How to Prepare Your Dog to Learn

A training method called Tellington Touch provides a great starting point for preparing your dog to learn. A dog who is overstimulated, hyperactive, overexcited, unfocused, stressed or inattentive simply is not in a learning state.

Dogs can get injured as a result of having tight muscles or being stressed or unfocused. As a Certified Tellington Touch Practitioner, my classes always start with an actual Prepare To Learn segment and when I show my dogs, this is how I get them ready to perform. This article will help you prepare your dog to learn in three steps.

1. A warm-up which starts with a body workout.
2. An obstacle workout.
3. A cool down after training or performance.

THE WARM-UP

The warm-up body workout focuses on a set of touches, strokes and lifts to stimulate the cells under the skin. While there is no specific order to do the touches, there is a specific technique.

THE TECHNIQUE

The touch itself is a whole, clockwise circle and one-quarter. Visualize a clock. You start your circle at 6 p.m. and head up the circle clockwise and around back to 6 p.m. and up one-quarter circle to 9 p.m. Circles are small and the requirement is simply to move the skin without poking. You do this by resting your thumb on the dog's body. When you are done with a circle you can lift your hand and move down your dog from shoulder to tail or you can slide your hand to the next circle. Both feel different.

You always start and end your warm-up with a flat palm stroke that goes slowly from shoulder to base of tail. Do it once, do it slowly, and breathe while you are doing it.

WHAT WARM-UP SHOULD YOU DO?

This article will address two different personalities.

1. The Hyperactive Dog
2. The Lazy Dog

THE HYPERACTIVE DOG Warm-up

The hyperactive dog can become overstimulate and overexcited quickly. Less is more with this dog, such as soft praise instead of loud tones. You want to calm and relax this dog so they are able to focus on the task. This dog holds tightness either in their mouth or hind quarters or both.

Start with mouth touches. Your circles will be light starting at the cheek and working slowly down the muzzle. Your dog will allow you to do more mouth work, if you let their chin rest in your other hand. Do a couple of circles with the tips of your fingers and your thumb resting on the head or cheekbone, so you aren't poking your dog. You can also do circles on the gums. The idea is not to force your dog, but to gently guide them through the process. It is OK to stop and start. This will help your dog focus, de-stress and prepare them for learning or performance.

Another touch is jumping circles using the back of your fingers. Jumping circles forces your dog to think about what you are doing and where you are touching them. As a result, they will focus on what you are doing and think about the touch. The secret to this is to work the circles in different parts of the body and not in a straight line.

Another body work uses the tips of your fingers and up on your nails, gives a deeper touch especially soothing to hyperactive dogs. Your fingers would be at a 90 degree angle to the body and circles will be done in the same technique outlined above except you are up on your very tips along with the nail. Since it is a deeper pressure it is great for muscular dogs.

THE LAZY DOG Warm-up

The lazy dog is the one who needs to be revved up before performing. High pitched praise and getting this dog moving are key to a good performance or successful training session.

Place one hand on chest while doing tip of the finger circles with the other hand. You are moving down the body from the shoulder to the base of the tail. This circle does best with a lighter pressure, but not so light that you are not moving the skin. This is great for increasing your dog's circulation.

Getting the lazy dog up and moving, yet remaining focused and balanced is the purpose of the lift. A lift can be with one or two hands. Starting at the top of the leg, lift the skin up slowly to a count of six and down slowly to a count of 10. Inhale going up, exhale coming down. Work your way down the leg. You can do all legs, or just two. This will give the dog balance, gait improvement and even increase physical, mental and emotional stability.

Ear touches on a lazy dog gets them beyond fatigue and improves circulation for better performance. The best way to do this is to place your thumb on top of the ear and stroke from the very bottom of the ear to the tip. Stroke slowly and methodically from the base to the tip in small straight lines.

OBSTACLE WORKOUT

For all types of dogs - The purpose for the hyperactive dog is to get them to slow down, while the purpose for the lazy dog is to get them moving and paying attention. The process is the same for both. The obstacle workout should be done slowly, methodically and repeated over and over again to gain focus and proper foot placement.

Cavelletti - Use three, four or five sticks laid out flat in a row and guide your dog down the middle slowly. You are not doing this with your dog, meaning you are not going over the sticks, but guiding them on lead. Keep doing this until your dog starts to focus. You will see them pick up their feet and place one foot at a time over the sticks without tripping or touching the sticks. You'll see them keep their head up and focus on you. You will see their body come into alignment showing they are able to stand in balance. You can vary the cavelletti by making one end higher or elevating both ends of the sticks. You can place them in a circle and raise the middle so they have to have even more focus stepping over. This will pay dividends if you are in agility.

Path Patterns - Take your cavelletti sticks and make pathways. They can be straight, or one bend, or two bends or in a small labyrinth pattern. Again, take you dog through slowly and methodically, stopping at each bend until your dog looks forward without prompting. Hint: If you look forward, your dog will look where you are looking.

THE COOL DOWN

Once your dog is done with their training or performance it is time to cool them down. Especially effective are the leg lifts as explained above or add leg circles.

Leg circles are done by bending your dog's leg at the knee or the elbow and rotating in a circle and a quarter. Keep the leg close to the body and do a few tight circles and a quarter.

Your dog will thank you for being so mindful by delivering a better performance, having less injuries and improving their focus and balance. You will find yourself being better prepared and relaxed too and ready to tackle the show ring.