The Dish by Darcie

We’ve talked about separation anxiety and the exercise I’ve been doing for over 50 years with over the top anxious and fearful puppies. Click on this link “Exercise“ to see the rules and critical steps for this Anxiety Releasing exercise.

Disclaimer: This exercise was developed by me over 50 years ago. As far as I know, it is neither medically proven for dogs or approved by any science, not for dogs anyway. It does work for human babies which is well documented. Please note, this is not an alpha roll. You are not dominating the dog. I believe this exercise helps release some old memory of fear from the dog’s mind and body so the dog can become a solid and confident companion. There are many positive ways of training that will help you to gain the trust of your dog, please see them all and then decide what works best for you. I have never used this method on a normal puppy or dog who was learning quickly and without fear.

Here are some photos of me working with an eight week old rescue puppy. No one knew the background of this pup so we were working like most successful rescue workers do, with positive training and common sense. This puppy was what I consider the rare puppy who seemed totally confident but gave off signs of deep down fear that maybe he hadn’t figured out what to do with yet. He  had massive bite strength and wasn’t catching on to the bite inhibition training quickly enough. When a human asked him to let go of something or yelped when he put his teeth on them, he completely locked his jaws around and would not let go. He did very little damage to the skin and did not complete the bite by sinking his teeth deeper into the arm. My best guess was that this puppy was fearful at some level but had a good heart. Although he didn’t complete the bite, it was obvious that he had trust issues. That can make training harder and in my opinion, it takes longer to get a dog to trust you if his fear is not acknowledged and released.

Because he was going to be a very big dog with huge jaw pressure, they wanted a little head start to be able to work with him more easily. After the exercise, this puppy never did hold a bite again. He learned bite inhibition quickly and his tooth pressure was gone entirely by three months old.

1. Asleep but resisting deep sleep. Note head and front toes. Back legs drawn up.

Photo 1. The puppy has just fallen asleep, he has not gone into deep sleep relaxation. Here are the tell tale signs that this puppy isn’t in deep sleep or relaxing yet. See how he’s holding his nose away from my body, like he’s stretching his neck out to keep the nose as far away as he can? Jaw is still tense. He’s still holding his neck, he’s holding the jaw up toward the ceiling. See how he’s holding his face parallel to the ceiling, that takes working muscles. The side of his jaw is against the arm of the chair but he’s not resting on it. He’s maintaining control of his muscles even in his sleep, he has not relaxed. (It’s okay if your puppy falls asleep with his head back and away from you as long as he’s completely relaxed in that posture and deep asleep before you wake him.) I don’t think you can really tell in this photo but his stomach muscles are tense, guarding. His left front leg is still high toward his face. His back legs are still rigid, holding the pose. Back toes drawn upward toward the head, and although I’m supporting him, his hip is not relaxing away from the body.

2. Deeper in sleep. Head has fallen, front legs more limp, toes dipping. Back legs are relaxing.

Photo 2. When he’s in deeper sleep, his head falls to the side away from the arm of the chair. The neck has released tension. His front legs have risen a touch because his head has relaxed carrying his chest upward. His toes are almost totally relaxed and are drooping to his body as far as they can. He was a stout little guy with chubby legs so his little toes can’t drop all the way to his tummy. His stomach is relaxed. See that his back legs are relaxing and falling outward from his body.

Photo 3. I have pulled him to me, close to my body. He is deep in sleep, totally relaxed. His back legs are stretched out and limp. His stomach peaceful with easy breathing. His neck, head and jaw are completely relaxed. His front feet and toes are laying against me, relaxed with no holding or tense muscles. The toes are down.

When I wiggled him gently to test whether he was really as deeply asleep as I thought, his toes moved easily, wiggling from side to side with no resistance. A rag doll. Some dogs’ toes will drop all the way to their tummy when they are totally relaxed, it all depends on how they’re made, how flexible they are.

You’re watching for that most significant sign that tells you your dog is deeply asleep. It’s when the front feet toes drop. You’re looking for that complete bend of the area that corresponds to the wrist and the hand on a human arm. Check over the rest of the dog too. Do not wake him until you are convinced that he is completely and deeply asleep. If your dog wakes himself, you have to start all over again.

3. Puppy deep in sleep. Back legs are completely relaxed. Neck is relaxed. Toes are totally wiggly. I'm about to wake him.

After three hours of patience and keeping this boy on his back, he finally fell into deep sleep. I woke him up after about thirty minutes of deep sleep. I gently woke him with my voice not moving my hands from his cradle, “Hey Buddy, wake up little one. You did good.” I set him on the floor and he had no more anxiety troubles. I held him again each morning for the next three days and he fell asleep quickly and without fear in my arms each time.

Brilliant little dog when he didn’t have fear shutting him down.