadmill." Other suggestions included, "playing ball, running with other dogs, and other unstructured activities, but try to make sure you primarily do structured exercise." He explained that all of these activities are good, but the structured activities will tire out both their minds and their bodies. He also posted a reminder, "Our goal is to have our dog's body and mind fulfilled prior to our guests coming."
Some other ideas for structured physical activities include running up and down stairs with your dog, playing hide-and-seek with treats, keep away, tug of war, swimming, and fetch. Anything that makes your dog use both its body and its brain. Makes sense, right? I know I get tired when I have to use both of those things!
Enrichment activities will also wear them out, so if you don't have time for structured activities, trying some physical unstructured activities along with some enrichment puzzles or games just might do the trick. Interactive dog toys, puzzles, and working on training exercises are all good choices.
Steve also pointed out something else that's important, "You can't act like a follower every day and then try to act as a leader when guests come over. Your dog will always be honest and know you are full of it!" That was a lightbulb moment for me, and it looks like we have lots of basic training still to do with our new puppy.
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