Impulse control is a skill that can make a huge difference to your dog’s ability to contain and control themselves in a wide range of environments and situations. It’s completely trainable and it’ll have a direct impact on many of the dog behaviours that us humans can find challenging (or downright embarrassing!).
If your dog is full of beans and a bundle of excitement or a bit of a chancer who’ll run straight toward temptation at lightning speed – this blog is for you.
Let’s explore impulse control training for dogs so you can get a handle on your dog’s wild ways!
What is impulse control in dogs?
Impulse control is a dog’s ability to manage their instincts and desires, leading to better listening skills. That means having the self control to override what they want to do in favour of resisting temptation.
In human terms, it’s a bit like having a pack of jaffa cakes and telling yourself you won’t eat the entire packet in one sitting. So you say to yourself, ‘I’m just going to take three out into another room and leave the rest of the packet in the drawer out of sight.’ If you succeed and don’t go back and eat the rest of the packet – that’s you eliciting a little bit of impulse control, right there!
In dogs, this can look like your dog being able to control their instincts and impulses to remain calm, even if they are excited or something catches their attention.
Over arousal in dogs
When a dog is over aroused, they’re likely in a position where it’s very difficult for them to elicit self control. Understanding thresholds, or emotional states, is essential to prevent the dog from becoming overly excited and unable to learn.
I talk in depth about this with my co host Deb on our podcast Ruff Realities and Revelations. You can watch below or listen on spotify here.
In short, when we’re talking about thresholds and arousal in dogs, we’re talking about a dog going from one emotional state to another. When a dog is ‘over threshold’ they’re over aroused – and this means they’re in reaction mode – NOT thinking mode.
This could be that a dog is either super excited about something or is really scared about something and they go into what’s called the fight or flight mode… but there are actually 4 ways your dog may respond when they’re over aroused.
- Fight – go towards the thing
- Flight – run away from the thing
- Freeze – rabbit in headlights
- Fool Around – get giddy and act silly
The fooling around response is often misinterpreted. Your dog might bark at you,they start mucking about, they’re jumping around – and you’re probably thinking ‘Why are you being so naughty?!”
Often in these instances the dog is viewed as disobedient but in reality the dog has gone over threshold, and they’re now reacting rather than thinking.
When a dog is in this state, they can’t learn. They’re not able to take in information, so you can’t teach them how you want them to behave differently at this moment. When you spot your dog moving into this state, focus on managing the situation and bringing their arousal levels down.
And if you spot this in your training – it’s a sign to take a break. Your dog’s no longer able to learn anything new until their emotions come back down to base level.
Can you teach a dog impulse control?
You absolutely can teach your dog impulse control and it’s best done through games! My online course Calm Yer Beans! teaches you how (and includes 16 video tutorials).
The beauty of impulse control training is that by its very nature, short training sessions work best. We don’t want your dog getting frustrated or finding it too hard – so we use short, fun games to make it fun for them to learn.
And you’ll be relieved to know all the training videos show my dog George getting it wrong! This means you’ll see how to troubleshoot so you can see how to get it right – rather than watching a polished finished product that makes you feel like you’re failing.
You can grab lifetime access for just £29 here.
What dog training problems can impulse control help?
Impulse control training can help with a lot of the common problems dog owners face from jumping up to stealing things to recall.
As your dog learns to tame their reactions to temptations, you’ll see improvements in areas like being able to:
- keep all paws on the floor around guests & passers by
- control their thieving impulses – no more snatching or stealing!
- patiently waiting – knowing the best things will follow
- steadily stay – until you release them for fun
- reliably leave things that aren’t theirs for the taking
- seek permission before rushing off
- keep close (even when their off lead)
Impulse control games for dogs
Since I’ve told you short games are the best way to teach impulse control, I’d like to share some with you! It’s really important to keep these training sessions short so your dog doesn’t tip over into overarousal.
The Aeroplane Game
This game requires some tasty treats and a dog who knows how to sit! Your dog is going to learn to sit and wait – with regular short sessions your dog will gradually learn to be patient and tame their impulses!
How to play:
Ask your dog to sit and have a treat in your hand
Start slowly moving the treat towards your dog and reward them if they stay in their sit
If your dog releases themselves from the sit – move the treat away and wait for their butt to hit the ground again
As your dog gets the hang of this, you can increase the speed of movement increasing the self control needed to stay seated!
In my Calm Yer Beans! Impulse control course you’ll find more games like this – plus follow on videos to help you progress beyond the basics.
Beyond the basic sit
In the below video, you’ll see Calm Yer Beans! students showing off their new skills in real life (with distractions). You’ll see there’s nothing complicated in the training – it’s all building upon what we started with the aeroplane game.
Patient Sits
The first way to progress your aeroplane game training is to extend the duration of time you ask your dog to remain in their sit position before they get their reward. Try not to rush this – remember it’s important that your dog doesn’t enter an over aroused state or they’ll not be able to learn.
Distracted Sits
As your dog develops their ability to control their impulses and stay in a sit for you – you can begin adding distractions before you reward.
This is building upon your dog’s impulse control skills at a pace they can handle – and it’ll translate into success in real life environments.
High Arousal Sits
When your dog’s somewhere exciting can you progress your sits? Ask your dog to sit after a game with their pals on walks or after visitors arrive at home. Has your dog developed their sit and wait skills yet? Or do you need to go back to practising in lower arousal environments where your dog can actively learn?
Little and often!
Remember – play these impulse control games little and often – just 2-5 minutes maximum is all it takes (consistently) and that’s why games are such a great way to train. Using your impulse control games for short periods of time at home and out on walks is the best way to teach your dog anything.
Dogs don’t generalise well, so you’ll need to not only train at home but out on walks too so your dog learns to control their impulses everywhere!
Two top tips to help you succeed
- Play the training games in low-distraction environments first to help the dog learn the basics.
- Gradually increase the difficulty by practicing the games in more distracting environments.
If you’re ready to tame your dog’s wild ways for good, I’d love to show you how. Get instant access to my on demand Calm Yer Beans! course here for just £29. You’ll also be invited to join my private Facebook group where you can join live Q&As and get support on your schedule.
