Online Training Class: Impulse Control

Does your dog jump up constantly, bark, barge past you or generally do what it is they want to do before listening to what you'd like them to do? It might be time to revise some of their good manners and learn a new way of channelling their excitement and enthusiasm into more appropriate, more polite ways of expressing themselves.

Too often emotions take over and we end up with dogs who steal food, who pull on the lead to other dogs, who jump all over humans who are trying to greet them, who shove past through doors, who act instantaneously on impulse and generally forget that their parent exists in those moments. We can teach our dogs to 'ask permission' to do the things they would really like to do eg. have that treat, come for a cuddle, go and say hello to that other dog, head outside and so on.

Impulse control is about harnessing that moment before they decide to do something they really want to and taking a moment to check in with you first. These momentary pauses allow their human to survey the situation and decide how to proceed before giving them the OK or before carrying on to do something else instead.

Is it time your dog began to ask permission before helping themselves to something or before charging off into the distance without a backwards glance? If yes, Episode 9: Impulse Control is exactly the skill your dog's repertoire needs!