Dimmer Switch

Does your dog struggle with over-excitement, barking and lunging, pulling on the lead or inappropriate dog-dog interactions?

Are they great at calmness – until they’re not?! 

Maybe your dog can be snoozing soundly until a tiny sound or movement causes them to leap from their comfy spot, barking and zooming around the house in a way which seems entirely disproportionate to the event that has triggered that reaction.

Your dog’s reaction to events is determined by their arousal level at any given point in time. This will directly influence both how they react to events in the environment and how they are able to listen and respond to you when you ask them to do something. Your dog’s arousal level will influence all manner of scenarios, including:

• Their ability to recall when other dogs or distractions are present
• Their performance at an agility event
• Their ability to have appropriate interactions with other dogs
• Their vigilance to sounds and events in the environment
• Their ability to greet you calmly and politely when you come home from work
• Their response when presented with something worrying or ambiguous

Some dogs are naturally able to transition between different levels of arousal which are appropriate to the situation they are in, while others struggle with this.

If your dog’s arousal is often disproportionate to whatever event has triggered it, you can think of your dog as having a light switch; their arousal is either on (when they are reacting to something) or off (when they are calm and relaxed) – or, for some dogs, stuck in the ‘on’ position. Dogs who have light switches often flip between calmness and complete over-arousal and reactivity, with very little warning. They are missing all those levels of arousal in between calm and chaos!

If that sounds familiar, your dog needs a dimmer switch!

This super lifetime access course will arm you with games and strategies galore to help your dog access those all-important levels of arousal that sit between calmness and craziness!

You’ll also learn how to incorporate these games and strategies into your dog’s lifestyle.

Helping your dog learn to manage and control their arousal level in different environments will allow them to live a happy, healthy life in which their interactions with the world are entirely appropriate – and it’s all within your grasp as you discover the games and tools in this brand-new course!

Want to supercharge your learning? Play can be a brilliant strategy for building your dog’s dimmer switch. Combining higher and lower arousal games in your play sessions allows you to flex that Arousal Up, Arousal Down muscle. Why not check out our Mastering Play course and unlock the secrets to play success with your dog?