Unpopular opinion: You're over exercising your dog.

Before you shout your protests of exercise being important to health -Yes. I agree with you.

I have a long history in fitness and nutrition for humans. I am 100% a proponent of exercise being pivotal to wellbeing. It's no secret that exercise does wonders for preventing a plethora of health conditions, but movement is integral to mental and emotional wellness too.

That goes for humans, same goes for dogs. 

In fact there is a direct correlation between the quality of a dog's movement and their emotional state. (A topic we'll dig into another day). 

But here's the thing: 

We, as a general society of new dog owners, especially since the whole C-word happened, give our dogs a lot more exercise and excitement than they need. 

It's a common assumption - when your dog has already had an hour long walk and you arrive home, they've got ants in their pants, they're mouthing your arm, throwing their favorite tug toy at you, trying to dig their way to Tibet through the couch, jumping on the bed doing bucking bronco 360's...

"How are you not tired?" You say with a sigh of mounting defeat. "I just gave you an hour walk, how are you not exhausted?!" 

I know you've had this conversation with your dog.

I know, because I've had it too.

There are two main training concepts lacking in this moment

 1) the Dimmer Switch - the ease in which your dog can adjust their energy level based on the rise and fall of stimulus

 2) Calmness - a general foundation and strength in Calmness is one of the best skills your dog can have, simply because it’s difficult to make a bad decision when in a calm state of mind

So what’s kyboshing both these skills in a moment of the bucking bronco?

 Overarousal.

Think of it like a small child. We easily recognize when children have had too much stimulation.

Perhaps they've been a to a birthday party and had play dates with friends all week. Maybe you've also taken them to the playground to monkey around the jungle gym. 

When you go home you know they need rest. Perhaps you give them a snack and show and within minutes they’ve settled into the calm - perfect example of the Dimmer Switch.

In the same hand, you recognize if they start pouting because they wanted oranges instead of apples, or have a tantrum because they wanted Paw Patrol instead of Blues Clues that they are over tired.

So instead you opt for a story time and a couch snuggle, knowing they need calmness, comfort, and help to come down from the excitement. 

 Either way, the calmness breeds more calmness.

And with that understanding we know when to say no to more action and stimulus for human children because we think logically about the hours, days, and week leading up to the this moment. The weekend birthday party, the afterschool play dates, dinner at grandma's, and their early morning soccer game all adds to the general state of arousal. 

It is our responsibility as dog guardians to provide this same parenting sense to our dogs, because same as children, they do not yet possess the skills to recognize when they've had their fill.

Even pro level athletes do not train every day (and I can promise you for many of them they would not take rest days if they didn’t have a coach telling them to).They have recovery protocols worked into their training split. Furthermore, they do not train all day. Perhaps they do their cardio, weight training, and sport specific technique sessions in one day, but to become a well-rounded athlete they also have massage therapy, mobility work, and mindset coaching on daily basis. Read – low arousal, low exertion. 

Just like any sound training regimen, for our dogs, rest, recovery, mobility, and technique is part of the program.

Games are a brilliant way to grow your dog’s mental and physical fitness while exercising their Dimmer Switch.

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