Dog Anxiety Training: How to Calm a Severely Anxious Dog

All right. Today we're going to talk about fixing dog anxiety very quickly. In this video, I'm going to be talking about things that you would never hear in your life. You could never read online. You could never watch a YouTube video of anybody knowing these things or talking about the things that I'm going to talk about right now. So now I've been doing this method for 20 years. What I discovered 20 years ago in dogs still till today trainers behaviorist public does not understand the core and truth and reality about how these things work with dogs. And you have to understand dogs at its core and its genetic makeup of what dog really is, how it sees the world, how they deal with each other. Really, everything goes back to nature when you're being a realist, right? When you're working with dogs. So, I'm going to give you a case here. golden retriever that just spins all day long and paces all day and never stops and constantly drinks water because he's wearing himself out. The mind keeps going. So his tongue is out all day breathing heavy like he's lost his mind. when he's left home alone, they watch him on cameras and he just doesn't stop, right? And he pees and poos in the house. They are now locking him in a bedroom and you'll see in a second. His crate is in there. They tried to leave him loose in the room. He just spins all day. Same thing. Constant movement. never relaxes and just drinks, drinks, tongue hanging out because he's exhausted. He's an emotional wreck. Okay. So, they put him in the crate. It'll contain him, but he'll just spin in the crate and constant pee and poop all over himself in the crate. So when you have anxiety problems, the potty is going to come because the nerves are constantly going. The body's moving, the feet are moving. And when the body is in motion constantly with nerves, potty is going to continually come. So they have no choice. They leave him in that room all day while they go to work. And he still just doesn't stop. He scratched the door down. He tries to get out all day. He's having panic attacks all day long. Okay. So, they've already had three trainers, I believe. Of course, everybody starts with positive and treats. And, you know, of course, for this kind of thing, it would be treats. Leave them treats in the room. Try to give them something to do. Kong toys with stuff in there, stuffed in it to try to entertain him. And when you're dealing with anxiety like this, there is no way to resolve these things in a positive manner. And if you know anything and have dealt with a million anxious dogs like I have throughout my career, right off the bat, I don't even I'm not even going to think about food or entertainment because I know when they're in those states, they are not going to be entertained by anything that you put in the room or try to give them to calm down. they're going to ignore it because their state is so overwhelming that they can't get out of it that the rewards are not even a factor. They don't even touch them all day. Okay? And that's just the way all severe anxiety cases, right? If you have a very very low case of anxiety where it's it's just a tiny little, it's not much, you may be able to get away with the treat stuff and the Kongs and all that, but that means if it worked, it really wasn't an ordeal anyway. It was just a tiny subtle little bit of emotion. And then you'll get those few cases that that can help you. When most cases when it's very high, there is only one way through this and it is pressure. Okay? And the one thing humans do not want to hear when it comes to dogs is pressure. So here is an example. I got this on YouTube. This is and I could there's a million of these types of videos, but the titles what were what was important. So, the owner who was filming this was saying that you're going to see here the mother correct the puppy and very aggressively for being hyper, right? For running around being hyper and won't calm down. So what dog knows genetically and this is how they would take care of their own just like this without human interference. They have no other way, right? And dog will get this quick because they understand the physical. So when this puppy's running around, you're going to see the mother just tackle this puppy. And you know, it's hard to watch as human. Even for me, it's hard to watch things overaggressive. But I do understand that this is the way they deal with this without our influence, right? If this was them on their own, this would have really been ugly, right? Without the owner here interfering eventually. So, just as an example, mother correcting the puppy for being hyper. Nobody question here. And then the mom keeps going after the puppy and the puppy's just trying to get out and just get away in submission. And the mom's following it just to prove a point and really taunting the puppy like like go ahead move again move again right to really prove a point to cut it out and to us it's overaggression right but this is the way things work in the dog world this is not unusual this is the norm right and this is for hyperactivity and this would be also as the golden retriever that I'm going to show you right for the hyperactivity and the mind going and never stopping in constant movement. But pressure has proven itself like no other for everything. dealing with anxiety, aggression, fear, any of real behaviors of species of dog. Pressure and appropriate pressure, not abusive pressure is the key to soothing them, relaxing them, and curing them. Right? This is very difficult for human to understand. And I get that, right? I got to deal with it every day of my life. Right? After people have tried all the positive stuff, which is my everyday life, and then I have to explain to them that I've done this a million times and it's proven every time for millions of dogs, right? That it works like a charm. Okay? So because we're just going to relax them and dog was meant for physical dogs in wild who live with each other do not give each other treats and con toys and everything else. Right? It's a physical game. They bite each other. They put pressure on each other to clear things. Okay? So, I'm going to go to the case first, explain this, and then I'm going to show you some other things, right, to give you more impact on the truth of this. And if trainers and behaviorists in the world would open themselves up to these things, we wouldn't have such uncurable cases all the time and dogs being put on medications and being neutered and spayed and you know, I mean, it's just chaos. Put to sleep. I mean, and most all these cases are resolvable, right? If you understand dogs, no dog needs to have any of those things or be put to sleep unless there's a real problem internally like a physical issue right in the mind or whatever it is. Okay? So outside of that and that's very rare by the way no need for any superficial treatments. Now, one thing I want you to hold on to, trust to trust what I'm telling you. I am a master positive dog trainer. So, when you're seeing this and hearing this from me, I am not on the one side that I am a pressure trainer. I am a master positive dog training using clickers, treats, toys, right? And just as an example so you understand this, [snorts] here is me working with just a some of the dogs with the clickers and the treats. Yes. Good girl. >> Sit. Sit down. Sit. Come. Sit down. Sit. Matt down. Matt down. Matt down. Good. Come Matt down. Come Matt down. Good. Sit. He go. Okay. All right. So, I want you to understand on a daily basis my own dogs. I sell service dogs with high level skills. I use treats, toys, rewards in certain things, right? when it's appropriate to be applied. But treats and all those things and doing sits and stays and touch lights and touch buttons and give paw have nothing to do with the species of dog. Okay, keep that in mind and I will get to that after this case. So, I want you to understand and just hear me that when these cases like this are being done, of course, everybody, even the owners themselves with no education, go straight to treats and rewards to try to help their dogs. It's the most natural thing for people to try to do in a positive way, right? Trying to be nice to their dogs. And that hardly ever works cuz it's way deeper than that. But I want you to hold on to what I just showed you because I use positive all the time except for fear, anxiety, aggression. That is dog problem. Not superficial trying to make sits spin paw agility course, right? Those are superficial behaviors, just manipulation of positions that have nothing to do with the dog species. So, I'll get to that after. But I want you to remember as we do this that if you would think why would [clears throat] you do pressure if you there's a so right I'm a master positive trainer there must be a reason why I do these other things or else if it works and I could do positive then I would just go do that right but it doesn't work like that so just keep that in mind and the things I'm going to explain here in this case, you will never hear anywhere else on how to apply psychology, true dog psychology, how to get them and relax very quickly, naturally. All right, what you're going to see here, there's two golden retrievers in this house. The darker red one we're gonna send to the room. Okay. And the other lighter one is going to be floating through the house. Okay. In and out of the room. So you >> the same problem that we have there. We should do the same thing taking him out because he doesn't go out. >> Right. >> So start stepping away and do the same thing exercise. >> Right. Exactly. So, it's his crate. He cannot come out of that crate. Same exercise. >> If you try to come out of the crate, right, he keeps going in and out. He's staying right in there. So, just keep in mind there's two gold retrievers. We're working with the one that we're going to put in the room. The other one is going to be floating through the house as you see us talking here. So, just so that you don't get confused that that one that's out there with us and going back and forth playing with the toys is not the one that we're working with right now for the anxiety. It's the darker one that we're going to put in the room. So, here what you're going to see how and keep in mind she's had many trainers already, positive behaviorist. I mean, no success. She's tried everything and medication it's not working. I mean this guy is highlevel anxietyridden you know. So my solutions to these things very quickly. We're going to put him in the room. And now we put pressure. Right. This is where the game starts of how we clear this up mentally for the dogs. So, as we put him in the room, right, they want to show me. They're going to close the door. And normally, he scratches the door and he goes, you know, starts barking and all that kind of stuff. So, we put him in the room for the first time. They want to show me, but you're going to see he doesn't do the barking and scratching because we had just walked him outside and gave him discipline. But you're going to see under the door when I show you, you're going to see the feet keep moving back and forth that he's pacing. >> So, he'll start making noise. He'll start. >> He He'll He'll like like a little bird. He just look back now. Yeah. Now I'm open cuz he knows. >> But if you if you go inside the room and you look at the back of the room, you see >> Yeah, I see. If he's not heist, come here. I bet you if I give him water. So there's no no sound, no door. What we're doing here is as we put him in, we close the door. We're letting him stress as I send the order to the door to start opening. You know, he's going to want to try to break out and get out of the room so he can go through the house and start doing a bigger pace. Right. So, what we do here, I'm going to have you go to the door. >> Okay. >> You're going to open it just a tiny little bit. >> Okay. So, just open it. >> Just a little bit because we want to see if he's going to try to push out. Now you like. So you block him like this and you push with your body. >> So to stop this, we need for him to start thinking, right? Dogs with these problems just are emotional. Okay? And there's no way that you're going to get them to use their minds by doing tricks and treats and any of that. Okay? That's not going to work for these types. So we need the door boundary, right? So when we open it mentally, he's got to hold and think about this. No weights, no stay, no giving him commands to stay in the room because that will all kill the psychology. We need him to try to break out so we could put pressure on him. And while he's standing in the room, needs to think this out now because in his mind, he's going to outlet through that and that option of taking off out there and having the bigger house to pace around and go nuts. Okay. So the psychology to this is now knowing he cannot cross the threshold. He's going to have to hold in because he's going to get tapped with the collar for trying to come across. There's going to be a negative and a touch physical from the collar to soothe him down, to relax him, not punish him, right? So he can start thinking clearly and get untrapped from the spinning. Okay? If he's got nothing to worry about and just fro float freely and crash through the road and go through the house, the mind and nerves never stop running. Okay? Once we give him something to worry about, like crossing the line of the door, now he will slow down mentally and from the taps of the collar, we call it the pacifier. He will soothe those nerves relax, [snorts] right? Not punish, not tap him and cry, yelp, none of that. We want to relax him like a soother, like it's spa day. Okay. So, giving that objective, not being able to cross the line, taking away an option, and now having to worry that he cannot escape the room. Now, the dogs start to calm down because we took away the options and there's a physical attached to it that they do not want to deal with. So, they start to relax. This is what we're going to start playing with here. Okay, close. So, I'm going to amp it up a little bit. Good. So, we'll try to open. He's like, he's crazy. Open a little more. Good. So, he holds. Perfect. So you can open a little more. If he tries to move for you, just block. >> That's good. >> Yeah. Good. So you're going to come one more step. Good. And keep going. Good. Uh-huh. >> Okay. Very good. Good. Now, just for a sec. I'm going to have you sit. You want me to sit here? >> Just for a sec. I want to really push him to >> Okay. >> Okay. So, you see he tries to break out. We go put him back. We're going to make sure he cannot get out get outside of that room without permission. And again, this is him thinking on his own, which is the key to this, right? Why you don't put dogs in positions. Wait, stay. Okay. The dog has to be able to use its mind and make decisions to do things. That's how you cure and make dogs reliable and things. Okay, so you see right my preference right now always with every dog there's going to be sequences. The first thing is you see he just stands there still. He's not pacing anymore. Good. That's the first objective. We know we're getting to him if he just stands there, right? And doesn't move and it's just observing because now the mind is thinking about what he's going to do because pre this there's no thought. He never thinks he ne doesn't have discipline in life. Most dogs don't, right? So, they become stir crazy. And you can see first time he's had to use his brain, the pacing has stopped in the room. And now he's standing there with thought. Hm. So, you mean I can't cross there now? That's different. And there'll be a tap of collar. So, the body and mind are coming down instead of spinning and no thought to thinking. So, we bring dogs from emotional non-thinking to thinking and then things start to pacify. And that was an example there of every dog in my life that I've trained. We go through the pacing to stillness to complete passive. Okay. So, here in the stillness, I had the owner back off the door and try to go sit because I need space off there for him while he's in thinking state and calming down to make a decision that nobody's there to block the door, right? If nobody's there to block the door, is he going to be able to just walk out and do what he wants? And of course, since the first time we've ever done it with him, he's never done this. You're watching it first time ever. He thought, "Well, since nobody's in sight, what if I decide to walk out?" And the moment the owner goes uh, I tap the collar and I give him a physical with it gently. Right? There's no crying, yelping, screaming, right? He just casually walked back and got back in the room and just stood there again. And he never tried to come back out from that moment. >> Uh-huh. All right. And also what you're going to see here is so you're not confused again, the one golden retriever, the other one you're going to see in this next clip here, constantly goes in the room where the other golden is that we're working on, gets toys, and comes back out and goes back with us. And it does it several times in this next clip. Normally, he would follow him right out, right? And of course, him watching the other golden come in the room and pass the boundary freely in and out of the room. Most dogs would try, you would think, to follow the other one out of the room also, thinking, well, he just got through it. Maybe there's a shot I can get through it now. But this shows you how much restraint, right, is going on in the dog. >> Feed them when you leave in their cages. 15 minutes. They don't eat the water. >> Be careful cuz if he gets anxious, he tips the hole. So you could do the water outside wherever you want to do it. >> Like they can come there, drink water, and then put them in the cage. >> Right. Right. Right. So you can do your water there and do your food over there. But you see, he just went in the room and he put the toy and went past come back out. >> Yeah. Fantastic. >> Good. And then you just need your queue. So now >> that's teaching him that boundary there and to learn to relax. >> So you the same problem that we have there. We should do the same thing taking him out because he doesn't go out, >> right? >> So start stepping away and do the same exercise. >> Right. Exactly. So it's his crate. He cannot come out of that crate. Same exercise. >> If you try to come out of the crate, Right on. Right. He keeps going in and out. He's staying right in there. >> He's probably laying down. I'm dancing. >> If he's laying down, that's good cuz that means he's settling. >> Mental. Mental. Mental. Mental. Everything is mental. And now he's just sitting there laying there. He's relaxed. >> So, can even though we use a grape and then relax there >> or is that a face? >> So, then if I'm releasing, I'm saying break, >> right? So, like right now he's calm there for a while. I let him stay there for a little while because right now he's learning how to let go and just relax and not I got to get out. I got to get out. How do I get out of here? How do I get out of here? You can't. >> What are you going to do? Relax. >> These things with him this week. >> Mhm. Just get really good. Like get happy with that button. That's going to soothe him. >> It's going to pacify him and make him feel happy with today's session. >> I know. He did it great. Did great. I like >> both did. I like >> Yeah. Yeah. both perfect with that. And I like the fact that he's laying there right now. That's that's perfect sign for us cuz if he was still standing, >> it's good. It's good as long as he's not pacing. But the laying down is the clincher. That knowing he's always been able to freely pass in the bedroom without any issue with any mental or discipline. Watching the other one come in and out would make the other dogs at least try to follow them out, right? But not even a chance he was going to do that. And this is what we expect. And this is every dog that I train with this. If there's another dog in the house, right away they do not try to follow. Even though the other one's coming in and out, they just relax and let it go and let them do what they're going to do. and them float float freely. Okay, so that's another perfect sign for us that he is in a complete relaxed state and gave up. He doesn't even care and isn't even thinking about following the other dog out of the room back into the living area with the owners and myself, right? which he absolutely that would be his first thing to come out by us and be around us and be spinning and moving and drinking and okay and he's not doing it. He's in the room right now laying down and they just have relaxed time there is >> what a face. So he's completely passive and let go exactly what we want to see. We stop the mind from spinning. So, so you suggest we we should try to keep him still in the crate for now until we manage the pilot. >> Yes. Because if you're going to experiment, >> it would be I need him in this state of mind >> to be able to be in that room loose with no potty >> that he's not going to be doing this all day cuz if he's doing this darn day, we know we're going to get potted. That's a given. His body can't handle it. This pressure is going to get to him. He's going to have to go to the bathroom. But if we can get him in this state of mind, then I gamble and I go, "Okay, now he's been calm. Now I'm going to try leaving him out in the room because he's been a lot calmer." But that's why too, when you're here with them all the time, he just can't be out there all the time with everybody. He's going to be in there with the door open and relaxing himself while everybody's out here and control himself. That it's not just, "Oh my god, they're home. So I got to be around them. I got to be with them. I got to be everywhere they go. I got to be part of the whole thing because that's going to make him anxious out of his mind." the more we separate him and make him hold his [clears throat] ground. He can be a big boy. That's what we're telling him. You're a big boy. You can be alone. Just because we're here doesn't mean it's a right you be with us. Because if we allow that, he's going to be this all the time. He'll never let go of it. So, this is a perfect mental discipline for him right now. He's out here flowing in and out with this. He's not trying to follow him out. >> No, he he he's in his own world. He he sometimes he he irritates him. But >> yeah, >> he's the type that doesn't care, you know, like when he wants to play. He doesn't >> he's he's on his own playing 24 hours. >> Yeah. No, he's a play. >> He's still relaxing still. Thank you. >> All right. So, perfect. Right. And you see he's just passive and we're talking there that if the owners don't give the discipline on him with the collar and create the boundaries. Collar is critical. It's not just the boundaries. It's the two together but the most important is the collar that causes the pacifying and the relaxing and letting go. And you can see there I come in I pet him. You know, he's there soothing. He's not even trying. This is the first time, right, that this guy has laid down to relax in the house since he's been there for years, right? I mean, this guy does. He never lays down and calms down and just relaxes, right? He's always moving and everywhere and mentally, right? So, this is the first time that they were telling me behind the scenes that he's never laid down. He's never stayed still. I mean, and truly, I've done I mean, thousands and thousands of anxiety cases. And he absolutely definitely was one of the worst where it's rare you see a dog just spin and he's not home, right? That he's not there mentally. You can see he's not there. Almost looking right as if he was nuts, right? Like that he's not well. And so I mean completely chaotic. And it's the first time ever he is laid down, relaxed, and just let go. Okay. And you see there, we didn't hurt him. We didn't abuse him. We're actually doing him a favor, right? By not being human towards him, right? And just going with treats and rewards and right because dogs don't live with each other like that. They're a physical animal, a physical species. They use bite and touch in order to keep stabilization within each other and in the packs and in each dog to be normal. That is the dog game. So you see, perfect. And I told him if they keep him in this state because also most of the dogs I've done with anxiety have potty problems attached to it too. And the moment that we calm them down like this, they can be free in the house. Owners go to work. There's no more pacing and spinning. And there's no more potty problems because we've relaxed the mind and the body and now it can hold potty. It's not constantly making the nerves go. That potty's constantly being pushed and coming. So, it's perfect for day one. But I wanted to show you, which I've never shown before, the psychology to it. And in one shot in one day, I was able to do something that no other method has done for him, right? And perfect in one class, right? That we get him to just lay down for the first time in his life and relax for the first time in his life, [laughter] right? That no other method has done for him. And thousands and thou I mean success cases I've had with this. It never fails if the owners believe in the system and stay with it and understand the dog psychology. Right? So something there never you will read online you will never if you hire a trainer you will never see this method and it works like a charm all the time because I'm going by dog species understanding that with the anxiety I must give him problems for him to think about. I need the physical touch on the body to touch the nerves and relax the mind and body through physical stimulation with thought combining each other. Dog knows now he needs to calm down, not make a mistake and think about what he does because when they go under anxiety, they can't think and they make mistakes. They just do. So this is how it actually works. When you give a problem and physically they don't want to deal with it like past the boundary and get tapped with the collar automatically by being touched with the collar it soos the nervous system as if they're getting a spa day right not pain into the dog right because I don't want the nerves jumping from pain because that makes them more anxious so when I'm doing this I'm touching with the collar just to physically touch him a little bit to yep right which also it does two things. Makes the dog now think about that he can't just cross the line freely slowing him down and not the mind spinning still. The physical touch of the collar affects the nerves and pacifies the nerves. Right? As if we were doing a muscle stem and relaxing him a spa day. So now the brain, the nerves to the brain to the body pacify and soothe. Opposite of what everybody out there thinks about the collars. Now this is my system. You can't and as a trainer, behaviorist, or anybody out there pick up a collar and try to do this without knowing what I know about dogs. Right? So when I've heard people in the past go, "Oh, they don't just use a collar." No, it's not the collar. I'm using the collar to my advantage. It's what I know about dogs and how to touch them exactly and the theory I'm working with and the mental to it and all those things that are making this work beautifully. It's not the collar. The collar is a part of it and a tool for me, right? But it's my psychology primary and I'm using the tool to my advantage in a certain way, an exact way, in a complex way, but I make it look easy, right? But there's a big game attached to this of how to touch properly and with the exercise I'm trying to do, knowing what I'm affecting and how I'm giving the outlook to the dog, not to be scared, not to be pounded with a collar, right? Because then I can't get him to relax and pacify and just be at peace, right? If I just hit him with a collar and I make him right and scared of the lying, he's going to be jumpy and edgy and panicky. So it has to be done exactly in a certain way to make this beautiful and make him relaxed and let go and start to enjoy his life in relaxation. >> Good. >> Thank you. >> Right. But he can never enjoy his life if he doesn't settle and learn to let nervous energy go permanently. And that's the start right there. As the owners carry over on this, it'll be perfect. So, hope you enjoyed. Till next time, Richard Hines, Miami Dog Whisperer.