How a Dogs Behavior is Tied to Their Arousal Levels

In last weeks post, I talked about a dogs ability, or lack there of, to control their impulses. When a dog has a strong foundation for being able to sit back and observe their surroundings without reacting at every little thing, their arousal levels are relatively low and/or they have great coping mechanisms.

Remember, impulse control is a dogs ability to relax when frustrated and unable to get what they want. Arousal on the other hand, is a natural biological occurrence that can not be trained out of a dog. These are normal instinctual reactions that are caused by outside sources. Such as being startled by a sudden loud noise or being overly excited when their owner gets home. When our dog's lack the ability to control their impulses, it can lead to high levels of arousal. The higher the levels of arousal, the more likely your dog is to have a negative reaction to an outside source which can lead to behavior issues.

In this video, you will see my dog playing with his ball. You'll notice he is extremely excited by his movements, as well as the sounds he is making. My dog does not have an off switch, if I let him, he would play until he collapses. So, it's up to me to know when to stop play so he does not become over aroused. One of the methods I use to help him keep his arousal levels low during play is mixing play with training, which in turn, also helps with his impulse control.

When a dog learns they can't always get what they want and they respond with a loud sigh or shake off, that's their bodies way of releasing built up tension and stress. When they react by whining, barking, or growling, it's usually because they have learned those behaviors elicit a reaction from you and they may get what they want by doing so. The problem is, whether they get what they want or not, they never actually released that energy so it's still stored in their body. The more this happens throughout the day, the lower their frustration tolerance gets. This looks like a dog who used to only perk it's ears up and look at another dog passing by, to a dog that now barks and lunges at all dogs it sees on the walk.

Teaching a dog how to control their impulses helps lower their arousal levels, and even though we can't change the fact that the dog is reacting to an outside source, we can change how the dog feels towards that trigger. Which in turn changes how the dog reacts to the trigger. We simply have to teach them that the trigger is not a bad scary thing that elicits a negative reaction. Now I said, "simply have to teach", when in reality this is a process that can take weeks, months, or even years to work on.

We are not teaching them a new trick, we are changing their emotions towards a specific trigger. For example, a lot of people are terrified of spiders. If you were trying to get over that fear, you wouldn't go out and start picking up spiders and letting them crawl on you. You would take baby steps and work your way up to being able to not panic when you see one in the house. The same goes for dogs. We can't expect them to get over something quickly just because we don't like the way they react.

If this reminds you of your dog, I highly suggest seeking professional help. This isn't about your dog not knowing how to sit when told, it's about your dog not knowing how to and/or not having proper outlets to release that energy. We often forget that our dogs have feelings just like we do and need access to proper mental and physical stimulation to help lower their arousal levels.

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