Teach them to think before they act

Dogs with good impulse control are extremely pleasant. In order to achieve good impulse control, you need to teach your dog to think before it acts. This is something you can work on with your furry buddies throughout their lives that will improve their happiness and strengthen your bond.

Impulse control can be taught over time if you keep working on good obedience skills. Make a habit of asking your dog to rein itself in before rewarding. Try things like asking it to sit, asking it to focus, touch, and down. Once you’ve achieved consistent obedience, here are four fun things you can do to develop impulse control over time:

1. Put your dog in a seated position and do weird stuff like kick your foot over your dog’s head or move around the dog. If the dog remains seated, you can treat them and tell them what a good job that they've done. 
2. A great place to work on impulse control is at the door. When a dog hears the doorbell or hears somebody at the door, you can teach it to go to its mat or crate. 
3. Put your dog in a down stay position and don’t allow it to get up until you release him or her. Try this when you’re watching TV; put your dog in a down stay and see if you can get him or her to stay there through an entire commercial break. If the dog does get up you need to correct, put it back in that same position and ask it to stay again. 
4. Another good opportunity for impulse control is greeting. When you come home and your dog is super excited to see you, take a deep breath. Don't look, talk or touch your dog until it's calm.
   

Getting your dogs to be calm is the key. Don’t give your dogs affection unless they're calm and over time you’ll have a very well behaved dog that’s calm and happy!

Impulse control is an important part of training your dog. Sniffy is a free app that gives you customized plans, tracking tools, and expert video tutorials from proven dog trainers that ensure your dog is well behaved, happy, and healthy. Download the app today from the App Store or Google Play.