Back to In the News

In the News: Tails of Marin

Learning to lower your dog’s arousal can keep trouble at bay

By Trish King

Children are playing in a playground. As the decibel level rises, parents and caregivers go on the alert. They know that pretty soon a child will start to cry and an adult will have to come to their rescue. The problem isn’t that child – or one of the others – but the energy level of play. Children do not necessarily know how to regulate their energy, and as a result, can get carried away.

In the dog world, we call that “arousal.” (No, not that kind!) Some dogs are more easily excited or aroused than others, and it can cause a world of problems. Think of arousal as a red cloud of energy that interferes with judgment and causes poor behavior. Sometimes arousal manifests as uncontrolled excitement, either with a target (another dog) or not (puppy rushes or “zoomies”). Sometimes arousal is sustained anticipation. No matter what, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of conscious thought going on while a dog is in that state, probably because the chemical activated in their brains have little to do with thinking. 

When a dog gets excited, epinephrine (adrenalin) is released, preparing the body for action – either fight or flight. The heart rate increases, and blood is sent to the muscles needed for rapid movement and away from the surface of the skin. So, if the dog needs to fight, he won’t feel much pain until after the fight is over. If the dog needs to flee, she can go much faster and much further than she would if she wasn’t pumped up with chemicals. Epinephrine is very good for animals in the wild, where an action not taken can end in death. It’s not always so useful in our world.  And it can take a long time for the dog to calm down after going into arousal. 

Here’s an example of what arousal can do in a multiple dog family. Three dogs are playing in the yard, when another dog walks by with his owner. The three family dogs race to the fence, barking ferociously. Suddenly one of the three turns on one of the other family dogs, and attacks him.  The attacking dog was in arousal, and the energy he was producing had to go somewhere – so it was redirected on one of his friends. 

Arousal can lead to aggression toward other dogs, pets or people, or major destruction. It is something that we all need to be aware of, and something that we try to control, so the dog can learn that other emotional states are reinforcing. Some dogs are naturally calmer than others, but we can help easily excited dogs learn to inhibit their own excitement.  

We can do this by analyzing when our dogs get excited, and actively working to calm them down.   For instance, dogs can get overly aroused when we come home and greet them – so calm, matter-of-fact greetings – or no greetings at all – will help them calm down. Dogs get very excited around meal times, so varying the time we serve meals will help them control their anticipation.  And dogs can get extremely aroused when a walk is in the offing. Mixing up cues helps calm these dogs – things like picking up the leash and then putting it back down again, doing the same with keys, or reading the newspaper until the dog settles are all ways to teach your dog that you’re not going anywhere until the energy is right. Another thing to do is to interrupt dogs often during play – call them to you, have them sit, and then let them return to play. 

What we are doing is teaching our dogs that being calm feels nicer than being too excited. This may be more effective for modifying behavior than any other technique – and it makes us feel calm and relaxed too!

Trish King is the director of behavior and training at the Marin Humane Society.


Tails of Marin appears every Saturday in the Home & Garden section of the Marin Independent Journal