Arousal

Let's talk about something that is very misunderstood and misaligned.

Classic high-arousal dog in action! I would guess this dog is PUMPED and ready for some bite work.

Arousal.

It's a trendy buzzword right now with every trainer offering their opinions. Truthfully (and annoyingly), most are wrong.

WHAT IS IT?

What is arousal? What does it mean when we say a dog is high arousal? Well, basically it means the dog is having some BIG FEELINGS. I often will say a dog is "ramped up." Arousal can encompass excitement, frustration, anxiety, or anger.

It's intense.

It's dramatic.

It involves increased heart rate, increased respiration, and adrenaline. Think of football fans watching their team score the game-winning touchdown. That's high arousal.

Dogs in a high arousal state are often barking, jumping, or lunging - people in high arousal states are often yelling, jumping up and down, pumping their fists in the air - they're stoked, revved up, pumped.

Picture a border collie in a field watching sheep. She's crouched, tense, alert, waiting for her owner's cue to spring into action and move those sheep. That's arousal.

Picture a working police dog on lead, barking aggressively and lunging at the fleeing criminal, dying for the handler to turn him loose so he can pursue and bite. That's arousal.

When I pick up Oak's favorite toy and he barks, jumps, and body slams me with excitement - that's arousal. Arousal can look like so many things - but also looks so similar.

HIGH AROUSAL BREEDS

Some breeds are prone to arousal and are more naturally high arousal. Typically our herding breeds fall into that category. They're bred that way. They're bred to be quickly ramped up by movement in the environment. Malinois and German shepherds and border collies tend to be high arousal dogs. They're easily ramped up, easily excited, easily frustrated, easily adrenalized — and that makes them good at their jobs.

PERPETUALLY CALM?

What rubs me the wrong way is people acting as if arousal is a bad thing. As if you should avoid arousal at all costs, as if your dog should live in a state of permanent zombie-like calmness.

No.

That's ridiculous.

I've heard so many trainers tell clients they shouldn't play with their dogs. Don't tug. Don't throw their ball. They get too excited. It's bad for them. It increases cortisol. It increases arousal. Okay… and?

Those things are not inherently bad. They are part of life. Imagine telling a child they must never run and play, never fly down a hill on their bike, never partake in sports, never get excited by anything because it's unhealthy. It might increase cortisol.

*Gasp!* The horror!!!

It sounds stupid, right? Because it is. We're expecting these energetic animals, many who have been bred to be easily aroused, to be perpetually calm no matter what? Come on. I think these people would be better suited with a house plant instead of a dog.

Don't be afraid of emotions, of excitement or frustration or anger. They’re normal. They will happen no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try to avoid them.

REACTIVE DOGS & AROUSAL

One thing I hear a lot is trainers telling clients with reactive dogs to never, ever use toys or play in training because - you guessed it - it increases arousal! And we don’t want our reactive dogs even more ramped up, we want them to calm down, right? Well, not necessarily. It’s all in how they work their arousal. If my high arousal, dog-reactive German shepherd can use that arousal to play tug with me as dogs go by, why is that a problem? Expecting him to hold a down or a settle is quite a reach, especially early on in training.

That arousal is there regardless - what if instead of fighting against my dog’s natural and normal state of being, I just worked WITH it and redirected that arousal into a game of tug with me? Here’s a secret: some dogs LIKE that arousal. They like that huge adrenaline rush. It feels good, just like it does for some people. They’ll seek it out. People can go skydiving and bungee jumping and rock climb, but dogs have to get their kicks lunging and screaming at other dogs. It’s fun! You aren’t going to get them to choose “calmness” over the exhilarating adrenaline rush of an aggressive outburst. But you CAN give them their adrenaline rush in a more productive way — play.

Many high arousal dogs LOVE play. They love the movement, the excitement, the intensity of play. So why not use that? When that is far more valuable than a food reward, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot training-wise by eliminating such a powerful reward from our training toolbox. I’ve seen play, intense play (not merely food scattering), work wonders in rehabilitating reactive dogs. I’ve never seen play make a reactive dog worse. What I’ve seen make reactivity worse is trying to force calmness in a dog wired for arousal. Getting stuck on scatter feeding and “settle” in the face of a hugely stressful trigger is just poor training and fundamentally doing our dogs a disservice.

AROUSAL & AGGRESSION

Arousal in dog-dog play can often lead to a very real dog fight when arousal drifts into aggression.

Now, this isn’t to say that arousal doesn’t have its downside. It absolutely does. I have no problem with my dogs being ramped up, but I don’t want them ramped up all day long or for hours and hours at a time. That constant arousal is not ideal, especially if your dog doesn’t know how to handle it.

The problem is that for many dogs, arousal can slide into aggression. Too much adrenaline and big feelings for too long can become a problem. Think of a crowd yelling with excitement, then quickly starting to riot and starting fires. The tide can swiftly change if you don’t know how to manage those big feelings.

A dog perpetually aroused from excitement, like I see at dog parks or doggy daycares, can trigger dog fights. Maybe not from outright aggression, but from provoking other dogs into a fight with intense, out of control, rude behavior from so much constant arousal and adrenaline. It can also lead to “problem behaviors,” like barking, humping, non-aggressive biting, jumping, etc.

But this is why we shouldn’t be afraid of arousal. We need to practice in it. Train in it. I’ll intentionally get my dogs ramped up just to practice. Can they obey commands when they’re adrenalized? How long does it take them to calm back down? Can they do it on their own or do they need a lot of help? If I practice, my dogs learn how to listen when aroused. They learn to self-regulate a bit.

IT’S A LOSING BATTLE

Instead of spending years futilely trying to avoid arousal at all costs, embrace it. Learn to work with it. Teach your dog to listen to you EVEN IF they're excited or frustrated or upset. Because for many dogs, that arousal is an amazing thing! You'll never want a low-arousal cattle dog moving cattle on your ranch or a low-arousal mondio or PSA dog. Wanna do agility? Yep, you'll want a high-arousal dog. Those owners and trainers don't avoid arousal - they channel it. They learn how to use it, how to work with it.

And yes, teaching calmness is a great thing, too. But expecting a lifetime of nothing but calmness is unfair and unattainable (and frankly, boring).