Last summer, when Leslie McDevitt’s new Control Unleashed book was released, I worked through the exercises with my dogs. One of the exercises is teaching your dog to take a deep breath on cue. You can check out her book for more information on that and other great exercises for any dog (but especially reactive dogs):
Control Unleashed : Reactive to Relaxed
It took me a few weeks as I wasn’t very practiced at observing my dog’s nostrils and breathing. But we eventually got it.
As part of this process, I started trying to capture anytime my dogs took deep breaths while resting. Dan especially, because he sleeps at my feet when I’m at my desk. If he took a big, heavy sigh, I would calmly say “gooood boy”, almost under my breath. I didn’t want it to be exciting, instead soothing praise.
One suggestion for a cue to ask your dog to do the deep breath behavior is you taking a deep breath. So when I take a deep breath, my dog takes a deep breath. I liked this idea for a cue, although my cue ended up being touching my nose with one finger.
However, because I was thinking of my breath being a possible cue, I started taking deep breaths a lot when working on this behavior.
Over time it has drifted. I noticed in the last few weeks that when Dan is nearby resting and he takes a deep breath, I take a deep breath too! I inadvertently trained myself to breath deeply when Dan does! It’s such a soothing thing and brings a tiny moment of calm into my day each time it happens.
For me, this happened unintentionally, but I would encourage everyone to teach yourself to take a nice deep breath when your dog gives a big sigh. You might find that your dog can be your own mindfulness coach.
