First, you want to think about this relationship as one best handled manually, rather than automatically. You need to be able to shift her gears with precision, rather than count on her engine to adjust on its own. Having the tools to slow things down when something stimulating happens will be helpful in preventing her from spilling into her highly emotional and impulsive state. You need only to practice simple steps, such as having her sit or lie down for a few moments, on a regular basis throughout your daily endeavors. Each time you have her sit and chill for a minute before dinner or as the cat enters the room, or when the kids come home from school, or prior to being let out to chase the squirrels on the deck, you are literally training her nervous system to handle life’s excitement less dramatically. You can step it up a small notch each day, working up to those larger excitements that seem to really put her over the edge.

Second, you can simply look for and reinforce one of nature’s mechanisms for handling the body’s stress and excitement levels: the shake-off. You know the common expression we sometimes use to tell someone to calm down and move on: “Just shake it off, man.” Well, it’s a lot more than an expression. Animal bodies have electric systems (nervous systems), and these systems get “charges” from exciting, stimulating, or stressful events. The accumulation of these charges results in the short-circuiting fight or flight response; so animals have built-in ways to release the charges as they occur.(28) Shake-offs are one of these powerful tools that nature provides. The shake-off is a mechanism for calming down and re-stabilizing. You will start to notice how your dog shakes off after he leaves the vet office, after a heated round of play with a friend, after a walk, or after a barking fit at the window. By reinforcing them when they occur—by treats or even praise—you will be facilitating improved life and impulse control skills in your dog, one little shake-off at a time.

Though your scent hound was bred not to have great impulse control, all hope is not lost when it comes to helping her get a handle on herself. You definitely have to put in some serious attention and effort, in order to set the stage for success. There are plenty of really exhilarating things in this modern world to get her impulsive little motor running, and you want to be as prepared to handle them together as you possibly can.

Scent Hound Relationship Survival Key: