Auto Check In, In The Real World
Now our dogs understand looking at you and paying attention to you is a good thing, we can start to utilise this to help them to manage themselves!
This requires a lot of patience from us. It’s all about them taking the time to assess the situation for themselves, with you there as back up support. For anxious or fearful dogs we need to help them to feel safe enough to take their attention away from the object and back onto you!
For our excitable and frustrated dogs however, they need the ability to manage and control themselves to look away. This is a huge ask for any dog and it takes time and practice. Use the goal tracker to help you as distance and duration are huge factors here.
It can be done anywhere with anything, you just have to think where to start. Take into account the distance from things and how long you’re there. For nervous dogs a check in and retreat then try again can help build confidence. For others it’s check in and evasive manoeuvre out of there.Â
Is there a pattern? Is it always less than a certain distance? Or when something is present for longer than a certain amount of time? Is it stationary or moving? Male or Female? Does clothing or colour make a difference?Â
When starting practise in the house and garden first. Utilise external noises or even place objects in different locations. You’ll be surprised by your dogs reaction when you place a pan in the garden. Can they check in, then check it out?
How it looks in reality
Here’s Paul and Nola AKA ‘The Captain’. She’s a nervous girl, noise sensitive, highly reactive to new things and movement. To help her rather than letting her wind herself up in the garden barking; they’re working on check in around the noise.Here’s step one.
As Nola is reactive to everything, cars, people, dogs, noises. The drive by her home is where she started. Here she is combining ‘check in’ with ‘If In Doubt; Chill Out‘.Â
Don’t underestimate the power of sitting down and ‘doing nothing’ with your dog. They learn so much about emotional regulation, trust and safety in these little moments with you. Enjoy their company, monitor their breathing rate and let them show you how much support they need.Â
Now here’s step two, they’re moving around. Nola is focused, and is working through her emotions. She’s learning how manage herself in this really difficult situation in a safe way. It doesn’t look like much to some, but this is a huge achievement!
Next up secure fields, Nola can now settle at one side and check in like a multitasking queen, even with another dog at the far end. It’s still early for her but she’s on the right path with her ‘check in’, ‘If IN Doubt; Chill Out’, confidence games and frustration tolerance she’s got the ultimate head start in self regulation and a wonderful patient caregiver to help her. Remember, we can’t train trust and safety, it takes time.
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For many dogs, however, it will start to look more like this, a nice walk, and regular check in’s. There’s no pressure, just rewards if they do it :D. We’re capturing behaviour we like when it’s freely offered. The rewards are often best being high value treats like chicken, cheese, sausage. However, some dogs like the ones here really enjoy high pitched ‘good boys’ and continuing with the walk.
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You might recognise Spock from the videos, he’s been doing this every walk since a puppy. It’s made his teenage period a lot easier to deal with, as a look back at us is a habit for him.
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When he see’s people he’ll check in, if he pulls towards another dog, a smell, an item he’ll check in. if something spooks him he’ll check in. He’s learning that checking in gives him a break and a pause to think before reacting. He’s not perfect, no dog is, but he’s learning.
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He even did a ‘check in’ in a hotel revolving door !
The more you practise the faster they learn to manage themselves. Rather than reacting straight away, as they get hijacked by the meerkat, they’re able to pause. This is the best foundation to build from. Stop and think, dont react.
Check In’s are such a versatile thing to teach your dog and can be useful in all situations, for all dogs. Remember direct eye contact isn’t the goal just engagement in your direction, we want that connection. If you find that despite following the advice here your dog is struggling to check in, let us know, as there’s often a reason for it. We can help you to find that root cause!
We’d love to see your progress so use the #CheckInChallenge on social media or tag @ControlTheMeerkat and the best photos and videos will be featured in our next course ‘Advanced Check In’.
Thank you for taking part in our check out challenge 🙂