How To Train A High Energy Dog

In this episode, we are joined by Kelly Gorman Dunbar, a renowned dog training expert, as we delve into the world of high-energy dogs and the importance of providing appropriate mental and physical stimulation. We explore the benefits of trick training for dogs, the necessity of teaching dogs to relax, and the value of understanding and accepting a dog’s natural behaviors.

Show Notes:
(03:37) Recognizing high-energy dogs and understanding their requirements.
(06:47) Encouraging dogs to engage in hobbies.
(12:50) Teaching dogs to relax; physical exercise alone is not sufficient.
(15:00) Calm interaction techniques are essential for high-energy dogs.
(18:20) Training methods for helping dogs unwind.
(20:04) Calming, passive activities to soothe dogs.
(24:18) Importance of contextual cues in understanding dog behavior.
(29:14) Outdoor mental stimulation is beneficial for dogs.
(31:18) Conducting short, specific, interactive sessions with dogs.
(36:53) Utilizing high-energy dogs’ instincts in scent-based activities.
(38:11) The enjoyment dogs find in using their sense of smell.

Follow Kelly Dunbar:
https://www.dunbaracademy.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kellydunbardogtraining/

Follow our Host, Melissa Viera, at https://mjspettrainingacademy.com

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Super important that you teach your dog how to chill and I think the key there is teach you know especially if you do have a high energy breed or or your dog’s personality is you know profile is just that one of exuberance and and over OV exuberance and joy and you can’t just

Assume that they know how to do that welcome to the petare report podcast by pet Summits here’s your dog training host Melissa Vieira hello and welcome back to the Pet Care report I’m super excited for today’s episode because we’re going to talk about high

Energy dogs so if you have a dog at home that you believe has some excess energy then you’re going to want to stick around for today’s episode our expert guest today is Kelly Gorman Dunbar Kelly is the training director at sius puppy and dog training which is a dog training

Business known for pioneering puppy training Kelly is also a key contributor to the curriculum for the Dumar Academy as well as co-founder of open paaw which is a nonprofit that provides training to shelter workers in order to help them enhance the lives of shelter dogs in addition Kelly is an international

Speaker and writer as well as a professional dog training mentor in the founder of the dog training League thank you so much Kelly for being here today I think you know a thing or two about high energy dogs I believe you um you like high energy dogs as I do myself so can

You tell tell us a little bit more about your own dogs yes hello so good to see you um yeah I think we have that in common right we like we love to do things with our dogs and the more energy the better I’ve got um a lot of dogs but

I do French ring sport which is a protection and obedience and Agility based sport that is French uh which is an very um it’s an old traditional sport that you know it it helps you to um decide who the working dogs are going to be it’s a it’s a working dog test

Basically right so I do a French ring Sport with my belgians I’ve got um two that are titled at different levels ring two dog and a ring one dog who’s still in progress and now a new puppy um I have Terriers I’m about to Embark in um

I don’t think you even know this I’m going about to Embark in obedience AKC obedience with my border terrier oo maybe some other hunting type stuff for her as well so um and I’ve got some other various dogs that I do things with

I like to do scent work I used to be a judge for scent work competitions probably going to do some detection with my retired belgians so getting dogs out into the world to do the things they were kind of bred to do you know to kind

Of scratch that itch you know that that they have that genetic itch is something that I’m pretty passionate about and um you know I like dogs for what they are and who they are and and I think it’s um one of the best ways to celebrate that

Is to take them out and do the thing I like that you say that you like them for who they are because it’s not just trying to change them and a lot of pet parents might think they have a overly excitable dog and they just want to

Change that dog to be much calmer but it’s more so of finding an outlet and trying to figure out who that dog is and how you can best help that individual dog so I like that you you say that um do you have any tips for pet parents who

Believe that maybe they have a high energy dog and they’re struggling a little bit so where can they start well high energy dog first of all I think you know there what is a high energy dog versus just a dog right um I think anybody who has a dog that is under two

Years old is likely to have a high energy dog because age does play a role right you know if you’ve got a an adolescent dog something usually between 6 months and 18 months to two years at their most energetic if you will and um you know and then there are breed breed

Breeds that have the tendency to have a little more you know pack a little more punch and and continue to be energetic throughout the rest of their lives um I think it’s important to distinguish the difference between a high energy dog that perhaps has super specific or for the average own or

High um level of exercise as a requirement versus a dog that might be just bored or is just a dog that isn’t getting their basic needs met and you know when we when we talk about basic needs you know most people think about water and food and maybe a dog bed and

Maybe a training class uh perhaps a few chew toys but it and walks people we’ll talk about how they want to take their dog for walks um for some people a dog park is even something they think the dog needs um dog dog interaction but more specifically they they what what they

Need is mental stimulation and again something that scratches the itch that they were bred for and you know we have a lot of mixes out there a lot of beautiful um you know mix breeds and or or purpose bread mixes as well as pure bread dogs that are out there and you

May not even really know what your dog is but you know first of all they’re are test they’re not perfect but they they Embark and what’s the other one isn’t there another one too yeah there’s a few of them there’s several yeah um you can

Do you you can do a genetic test if you don’t know what your dog is um or you can know just search on the Internet and try to figure it out but really it doesn’t matter because your dog is going to tell you yes absolutely what what

They like to do what they need to do and um and it might not necessarily match what they are you know I have somebody right now who got um what did they get oh it was um a lanere New Finland okay and you know it’s a very big kind of

Lumbering usually giant breed dogs are slower dogs they you know they’re not you know they lie around a lot right but this dog is from working stock and she wants to swim and retrieve like the best of them you know so you you know and and this becomes very obvious you have dogs

That will you pick up things in their mouths all the time and um you know want to carry and parade things around you’ve got dogs that will dive into puddles if they get any chance dogs that will are digging um I think I think they get in

The most trouble dog so these are dogs that are telling you that they have a certain need to do something uh sniffing and ranging and um even Scavenging when they’re out these are dogs that maybe want to hunt and sniff and use their use their noses so you don’t need to know

What your dog’s breed is in order to figure out what they like but once you know what they enjoy rather than just trying to stop that the way you know as you said earlier just like know please stop doing the thing um I would invite people to flip that script and and

Actually just in allow them to do the thing but with control you know put that put things um put these behaviors on Q uh turn them into tricks find a class that can be an outlet and you know you don’t have to become a world you know levels

Competitor in order to practice the the craft that your dog enjoys right so you know if you’re dog is um very sniffy and wants to always you know find things in the garden or on walks is just you know got their nose to the ground or nose up

To the air all the time you don’t have to go and become a detection or search and rescue worker but you can easily play games with your dog and hide things in the house um when in the garden you can take classes there’s Cent workk classes online as well as in you know

Various facilities and you can use um this as a launching pad I I would like to talk to you more about this specifically um just informally do tricks that are fun so maybe with a dog that um likes to find things and they’re always finding your socks or you know

Things that you don’t want them to find teach them know put value into something else through training and then teach them to find you know your keys your shoes you know whatever it may be so um I know you’re a big proponent of of turning um obedience and and basic

Behaviors into tricks and I think that’s one of the smartest things that people can do because it’s fun at both ends of the leash so much fun right and you know for me the the thing about tricks versus obedience you know or teaching your dog commands is is just that your tone

Changes right like you know when you say sit you know you might be you might say it nicely if you have a cookie in your hand not you but one might be like sit sit sit sit no sit sit Bey sit you know and whereas if you’re like um find it

You know you’re going to be like go get the thing you know and you root for them and your face changes your demeanor Chang it’s not necessarily um you know a skill that they have to do because we think well my dog must sit before they go out

The door and there are some reasons for safety they know that they we want them to do these behaviors but nobody really thinks my dog has to wave right now if I they have to sit pretty in wave you know and nobody’s getting angry if they don’t

Get it right and you just become more creative um yeah I think I think that’s the the the key is it keeps everybody happy and Light it builds relationship and um what do you think I think when you I think you the minute you for a lot

Of people the minute they let go of the idea that there’s a certain criteria that they have to hit I find they actually get better results it’s a little bit more relaxed yeah and I think once you in anything once you get moving on it once you get the ball rolling

You’re more inspired to continue and not just dog training like if you’re trying to exercise you have to just convince yourself to like get up in the morning and start like you just have to start somewhere so with dog training if you start with tricks where there’s a lot

Less pressure then you got that ball rolling and you’re starting to move forward and and make some changes hopefully and start a new habit um so yeah I think that’s a a great idea as you know I love trick training yeah and with tricks I mean we

I mean we call them tricks but it’s all tricks to dog yeah right and and it really is just our perception and to do some of the tricks that you that might pop into your head you’ve still this is this is where it gets tricky and where

Where a trainer is tricking the traine you have is getting kind of yeah you have to get you have to have some face basic Foundation obedience in order to tricks but you can do it through tricks so um enrichment mental enrichment uh honoring the dog that

Is inside you know the the honoring the doggin of your dog you know and giving them a proper Outlet an approved Outlet if you will um is the is the way to manage energy one of one of the ways to manage energy we can talk about a few

Other things but I think I one of my goals in my career is to teach people to enjoy Behavior versus always want to Tamp it down or stop it and quash it right I love that it’s you know you got you got a dog because you wanted to have

Fun and do things or because you like that breed or found them interesting and you know you now you you’ve got to kind of hold up your end to the bargain and um you know bring some some enrichment and joy into their lives as well absolutely now on the other side of that

So let’s say we’re giving our dogs all of these Outlets we’re meeting their needs what is um a way to teach them how to shut off so some of your favorite tips because you do have dogs that like to work so I’m sure you have some really

Great tips for that shut off switch and it’s still important to of course teach them that there is a time that we’re not working and I don’t want you to offer behaviors to me so what are some of your favorite tips for the uh so to speak the

Shut off switch and that’s it’s super important that you teach your dog how to chill and I think the key there is teach you know especially if you do have a high energy breed or or your dog’s personality is you know profile is just that one of exuberance and and over over

Exuberance and joy and you can’t just assume that they know how to do that and and again part of that might be their their own personality but I think what we often do in early in a dog’s life like in their early adolescence or

We first get a dog or a puppy we try to Tire them out as a way to get them to relax and you with physical exercise right and so this is kind of counterintuitive but one of the first tips I will give people is to practice relaxing the with the same amount of

Attention and energy that that you do when you’re your exercising time and not to always um not to OV exercise your dog and I don’t even mean like oh this is too much for their little bones or bodies at a certain age although there is that too but the more that you

Throw that ball with the Chuck it the more that you get that high crazy kind of intense going like I’m going to burn this this puppy out we’re going to run and we’re going to play check it for half an hour until they’re panting and their tongues Laing and they come in and

Crash well you you might get that you might get to that point for a little while where the dog is you know pretty exhausted but you’re also um conditioning your dog yeah exactly yeah right you’re conditioning them physically um and body who most of you will be familiar with the term runnner

Eye you know people come in from you know if you got a marathon runner and they’re they somebody who you in your life that’s kind of addicted to running it’s just that they’re addicted to running like it feels good you know they you know the chemical boost that they

Get from that you know is really quite strong and you know so they’re now you know if you’re if you’re a runner you’re getting physically stronger which means you can run further and faster and it takes it’s harder to Tire you you um you have more endurance and also you’re you

Come in and you’re kind of jazzed you’re not exhausted anymore now you’re kind of like what’s next you know so I’m I’m sure people with high energy dogs can relate to um you know that idea of like okay we would just spend an hour at the

Park and you come in the house and they’re like What’s Next what are we gon to do now you know instead of being tired so you can unintentionally condition your dog to become a canine athlete this doesn’t mean that they don’t need exercise but you’re not necessarily going to exercise

Yourself to calmness is really the key you know um and in a lot of cases at least not for long you might get away with it for a little while so there’s that um but then there’s also making sure that when you do interact with your

Dog like if you’ve been gone for a few hours because you are at work or if you work from home but you’re you know your dog is separate from you um when you when you greet them I would have greetings just be kind of mellow and Lovey versus super excited I wouldn’t

Run into the house right after work and say let’s go for a run right away because now you’re building anticipation I like to um say hey I’m home you know come in chill out with me for a while I need to break I need to

Sit down why you come and have a chew or come and I’ll pet you for a while and rub your belly and then maybe we’ll play because you can kind of get yourself into a vicious cycle with that as well and if you add to that that to the park

And the running now you’ve really got kind of a a k9 junkie on your hand exercise junkie on your hand and then there is practicing chilling out and how do we do that right um I you know we a lot of us use um plac mats or cot beds

You know like little hot little platform beds or any dog bed can will do and you can even do this on your couch if you really want to but um practicing going to your mat or going to your bed and staying there or to your platform is a very

Useful uh skill but it’s still kind of an active skill right so I think you and I both do the same thing where we’ll station our dogs almost like circus dogs right you know you go on your platform you’re on your platform you’re on your platform and in those moments you know

Do do you do you find that your dogs are relaxing or are they attentive and right you can’t really say that they’re fully shut off in those moments I mean they might have been trained to look like they’re they’re shut off but as soon as they hear their name they know it’s

Their turn to work and they’re right off that that place so I see where you’re getting yeah right they’re they’re tuned in and they’re waiting and especially if that is um that that platform work or that mat work has been trained with like food rewards and I’m not suggesting that

We don’t but anytime you do that you’re kind of activating the dog and and you’re keeping them kind of in the game and you and if you know for sometimes you want them in the game it’s fine if you’re doing a go to your mat while I

Answer the door that’s that’s okay fine that’s control but that’s not relaxing you know uh so I’m thinking of like trying to meditate with your phone in your hand like you just want to do that yeah it’s it’s not gonna work you know or or or even just meditating while

You’re snacking on a bowl of popcorn like it’s it’s not you know different so relaxation Protocols are different than like um like long stays or long place mat things in in my book so I don’t always I usually don’t work on a mat when I’m teaching my dogs to chill out I will

Sometimes tether them you know tether them to a heavy piece of furniture nearby or just kind of or hold the leash I’ll have a leash or something thing on them with a harness or a collar flat collar a wide collar if they’re relatively relaxed um mean they’re not

Going to be pulling all the time and we just kind of hang out it’s kind of literally teaching them to do nothing in your presence and then occasionally calmly rewarding them you maybe just talk to them just a little bit or give them a little Pat or I’ll sit on the

Couch or on the floor and you know we’ll just kind of do some belly rubs and some little massagy times and I’ll sit and talk to them and maybe I do pull my phone out at this point because we’re just going to sit there we’re just going

To hang out um maybe so you know because there to me there are three different kind of skills at least three different skills maybe you’ll maybe you’ll catch me there’s more there’s the place the active Place command you know there’s like go to your place and and wait for

More instructions and then there’s let’s just chill out together kind of On Queue like can I get you to rest or chill for a minute maybe I need to groom you maybe I’m going to do your your your nails or you at the vet and I want you to just

Chill out and then there’s kind of this passive um chill and chew kind of time where like I will give them a a a project but it’s a calming project so just as much as I like to give dogs um their active you know mental stimulation I like to give them passive

What I call passive choose and passive stimulation which are um usually food related toys that aren’t active so we’re not talking about a puzzle game here or a wobbly thing that they have to whack around we’re talking instead about a toy that maybe they have to lick you know

Lie down and put between their paws and lick lick lick to get out the good mushy stuff or um or a real marrow bone or even like a an edible chew I guess falls into that category like a pig ha or a bully stick right where they’re lying

Down and they’re they’re doing something they’re occupied but they’re not act active and um that I think is one of the best ways to start maybe true relaxation you know um because the dog is still doing something in occupied and focused and it’s not as hard on the Handler

You’re just doing the like the tethering and the relaxing time you have got to be prepared and I think this is super important to not relax yourself at first when you’re doing relaxation training you’ve got to you’ve got to be there to reset the the dog or the puppy if they

Get up and settle them back down and you know reward them and talk to them and give them feedback when they’re doing something that you like and I think people are afraid like if the puppy’s finally quiet they don’t want to say anything you know they don’t want you know they don’t want

To but but it’s important to like give them some feedback about about when they’re when they’re doing something that you enjoy um it’s hard the first few times so like if you and you don’t want to cele you know if your puppy is on a if you’re holding a leash you know

A short leash and your puppy’s on a tether near you and they’re pacing pacing pacing or looking at you or poking you and and then they finally settle down you you don’t want to go yeah you know and and get them all riled up but you also don’t want to

Necessarily ignore it I would say oh good good good dog good puppy look at that good settle you know maybe give him a little maybe not um and yes they may break then oh we’re up we’re doing something but oh no settle back down these are opportunities repetition is

Key and when they learn that you know your well your calm tone means just hey stay chill it’s kind of like a keep goinging signal it’s feedback it’s information it’s attention but it doesn’t mean that we’re going to go do anything um that can transfer into your

Daily life you you shouldn’t have to tiptoe around or not say hi on the phone or whatever it may be so um I think people don’t want their dogs to get up you know and and they don’t want have to restart but restarting is repetition and repetition is key to you know it’s

Practice it’s key to getting the behavior right so it’s okay if they get up and you just settle them back down but do give feedback so true toys play settling to a degree um actual kind of like Massy down downtimes and um I don’t know I would still I would go

Back to also teaching uh would you for you settle for a trick would you do that no not not so much my my settle is more of shut off so if I ask for a settle usually it’s because I’m next to the dog whether I’m sitting in a chair or like

Maybe I’m teaching a class and I really want my dog to actually just shut off and know that I’m not going to call you for anything so settle is just a little bit more of um relaxed and then there’s like I’m not even paying attention to

You at all where I won’t ask for a settle and it’s just a dog’s choice at that point so hopefully they’ve practiced enough that their choice is not to be like jumping and spinning around at that point so then they just offer a natural settle on their own but

That’s and but this is I think something that is challenging for people they you do have to provide context right and it’s and the clearer that we are the the better your success is going to be so you know you don’t if your dog is in a

Settle and and shut kind of shut off it does mean hey you don’t have to pay attention right now you know like you don’t have to be alert you can you can chew on your toy or you can fall asleep or you roll over on your back and be you

Know if you really want to um but there you have to provide context cues um that are different for these different these different behaviors so that they understand that they don’t have to be attentive like they would in a place on and and um and so um I guess teaching

People how to differentiate that and a lot of true settle is literally just settling and waiting them out and and I think people get very frustrated with that at first and don’t understand that’s part of the process and I like that you mentioned earlier about changing your own tone and the way

You’re praising the dog so if you’re trying to train a puppy a settle you’re not like when they finally settle you’re not woohoo you very calmly praise them and I think a lot of people will be surprised just at how different that can um make things so if you start to

Control your own level of energy the dogs innately pick up on that and it’s really a cool thing so that can be a huge help I’m glad you added that in yeah I think it really is just it’s kind of just you’ve got to go through the

Weeds before you get there and I think that’s where people Tred and quit or by interacting too much when the dog isn’t settling you know so if your puppy is next to you maybe on a line you whe they tethered somewhere or you’re holding the leash and they’re they’re not settling

Well the more that you talk to them then or you know or or or you know push like you know lure them into a down or push them off of you or talk to them if you’re irritated stop off off or you know no no you know all of that is

Interaction that is actually keeping the energy up and you’re you’re actually not you’re not settling so so they’re not going to pick they don’t know what settle is you so you you have to embody it and that means truly often just letting them go through those

Loops right and and and and waiting it out until you get that moment and there will be a moment always I don’t care how crazy you think your dog is if you practice this for you know five days in a row you know with maybe three sessions a day even if

They’re just five minutes or 10 minutes a piece and you just I’m going to sit here I’m going to kind of ignore my dog and not like I’m going to ignore my dog just like I’m going to sit here this is the one time in training where I say

Yeah pull out your phone and like zone out you know zone out like and just and you the reason we’re tethering is so that your dog can’t go and make other choices right and that sit with you and be with you so that they’re not um you

Know leaving the room and going to get a twer or barking out the window or bothering you know the cat or whatever it may be they’re just learning that when I give a certain energy off and say a certain word especially usually in certain contexts like in the office or

In a public place like a cafe this is all that’s going to happen is we’re just going to be here and it’s not going to go smoothly at first but if you stick with it and don’t interact or over interact when your dog is being active and people get frustrated and they do

Start spinning right oh off off you know and stay just calm and ignore as best you can um they’ll start to get the picture you know they’ll start to get the picture so I don’t know that I have any really special cool tricks for that other than really like going through the

Weeds and and just yeah it’s just a consistency of yeah just just doing it and it might not be the most exciting thing to practice like maybe once you start trying to meet your dog’s needs with the tricks and the games that is fun um but you have to remind yourself

To practice like practice the boring things or the frustrating things as well yeah definitely frustrating I think that’s it it might be fun if you’re a dog trainer to practice but yeah I mean it’s it’s it’s not you know it’s not like it’s not g to make a

Dynamic YouTube video you know but it’s probably an important one it could be a funny one because sometimes that they really don’t settle at first but don’t just said something that was important about this um oh so when you’re meeting needs and and of course like especially

When you’re just starting to teach your dog to settle HED your bets it’s okay to exercise your dog first and and but the key is that it’s not just physical exercise as I said earlier we want to make sure that we’re doing really mental exercise is going to get you further

Faster than just letting the dog run with other dogs running at the park or running um after a ball all those active um repetitive behaviors um really really kind of get them into this emotional high that is not helpful um but a a long rambling walk in the woods you know on a

Long line if if you don’t have control yet or off leash if they’re well enough to do that and it’s legal um where they’re sniffing and just kind of kind of Galloping around a little bit and then coming back to you or and walking around a field sometimes I’ll just take

The dogs out on my on my I have a little little mini Farm here it’s only five acres but sometimes I just go out and walk with them if I don’t have time to go out to the to the woods or something and it’s not oh we’re going to play ball

Or oh we’re going to train we’re like we’re we’re just we’re just going outside not kind of meander around the property and maybe I’ll do a little bit of gardening or cleaning up or maybe I won’t maybe I’m just like hanging out and enjoying know watching them kind of

Sniff and run around so they’re doing that kind of activity is enriching and more natural and it doesn’t give that crazy dopamine High you know without you know that is then becomes like a you know an addictive kind of thing it just settles them down but what I want to impress upon people

Is any of those kind of enriching things whether it’s training or like a decompression walk or um just um an active Che toy all a little game you know a little scent work game hiding things all of these things will wear your dog out faster and better

Than a game of fetch basically you don’t have to to meet your dog’s needs you don’t have to spend four hours a day or two hours a day every day doing this because I think people think well I don’t have time I don’t have time to

Play you know to do scent work I have time to take a class you don’t need a ton if you’re doing the right things um of course you know your your dog needs time and energy um your time and energy every day to a certain extent um but not

Every day needs to be you know um a big big event so instead of taking that time to take your dog to a dog park or then you know the other bad thing about a going to a dog part other than getting a super high and running around like crazy

Is they’re focusing so very intently off of you right and all of the reinforcement is coming out from out there and if anything you’re just a killjoy at the end you know who ruins the fun when they’re in this kind of frenzy Happy State so you know it’s you know it’s spending

Spending 10 minutes three times a day on and a targeted activity where the two of you are working together whether it’s an actual settle activity or a place activity or a scent work game where you hid some favorite biscuits around the house or garden and and um then let them

Find them or I’m practicing a a trick something as simple as can you spin in One Direction and then in another direction or can you walk between my legs can we weave um you know sit pretty roll over these things challenge their brains and and are interactive and keep

You in the picture for the things that are fun which builds relationship which then builds a better Bond obviously which then breeds better communication because sometimes when when people say their dogs are out of control or high energy their dogs are are also just really not that connected to them yeah

That makes a lot of sense and I think because you gave so many different options here there’s the tricks and the sniffing and the settle it’s a good point to bring up variety too so maybe not doing the same thing two days in a row because there are so many options

For sure yeah and and it just I I just have in my dog room I yes I have a dog room um where we do training and there’s some beds and some crates and um and all the dog toys live I mean of course they’re in the house all the time too

But um I’ve got a lot of dog toys so they’re not all in the house all the time back to variety there you know we rotate but I have a list I just have a like a dry erase board that has um a a

List of 10 I think 10 or 11 um active activities and then a list of like four or five like passive activities for and because it helps other people in the house to know also and remember what to do and it’s like hey you can pick from these

Lists and just and you know and when I do shelter work I have a I have a similar list for all the various needs of the dogs and you know you just check off you know oh this one’s been done today this one’s been done today oh

Maybe it’s a list for the week and we can just go through until you’ve hit all the marks throughout the week so variety really is the spice of life and it keeps them super they’ll keep them super engaged and you know anything that becomes habitual I habits can work in

Our favor sometimes don’t get me wrong but anything that becomes habitual can become boring and variety is lovely so favorite true toys I rotate they don’t get all their favorite things at all all times we have a couple of things that we choose from and then the rest get put

Away and then when you bring them out again in a week or two or a few days how it depends on your dog’s level of Interest they’re like you know you don’t have to go shopping you don’t have to go shopping all the time oh I haven’t seen this in in weeks

You know I love this ball and um so but you can do the same with your behaviors absolutely mix it up mix it up and yes there are I mean we live in an age where there are so many online classes that you can take um if you don’t have access

To um you know a fun like tricks class or nose work class near you or if you don’t have the time to commit to that specifically you can you know do it on your own in an online self-guided course and you know maybe you never want to

Compete and you can just mess around with all of the things it’s just going to enhance your relationship and giving that energy somewhere to go because that’s the thing when people say they have a high energy dog right they just have this energy cloud and it’s you know and then most people start

Tapping it down it’s like whacka because it’s going to pop up over here it’s going to pop up over there and maybe you really don’t want it to pop up over there and it’ll pop up somewhere that’s for sure it is right it’s like you don’t

Just get rid of it you know so you so why not just choose like we’re gonna have a couple Avenues and this is where we can channel that energy and make it you know make it as useful as you want you can be literally going to find your

Your slippers or your keys or it can be just fun and entertaining it doesn’t have to have any purpose other than building relationship and giving your dog an outlet right absolutely I think these were some great tips do you have it’s so hard the question I usually ask at the end is the

Most difficult question what is your number one tip from all of this what what do we want to leave our listeners with what’s your number one piece of advice for anyone who feels like they have a high energy dog if you have a high energy dog and you’re may be feeling frustrated or

Even if you’re not feeling frustrated I guess um I of all of the things that we’ve mentioned today I think the number one thing that across the board helps the most dogs regardless of what they’re natural scratchy itchy what what they want to do genetic know um you know

Makeup um is you know what what they’re predisposed to do is scent Work O It’s scent work I playing playing playing games where you’re just hiding cookies it can you start simple hide under a towel right in front of them you know they get teach them to use

Their noses they all have noses no matter what breed you know they don’t have to be a Blood Hound to be able to be an excellent sniffer um and detector and giving them permission to to use that sense that is their their primary sense really you know dogs smell the

World the way we see the world and we are constantly shutting that down oh you know get your nose out of there get your nose out of the garbage can quit sniffing that we’re walking no don’t put your nose over there you know and we’re always no stop stop stop and some

Dogs take that to heart and kind of stop sniffing you know and and one and other dogs are still going to sniff and and get into trouble in other ways but they all need to they will all appreciate I’ve never had a dog that doesn’t appreciate an opportunity and permission

To use their nose and to solve little puzzles and and hunt and search um old dogs young dogs fearful dogs aggressive dogs reactive dogs little dogs big dogs blind dogs I have done it all um with with scent work and they you there’s not there’s not a dog that doesn’t enjoy

That and doesn’t it’s it seemed kind of magical um and I think it is just because it is such a basic core um need for a dog you know to be able to use their nose but it’s the one thing that no matter what the problem is

Or the issue is or the you know the thing that you don’t like it gets better when they have an opportunity to sniff I agree with that I think that’s a great tip yeah that’s that’s my favorite and it’s the easiest because you don’t really need anything treats or some kibble you can

Just have hide some food you don’t have to you know even have treats if you don’t want to you know or hide their toys as you get better at it be creative and um it’s it’s kind of their superpower you know and and um we just don’t um appreciate it or even

Acknowledge it in in a lot of ways so any dog I I will stand by this I guess unless they have an Factory know medical issue any dog will benefit from having a little like hunting and detection game even if it’s just in your house or

Garden and it’s a great tip for the winter too you know here in the northern hemisphere we’re about to go into the darker we’re starting to go into the darker colder times and it’s a great way to burn off some energy if there’s a storm or it’s too dark when you get home

Or you it’s cold you don’t want to go outside totally do it inside too absolutely I think this was some very valuable information and I really appreciate you being here today I want to make sure the listeners here know where to find you um where can we find

Your work um right now really the best place to find me is either in the Dunbar Academy with the essential puppy training course um I actually do a live um online lesson every week a couple of them actually in the dumbar academy and I have the but mostly I’m on social

Media you can find me at uh on Facebook it’s just my name Kelly Gorman dumbar and or on Instagram as well and um yeah I I’m happy to chat with people I’m happy Happ to help people and um I’ve got videos you can see what I do with my dogs and I

Also do have the dog training league if you’re a little more of a deep dive kind of person and you want to learn more um it’s an online community and kind of training club and mentoring center it’s kind of a little it’s it’s a little bit of everything for people who want to

Deep dive in dog training you don’t have to be a dog trainer to join but we do um videos and courses and lectures and q&as in there every week so dog the dog training league is also yeah it’s a great place so that’s that’s basically

Where you can find me these days so we will post these links alongside this video so anyone who’s listening can find you for sure and to our listeners thank you so much for being here we hope this information is helpful if you enjoyed this episode please subscribe share and

Like so that we know that you enjoyed it and that we can reach more pet parents with expert guest and tips for dog training thanks so much for being here until next time thank you thank you for having Me