FitDog Friday #64: Expert Mat Work & Dr. Karen Overall’s Relaxation Protocol

Mr. N can (and has) hike for four hours (most of it off-leash), then do trick training with the shelter kids for an hour and come home ready to play with his toys. So running him into the ground is not a very sustainable plan.

He is normally very good about settling indoors in our house but if we’re outdoors or indoors somewhere else, he is always on the go or restless and pacing and poking his nose into things.

When I was at ClickerExpo, the majority of the dogs were resting on mats for most of the sessions. And this is in a high distraction environment. I resolved to start mat work with Mr. N and bought two bath mats (velvety with memory foam because he is a texture snob). We’re working our way through Dr. Karen Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation and are on day seven. I’ve been using Champion of my Heart’s audio files so I don’t have to count all the seconds.

This is totally a staged photo. He’s not normally this relaxed! 

Mat work is a strenuous endeavor for Mr. N. He usually goes into a toy frenzy afterwards. He would much rather jump through hoops and go through tunnels and push his shopping cart around for the same duration.

Being calm does not come naturally to him. He has all that high-strung energy that terriers have. And the mat work involves me leaving and going through doorways which is hard for him because of his separation anxiety. He is fine with all the steps except for the ones where I’m out of sight. And we haven’t even gotten to doorbells (although strictly speaking, we don’t have one and I’ll probably just knock on the door).

I’ve been seeing some small improvements in his behavior though and when we’re at my friend’s store, he’ll voluntarily go and hang out on the couch instead of pacing and asking when we’re going to go for a walk.

Is your dog good at relaxing? Or do they need some extra help in that department?

This is Mr. N’s usual mat work face and pose