# Tips/Resources for Impulse Control?



## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

So Archie's ongoing issue is that anytime he gets to a new place with new people in it, he gets SO over-the-top excited that it takes serious work to get him to settle down. Lots of pulling, whining, jumping, etc. He's fantastic in a familiar place where there isn't so much novel input, but I swear every time I walk into a new training class for the first time he just acts like an untrained little hellion for the first 1-2 sessions. 

This is something that's gotten better with time, and he is just shy of 2 years old so I'm sure as he matures it'll be less of an issue. But I'd still like to work on it. Anybody have any tips or resources I can check out? I've heard good things about the book _Control Unleashed,_ and I just found it used on Amazon so that's on its way.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

The Control Unleashed exercises are good. I had the chance to take a seminar with Leslie McDevitt a number of years ago and really liked her ideas and methods. The other thing I would try are the Get Connected exercises in Brenda Aloff's book by that name "Get Connected With Your Dog." Her techniques have been a large part of my work to clean up Lily's utility work. I have also been using them with Javelin. Our obedience trainer attended her seminar last year, so I get the benefit of Brenda through Deb.


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Be careful not to let him practice unwanted behavior. If he can't behave well in busy places, pick him up or avoid the situation if at all possible.

Try practicing obedience exercises or other work to keep him busy just far enough away that he can see something exciting but can still refocus on you (below threshold). Slowly move closer as he gets better, which could take minutes or weeks depending on how exciting he perceives something to be. I don't use specific games for this, although I'm sure other members might have some ideas. Generally, I make sure to always have a game or treat that will 'trump' anything we might encounter. The idea is to have the dog choose to refocus on you after a distraction.

Also, keep in mind that exuberance is normal for a dog his age. He is well on his way to being a wonderful dog in any situation (CGC is no small feat!), but it will take some maturity for new things not to send him into a wiggly craze. Even guide dog pups are still pulling on the leash sometimes, getting distracted, and losing attention in busy/overstimulating places at his age. Try not to be too frustrated. He will only be a wiggly, excitable young dog for so long. Try to embrace it while it lasts, while also helping Archie become the best he can be. You are clearly doing this already—sometimes I like a reminder, since it's easy to take it personally when a sweet young dog is, well, a sweet young dog!!


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

Impulse control? Crate Games and It's Yer Choice. Absolutely foundational to my training.

The principles in these two exercises carry through to pretty much everything I do, and are based on a certain paradigm or way to thinking: the dog has to think, control themselves, and make good choices. Poodles are great thinking dogs!

Hope these help; I recommend them all the time!

--Q


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Excellent advice already. Look at That is another good one. This video trains it in a different way than we've done. We skip all the stuff before 2:45 and start way under threshold with real life situations. But it's what I can find. Googling "Look at That" turns up lots of strange links.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

Liz, thank you for posting the "Look at That" game video. That is the exercise from _Control Unleashed_ that I found instrumental in Sugarfoot's dog reactivity after his attack. (It was called "Look at That Dog" in the book, as I recall, and that's what I used it for the most, though of course the activity can be used with any stimulus.)

It was a challenge for Sugarfoot to be in our Agility class environment when other loose dogs were all around him. He would growl or simply run away and go back into his crate. I used the LAT extensively. I didn't "teach" it quite the way that the person in the video does: I "captured" with a click when he happened to glance (anxiously) at another dog. Over time, his glances of anxiety became eager, willing glances, because looking at other dogs led to him getting a reward. Other dogs were now a source of pleasure rather than a source of stress! Eventually I added the cue ("Look at that dog!") 

To this day he still doesn't really like high-energy, "in your face" kind of dogs, and he doesn't like other dogs barging into his personal space, but now he functions easily in the Agility waiting area with dogs all around, and has no problem at exercise night at class any more. It really is a great game!

--Q


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Thanks so much for the resources, everyone! This is all great stuff. Archie does a version of "look at that" in training classes where he gets a reward for noticing a distraction and choosing to look back at me instead. It's one reason I love group training classes - if he gets nothing else from them, they are slowly teaching him how to keep his focus around other dogs and people.



sophie anne said:


> Also, keep in mind that exuberance is normal for a dog his age. He is well on his way to being a wonderful dog in any situation (CGC is no small feat!), but it will take some maturity for new things not to send him into a wiggly craze. Even guide dog pups are still pulling on the leash sometimes, getting distracted, and losing attention in busy/overstimulating places at his age. Try not to be too frustrated. He will only be a wiggly, excitable young dog for so long. Try to embrace it while it lasts, while also helping Archie become the best he can be. You are clearly doing this already—sometimes I like a reminder, since it's easy to take it personally when a sweet young dog is, well, a sweet young dog!!


This was a great reminder, Sophie Anne, thank you! I actually love Archie's wiggly enthusiasm. I just wish he knew how to contain it in exactly the situations I'd like him to somehow. :laugh: But barring that, a little extra focus would be nice.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

The focus will come. I love a wiggly, enthusiastic pup, lots of git-up-and-go. I think they're a dream to train. I much prefer a "crazy" puppy to train than a lazy, calm, couch potato. They just do everything with great gusto. They seem to catch on so much quicker because they throw behaviors bam, bam, bam. Most people try to stop them, punish them, squelch them, stop, stop, stop. If instead their loonie behavior is directed toward a behavior you DO want them to do, they are more than willing. The exercises mentioned are terrific. Look at that. If you keep it in your mind, what can we do with this instead of trying to merely stop it, I think you'll wind up with just what you like. 

Your pup reminds me of Matisse. He was so full of it when he was a pup...still is. Lots of energy, such a busy body, but he has developed quite good self control and focus. He is such a sensitive, willing and smart dog and he grabs life in both paws with great enthusiasm. Maurice is all that too but in a much, much more subtle way. He's just not as flamboyant as Matisse.

It takes time for a puppy to develop just like it does a child. A toddler isn't going to have the same self control as an older child. It's a process and it's best not to feel rushed. Let your puppy be a puppy and with guidance and little lessons using positive reinforcement training methods along the way to aide his development, he'll become the lovely, obedient, bursting with enthusiasm just under the surface adult dog you envision. Not the squelched, shut down, robot so many people want.


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