How to Use Engage Disengage Dog Training to Relax a Dog
By: David Codr
Published Date: August 23, 2024
During this Omaha dog training session using engage disengage dog training techniques, we collaborated with Kevin, a 6-year-old Coton de Tulear, to help him relax and prevent anxiety around the baby.
Kevin’s guardians said that his behavior started changing when they were pregnant with their first child. Dogs can sense when women are pregnant because they have a strong sense of smell and can detect hormonal changes in the body.
What to do if Your Dog is Reactive Towards Babies
I suggested giving Kevin a safe space to go to now that the baby is moving around. Babies are at the dogs level and usually attracted to dogs. That wasn’t the case currently with Kevin‘s family but that can certainly change.
I suggested to the guardians that they create a box with a narrow winding path. This path should be wide enough for the dog to pass through, but too narrow for the baby to enter. Ideally, the structure should have two sides and be tall enough to keep the baby from looking over the top. The top should be open so the guardians can watch the training from above.
Kevin needs to become comfortable going into the space first. Once he is comfortable, cover the top but leave a hole or access point. This will allow you to drop treats inside for Kevin.
Some of my clients do this with a bit of a lattice top so that they can still see inside but the baby can’t get to it when they get taller. Place this in the area where the dog and baby will be together most of the time.
The next step is to leave a trail of treats in the maze that leads into the safe space. The guardians should use a special word when Kevin enters the safe space to find a jackpot of high-value treats.
I’d like to have them practice this treat trail a few times a day for a week or so. As they practice, they can gradually increase the distance between treats. Starting with one treat every 10 inches, they can then move to one treat every 14 inches, then 18 inches, and so on. Eventually the treats will only be inside of the safe space.
I recommended doing exercises where you throw treats away from the baby. You can say words like “away” or “distance” as a cue. Kevin can learn to move away from the baby by practicing a few times a day for a week with about twelve treats.
This training will help Kevin understand the command to move away from the baby. Consistent practice and positive reinforcement is key to reinforcing this behavior. With patience and consistency, Kevin will learn to respond to the command effectively.
It’s not unusual for a dog to become distressed around a new baby. Babies are loud, take a lot of their guardians attention and disrupt the regular routine the dog is accustomed to.
Obviously, the parents felt concerned when Kevin nipped at the baby as soon as the baby got in his face. But because that was only a nip, that didn’t make contact or break the skin and hasn’t happened again, I wasn’t alarmed. If a baby bothers a dog, it may nip or bite. An aggressive dog could bite more than once, hold down, or break the skin.
I talked about Kevin’s history of nipping with the owners. It only happened a few times in a few years, so it’s clear he’s not a mean dog. Giving him a safe space, more exercise, and mental stimulation, and supervising him around toddlers should prevent any accidents.
How to Start Engage Disengage Dog Training
But I also wanted to give the guardians a tool to help the dog like being around the baby. I decided to use the engage disengage game to help the dog feel good when he is around the baby. Watch the free dog training video below to learn how to use the engage disengage game to help dogs like being around kids.
It will be important for the guardians to practice this exercise with slightly lower value treats. We had some trouble at first because I was giving Kevin too many treats, causing him to ignore the baby.
This wasn’t the goal of the exercise. Using a cookie treat or a lower value treat like Charlee Bears should do the trick. We want the dog to associate the child with a treat to create that positive association.
Kevin responded well and his guardians got the hang of the exercise easily enough. I want them to do this exercise a few times a day for the next two weeks to help the dog feel less anxious around the baby.
I shared a number of other dog behavior tips in this in-home Omaha dog training session. To help the guardians remember them all, I recorded a roadmap to success video that you can check out below.
Is Your Dog Reactive Towards Babies? Click Here for HelpCategorized in: Dog Behavior