Teaching Relaxation Exercises to Dogs

Dogs have difficulty learning when they are anxious or fearful. Teaching your dog relaxation exercises will help your dog use alternative coping behaviors in the face of triggering situations.

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Below are steps to 3 exercises to help you guide your dog to relax. They are based on “marker” training, so you will need a consistent sound (such as a clicker) to mark the behavior you want to reinforce. If your dog gets overexcited by or is afraid of a clicker sound, verbal markers such as “yes” or “good” can also be used. Your dog should already be able to follow “sit” and “down.”

You will also need small training treats. Your dog should like the treats, but not so much that they want to come to you to eat when you are trying to teach them at a distance. Ideally, training sessions should last 2 to 5 minutes, 2 to 3 times per day, but progress can be made even with 1 daily 30-second session.

“Mat”

Choose a mat or bed to use. It can be an old bath mat, a yoga mat, or any other easily portable mat. If you choose to use a bed your pet already has, put it away a few days before starting mat training so that it becomes “new” again.

1. Start by putting the mat down a few feet away from where you are sitting or standing.
2. Your dog will naturally investigate the new item on the floor. When they approach the mat, click and give them a treat.
   1. If your pet is hesitant to approach the mat, you can toss a couple of treats around or on the mat to start to build some interest.
3. Begin to click and treat for each of the dog’s progressive engagements with the mat. As your dog becomes more comfortable approaching the mat, toss treats away from the mat so that your dog has to get up and move away from the mat to get the treat. This will allow for another repetition and will help create a stronger behavior of going to the mat.
4. Once your dog is standing on the mat, ask for a “sit” or “down.” Then click and treat as they correctly respond to your cue.
5. Repeat until your dog sits or lies down on the mat automatically 8 out of 10 times.
   1. Now you can add a word (verbal cue) to the action of going to the mat. Choose the cue you would like to use (for example, “mat”).
   2. Start by tossing a treat 2 feet away from the mat. Your dog will go to get the treat. When they turn around to go back to the mat, say your verbal cue, and once they arrive, mark and give a treat.
   3. Repeat this process until the dog is going to the mat with purpose and waiting there.
6. Next, work on increasing the amount of time you ask your dog to be on the mat before giving the reward.
   1. Use small steps, and click and treat before you know your dog will get up. For example, if you know your dog can stay in a “down” position for 30 seconds, start by rewarding them at the 20-second mark.
   2. Slowly increase the time your dog has to wait to be rewarded in increments of 5 to 10 seconds.
7. Once your pet can stay on the mat for approximately 3 to 5 minutes, you can start to increase the distance between you and the mat.
   1. If your pet is comfortable going to a mat placed 3 feet away from you, move back to 4 feet and ask them to go to the mat, but only wait for them to stay for a few seconds.
8. Repeat this process until you can be in an adjacent room and the dog can go to the mat.

“Relax”/“Settle”

1. Ask your dog to offer a “down” position.
2. When the dog is lying down, reinforce signs of relaxation (see below) with a marker immediately followed by a treat.
   1. Signs of relaxation include hips shifted to the side, stretching a leg out, putting a shoulder down, lying on one side, putting the head down, or placing the chin between the paws.
   2. Other behaviors to reward include sighing, closing the eyes, or slowing the breathing rate (watch the ribcage).
3. Once you can predict the dog will offer to lie down in a relaxed manner during training, you can add a verbal cue such as “relax” or “settle” just before they do it.
4. Once the dog reliably responds to the verbal cue, gradually increase the length of time they stay in the “relaxed down” position before marking and rewarding.
   1. Start with waiting for 2 seconds of relaxation before rewarding. Then try 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and so on.
   2. Any time your dog is unable to stay in position for the designated length of time, go back by at least 5 seconds and move through increasing lengths of time more slowly.

Watch a video example of “relax”/”settle” here.

“Breathe”

1. Sit in a chair in front of your dog. Hold your clicker in one hand and a treat in the other.
2. Show your dog the treat in your hand. They will begin to focus on it and probably try to take it.
3. Watch their nose closely, specifically looking for their nostrils to flare with an inhale (not sniffing).
   1. Your dog might move from side to side, lick your fingers, or even sit. Ignore all of this behavior and continue to focus on their nose.
4. Once you see their nostrils flare, click and immediately give the treat.
5. Repeat this step at least 10 times. When you see their nostrils flare, breathing in, click, then reward.
6. When you can predict that they are going to inhale/flare their nostrils when you show them the treat, begin to add in your verbal cue (for example, “breathe” or “zen”) just before you show them the treat prompt.
7. If you have difficulty watching your dog’s nostrils, you can watch their ribcage move instead. When the ribs expand in a big inhale, click and offer a treat.

Watch a 1-minute video example of “breathe” here.

Dr. Karen Overall published an in-depth relaxation training protocol in 2013. Click the link to see the original protocol.