I’m one of those kids who was too heavily involved in extracurricular activities in high school and college and probably now.
As an “adult” I have trouble sitting still. I have basically no attention span and can’t really watch TV or movies because I get bored. Most conversations with me lead to something like, “Oh, look what Scout (our cat) is doing!”
I also overload my dog with activities – dog playdates, trips to the dog park, obedience classes, too many tricks and commands.
Ace has participated in pretty much every dog activity and dog sport Fargo has to offer.
I want Ace to be a therapy dog, a disc dog, an agility dog, an obedience star, a dock diver and an advanced retriever. I know he could thrive at all of these and he does do well at them.
But I realized recently that I’m spending a lot of time getting my dog riled up when what I truly want is a calm, obedient dog who can tag along anywhere and remain relaxed and quiet.
Ace is a lot like me in that we both love sports and outdoor adventures, but we also require a lot of down time. We both shut down under stress. We both depend on breaks and relaxation in order to re-charge.
Ace doesn’t need daily “activities” in order to be fulfilled. All he really needs is a 20 minute walk, a pat on the head and to be told he’s a good boy. He’s a dog, after all, and his needs are very basic.
Ace would often prefer to spend his afternoon lounging around on his dog bed rather than playing with his (many) dog friends.
Although there are a lot of suburban dogs who are extremely under-exercised and under-trained, there are also a lot of dogs that are stressed out because they are constantly being energized and wound up by their owners.
Ask yourself this – does your dog truly need a daily trip to dog daycare, or would he prefer a relaxing afternoon on the couch? Does he truly need to run around at the dog park every day or would he prefer a casual walk with his favorite person?
What I’ve realized is that Ace feels some amount of stress when I overload his schedule just as I feel stressed when I overload my own schedule. I can see it in the way he looks away from me or smacks his lips or scratches around his collar in order to take the focus off whatever we are doing. I can see it in the fact that he is tired most of the time.
I’m learning to pick up on what he’s trying to tell me.
Ace and I have spent many hours running around together. Now I’m learning to spend more time lying around.
Other than his crazy, retrieving instincts, most of the compliments I get on Ace are about his calm, gentle temperament.
I asked myself what Ace and I are truly good at, and it’s just that – remaining calm in all situations.
Instead of getting Ace worked into a frenzy over tennis balls and Frisbees, tricks and agility, why not work on some calming exercises?
By “calming exercises,” I mean spending 45 minutes just sitting in a park somewhere or taking a casual stroll through downtown. It could mean giving my dog a treat simply for making eye contact or for lying down and staying while another dog barks at us. It could mean taking Ace to watch a soccer game or to sit at an outdoor part of a restaurant and to reward him just for lying there being a naturally good boy.
My dog is already well ahead of most when it comes to paying attention and obeying commands on and off leash. I would love to build on this, especially now that he is 5 years old. I would love to have him remain at my side under control without a leash in all situations, or at least 90 percent of the time. Good dogs are still dogs. 
We’ll still take the occasional agility or trick class. We’ll still play a lot of fetch. We’ll still go swimming and camping and biking.
We’ll just require more breaks.
Josh and Ace and I spent Easter/my birthday at a Minnesota State Park. For a $5 permit we happened to have the entire park to ourselves. I spent a lot of time sitting around watching my dog. There was no need for a leash as Ace never strolls more than a few feet away.
When I threw his Frisbee, he’d chase it. When I walked to the water, he’d swim. But mostly Ace just lounged around in the grass, rolled in things, chewed on sticks, stared into the fire, watched some geese.
This is the point where Ace and I are at in our d0g-human relationship.
It’s a nice place to be.
What is it that your dog is really good at?
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My dogs are good at making me smile and laugh. Its simple but it counts. Also the fact that Belle’s a totally different dog from two years ago when we got her. Sometimes I want to call her old owners and say thanks but I doubt they’ld even remember her… DOG is still a puppy with a toy and I hope he never looses it!
They sound like great dogs! Ace is good at making me smile, too.
Lindsay,
Aww, what a nice post! Ace is such a good boy. What a great idea to work on calming exercises. My dogs would benefit from that. What they are both really good at is motivating me to go for walks. They love walking so much and knowing that helps me get out the door. I still get really nervous when my dogs are off leash, I worry about them running off. It would be kind of fun to practice having them off leash somewhere quiet and safe. It’s nice Ace does such a good job with that. You and Ace are at a good place in the dog-human relationship for sure! Congratulations, some owners never make it to that point of contentment.
Ace has always been a very pack-oriented dog (or maybe clingy?!) so he never wants to go too far away. I love that about him! But Elsie is also like that. I’ve had her off leash lots of times and she never runs off.
Hmm, high-energy owner creates high-energy dog…I have absolutely NO idea what you’re talking about.
Like Ace, my gal is well ahead of her peers when off leash. Heck, most dogs I see off leash don’t even respond to their names, let alone an owner screaming, “COME! COME! COME!”
She’s also good at curling up and chilling out in the house. I’m not one to skip her walk because I’m sick but I had my first migraine a few weeks backs. Thought I’d had migraines before…I was so very wrong. Rolling over in bed caused the most intense pain I’ve ever felt, there was no way I could even make it to the door let alone go for a walk. Sure, she was pretty wound up by the time we finally made it out for exercise 36 hours later but the whole time in the house she was content to curl up next to me and sleep.
I like the “calming exercises” you mention, I don’t know if *I* have the patience for them
but I think they’d be great for Hershey.
Hershey sounds like such a good dog! Ace can go a few days without a walk and he is just fine. I still get him out for a walk almost every day, though.
Actually, my dogs ARE good at laying around on the couch and relaxing
They are also really good at snuggling, motivating me to get my lazy butt of the couch and hiking. They push me to hike fast every time we go….and they are just small weiner dogs. Ha, ha.
They sound a lot like my dog – lazy in the house but a lot of fun out and about outside! Nice blog, by the way!
Panzer is good at finding me. A simple “Where’s mom” will lead to an endless pursuit until he gets his “reward” attacking me with his tongue and wagging rump (small tail, his whole rump wiggles).
Other times he is great at just comforting me. He knows when work was rough, he knows when I’m just too tired to do anything. And he knows when to get me off the couch to spend time with him walking around the neighborhood. He keeps me in check and has taught me what it means to be a leader. I am his leader and he loves to tell me when it’s time to lead too.
Aww, good boy, Panzer! He sounds like a great dog! Thanks for your comment.
What is Jasmine REALLY good at? Figuring sh*t out! She is a total brainiac! She loves to watch what people are doing and figuring out what it could be good for.
She is an outdoorsy dog through and through, loves her hikes and spending time outside. She prefers a whole she dug in the ground to a comfy couch any time.
Haha! Jasmine is one smart dog!
As a seven month old puppy, relaxation isn’t my strongest point. But my human sometimes play ‘brain games’ with me – like the Nina Ottoson interactive games where I get to use my nose to find treats. Or she hides treats for me to sniff out from under a kitchen towel. Those kind of exercises do actually make me calmer – I guess using all that brain power tires me out
Oh, and if they would only let me up in the sofa I promise I’d be really chilled and relaxed all day long!
Ace is just as tired after some “brain games” as he is after some physical exercise. Combine the two and I have one tired dog on my hands!
I got involved in the myriad of activities because Sophie was so high energy as a puppy/young dog. Now at 3.5 she is much calmer (though she has her crazy energy moments).
I love that she can amp up when she needs to but knows to settle down at home. Our usual nights consist of her snoozing on the couch (usually snoring) while I decompress from the day with some tv.
Sophie is great at making me smile and laugh. She is also good at showing me patience is a virtue. She is a smart dog who excels at dog sports as well as obedience.
She does everything I ask of her with a tail wag and/or fully body wag. When I ask for a front in obedience class, she jumps and bounds over to me full of energy then plops her bottom on the floor, tongue sticking out she looks up at me as if to say “ok done, now what?” I couldn’t ask for a better combo of energy and lazy couch potato.
She sounds like an awesome dog! Good girl, Soph!
Hi,
I can definetely relate to wanting your dog involved with everything. I have a Shih Tzu and I should have probably got a Jack Russell the way I make that poor dog run around. I have my own blog at Handsoverpaws@blogspot.com where I talk about his obedience training
My dog is REALLY good at napping. In fact, he’s a pro!
My dog is becoming more and more like a hound.