By Fran Jewell
Teaching self-control to a dog is much like having a child and teaching him/her not to pound their silverware on the table while waiting for dinner or run up and down the aisle at a restaurant, disturbing the other patrons. It can be very difficult to teach, but, in the end, it is very influential in the success of your child in society and gaining friends. Teaching self-control could even mean whether your child finishes school and gets a job! It is exactly the same for dogs in their success with other dogs, with friends of ours, and with their ability to not become the stray in the shelter.
Dogs need to learn self-control, too. The modern jargon used by many trainers is “impulse control.” Impulse control, or self-control, means a dog’s ability to resist constant out-of-control behaviors such as jumping on people, barking at everything, chasing cars, and so on.
I see impulse control, or self-control, as a dog’s ability to relax, be comfortable in any situation and defer to their owner’s direction. So many dogs are reeling in undirected energy that it can become anxiety. Not only does lack of self-control become a problem to live with on an everyday basis, lack of self-control can lead to anxiety that, over time, becomes emotional distress for a dog. That may translate into separation anxiety or even aggression, particularly fear aggression.
In our modern society, many of us want our dogs to enjoy freedom, running in joy and play times with other dogs. As such, the development of dog parks and doggy daycares have sprouted up and become a part of everyday life for many dogs and their owners. While we owners have begun to recognize the imperativeness of exercise that the dog parks and daycare situations provide, somewhere along the line we might have lost the concept of a dog’s emotional stability through self-control, or learning obedience. AND, even more critical is that we have lost the joy that obedience or learning self-control brings to our relationship between us and our dogs.
Compounding the illusive impulse control comes the lack of time many of us have to devote to obedience training. Many times, anxiety the dog feels demonstrated by lack of self-control is overlooked until it becomes critical. Then, we want a quick fix or, as I call it, the Lassie Pill. We send our dogs out to be trained and returned to us as the angel dog we dreamed of. While this is indeed a good choice for many reasons and people, it may not address the RELATIONSHIP that develops between the owner and the dog when they work together as a team. The owner needs to learn who their dog is, and the dog, in return, needs to learn the comfort of direction and respect for its owner.
Teaching your dog self-control can be so rewarding for both you and your dog. In the long run, it can save your dog’s life when he learns not to chase the squirrel across the street, and can save you embarrassment when your dog doesn’t jump on your guests’ new white dress! It may even save your dog from freeform anxiety that can be seen as pacing, panting, drooling and reactive barking.
Fran Jewell is a dog behavior consultant, NADOI-certified instructor and vice president. She owns Positive Puppy Dog Training LLC and can be reached at
(208) 721-7221.
