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Chill Out Fido!: How to Calm Your Dog
Calm your canine wild child
Does your dog go bonkers when the doorbell rings or when you grab the leash to take him for a walk? If you find your dog is often difficult to control, you are not alone! Getting your dog to calm down and relax is one of the most common challenges pet parents face. This two-part book will help you first identify the factors that cause this kind of behavior in dogs, then it provides you with eleven key training exercises to teach your dog how to calm down, pay attention to you, relax, and respond to every day situations with confidence and composure. Chill Out will show you how to help your dog become the great dog you always knew he could be.
Get results by learning about
-The interrelated factors that can cause your dog’s over-active behaviors.
-The impact that diet can have on your dog’s inability to relax.
-The basics of modern positive dog training that are the key to solving these common problems.
-How to reward your dog for relaxed behaviors—and avoid inadvertently reinforcing your dog’s wildness.
-Step-by-step training exercises that deal with the most common situations where dogs tend to have trouble staying calm.
BONUS! Trouble-shooting human training errors.
What experts are saying about Nan Arthur's Chill Out Fido!The book applies to all areas of training, from family life (e.g., polite leash walking, being handled by veterinarian) to dog sports. The basic premise is that excessive stress interferes with learning and performance, and any dog can become excessively stressed at times. The training exercises are well chosen, appropriately ordered, and build on each other. Even a beginning dog owner should be able to teach the dog the basic essentials. Professional trainers will find the book useful as a template for teaching a beginning dog training course.
Dani Weinberg, Ph.D., CDBC, author of Teaching People, Teaching Dogs
Nan Arthur addresses the real life needs of regular people and the dogs they love. Whether your dog jumps all over, barks like a maniac, or pulls on the leash like a freight train, Chill Out Fido! is here to confidently say it doesn't have to be that way. Whatever you've tried in the past, you haven't tried this. Chill Out Fido! provides a step-by-step guide to uncovering what makes your dog act wild and crazy and, most importantly, sets out the tools you need to rebuild a foundation of calm, attentive behavior. Both you and your dog will breathe a sigh of relief!
Madeline Gabriel, CPDT, Former Manager of Behavior and Training, San Diego Humane Society and SPCA
Does your dog go bonkers when the doorbell rings or when you grab the leash to take him for a walk? If you find your dog is often difficult to control, you are not alone! Getting your dog to calm down and relax is one of the most common challenges pet parents face. This two-part book will help you first identify the factors that cause this kind of behavior in dogs, then it provides you with eleven key training exercises to teach your dog how to calm down, pay attention to you, relax, and respond to every day situations with confidence and composure. Chill Out will show you how to help your dog become the great dog you always knew he could be.
Get results by learning about
-The interrelated factors that can cause your dog’s over-active behaviors.
-The impact that diet can have on your dog’s inability to relax.
-The basics of modern positive dog training that are the key to solving these common problems.
-How to reward your dog for relaxed behaviors—and avoid inadvertently reinforcing your dog’s wildness.
-Step-by-step training exercises that deal with the most common situations where dogs tend to have trouble staying calm.
BONUS! Trouble-shooting human training errors.
What experts are saying about Nan Arthur's Chill Out Fido!The book applies to all areas of training, from family life (e.g., polite leash walking, being handled by veterinarian) to dog sports. The basic premise is that excessive stress interferes with learning and performance, and any dog can become excessively stressed at times. The training exercises are well chosen, appropriately ordered, and build on each other. Even a beginning dog owner should be able to teach the dog the basic essentials. Professional trainers will find the book useful as a template for teaching a beginning dog training course.
Dani Weinberg, Ph.D., CDBC, author of Teaching People, Teaching Dogs
Nan Arthur addresses the real life needs of regular people and the dogs they love. Whether your dog jumps all over, barks like a maniac, or pulls on the leash like a freight train, Chill Out Fido! is here to confidently say it doesn't have to be that way. Whatever you've tried in the past, you haven't tried this. Chill Out Fido! provides a step-by-step guide to uncovering what makes your dog act wild and crazy and, most importantly, sets out the tools you need to rebuild a foundation of calm, attentive behavior. Both you and your dog will breathe a sigh of relief!
Madeline Gabriel, CPDT, Former Manager of Behavior and Training, San Diego Humane Society and SPCA
- GenresDogsAnimalsNonfiction
200 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2009
108 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 27, 2022
Good book, recommended by our dog trainer. It took a while to get through with the accompanying exercises but seems to work well.
November 2, 2018
A happy dog living a calmer life
If any one has a dog, thats anxious or over excited. Thats hard to
calm it down or get under control. Then this book is for you and your
best friend. I have a labradoodle that was totally out of control and barked
All the time. Trying to train her was near impossible, simply because she
Was so excitable, nonstop energy. Then my trainer put me on to this book.
She also had us sign up for a chill out do so class. After halfway through doing
The exercises one at a time, my friends can't believe it's the same dog. Even my
Dad and niece is impressed with her new behavior. She minds and obeys the
Commands I give her. She has calmed down so much since we started training
Useing this books training exercises. This is a life changer for any one who has
a excitable, high engery dog. I recommend this book.
Debra & Cocoa
If any one has a dog, thats anxious or over excited. Thats hard to
calm it down or get under control. Then this book is for you and your
best friend. I have a labradoodle that was totally out of control and barked
All the time. Trying to train her was near impossible, simply because she
Was so excitable, nonstop energy. Then my trainer put me on to this book.
She also had us sign up for a chill out do so class. After halfway through doing
The exercises one at a time, my friends can't believe it's the same dog. Even my
Dad and niece is impressed with her new behavior. She minds and obeys the
Commands I give her. She has calmed down so much since we started training
Useing this books training exercises. This is a life changer for any one who has
a excitable, high engery dog. I recommend this book.
Debra & Cocoa
May 26, 2020
This book works great, if you are willing to put the work and effort into it.
Working the exercises one at a time.Making sure you don’t move on to the
next lesson until your dog is ready. Rushing the dog doesn’t work, it just
creates confusion and frustration to it. But reading each exercise until you understand how to perform the steps, the using patience’s and small steps
the dog begins to transform. But you have to make sure you don’t stop till,
you have completed all of the training steps in the book. It’s amazing if you
are willing to work at your dogs learning pace, and do the work. How effective
this training works. Giving you a better and calmer dog. But you do need to work the dog on this a few minutes to review it in his mind and keep him on track. I used it on my female standard Poodle Cocoa Doodles, she suffers from hyper arousal. Which stemmed from being attacked by another dog when she was a pup. The book all so explains diet and medicine from a veterinarian as well. It’s a very thorough book from mild to extreme cases. But it helps both dog and owner in all levels. But like I said read the book first to get a understanding of every thing then put the work and effort into working the dog. It really pays off, when you start seeing the difference in your dogs behavior. This book was a Life savor for Cocoa Doodles and my family.
Debra H. &
Cocoa Doodles
Working the exercises one at a time.Making sure you don’t move on to the
next lesson until your dog is ready. Rushing the dog doesn’t work, it just
creates confusion and frustration to it. But reading each exercise until you understand how to perform the steps, the using patience’s and small steps
the dog begins to transform. But you have to make sure you don’t stop till,
you have completed all of the training steps in the book. It’s amazing if you
are willing to work at your dogs learning pace, and do the work. How effective
this training works. Giving you a better and calmer dog. But you do need to work the dog on this a few minutes to review it in his mind and keep him on track. I used it on my female standard Poodle Cocoa Doodles, she suffers from hyper arousal. Which stemmed from being attacked by another dog when she was a pup. The book all so explains diet and medicine from a veterinarian as well. It’s a very thorough book from mild to extreme cases. But it helps both dog and owner in all levels. But like I said read the book first to get a understanding of every thing then put the work and effort into working the dog. It really pays off, when you start seeing the difference in your dogs behavior. This book was a Life savor for Cocoa Doodles and my family.
Debra H. &
Cocoa Doodles
October 5, 2017
A very thorough book on the causes, prevention, and rewards-based training solutions for hyperactivity in dogs. What I really LOVED about this book was the entire chapter devoted to nutrition and it's effects on behavior- something that I've very sadly never come across in a training book before (incidentally there would have been much brownie points for the author had she also included the behavioral/cognitive effects of vaccinosis!). In the book, readers will learn the various aspects that contribute to calmness and/or hyperactivity in dogs, ways to prevent hyperactivity, a brief introduction to clicker training, and some excellent skills to train that will start your pup on the way to being a calmer and more self-controlled companion. This is a great book that compliments Laura VanArendonk Baugh's Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over the Top to Under Control beautifully, absolutely top notch and highly recommended!
December 9, 2023
There is a ton of great info here. Lots of great exercises to do with any dog. A lot of the exercises are things you learn (like nose touch) right off the bat and it wasn't that well explained why they are "calming" and not something everyone does. I guess I was expecting something a bit beyond basic trainign as a way to calm a dog (another example is the place command, which is also really basic). The exercises are well detailed and laid out, it could use some more diagrams or something though as it is really hard to follow 10 pages describing a simple exercise this way - or at least it was for me.
Overall, would recommend to anyone looking to work with an energetic dog, just expected a bit more.
Overall, would recommend to anyone looking to work with an energetic dog, just expected a bit more.
June 17, 2019
When my dog started become aggressive with other dogs, after years of being afraid, I called in a dog behaviorist and learned about this book. Through changing the environment so she couldn't see as many triggers to training her to relax on a mat, my dog's behavior has improved 90%. This is a great little book for teaching your dog (and yourself) how to remain calm in stressful situations, how to protect your dog from triggers, and how to bring calm into your household. Highly recommended.
August 23, 2018
Have my second hyper dog. Wish I had started off reading this book with my first dog. Still, it's good to know that I've been trying the right things to calm my current one down. The author's book is a nice compilation of what I've learned from reading/researching a lot of other books/websites, etc
July 5, 2022
I cannot wait to start working with my dogs on these exercises. Easy to follow directions, and positive reinforcement are a must with training. The trouble shooting sections are extremely helpful as well. Highly recommend for anyone who has a high energy or high anxiety doggie.
January 31, 2019
A quick read. Not a lot of stuff that was new to me but a few handy tips.
July 9, 2020
While it says all the important things, the training is hard to follow through a book.
November 19, 2020
This book will be reread several times.....getting the exercises down and training my dog is paramount. I think she has a great plan of action.
February 11, 2013
I love this book. My dog is far from out of control and pretty well trained already, but I still got lots out of it.
The first part in which she explains symptoms and causes of stress and the basics of positive reinforcement training is written in a factual but easy to read style. Facts are backed up by research and the advice is sound and to the point. The tone is never patronising or lecturing, nor does it go on about the author's personal experiences as a trainer (like so many other training books), but instead draws on a broad knowledge on the subject. None of it was particularly new to me but I found it an interesting read nevertheless and learnt some tidbits I didn't know.
Now I haven't actually done any of the training exercises yet. I intend to do 3 of the 10 described with my usually pretty calm dog. They seem totally foolproof to me. They describe the goal, the benefits, how long to train, how often to train and then go into very detailed descriptions on how to perform each step. It includes advice on how far apart your rewards should be, how long your dog should be able to maintain the behaviour, etc. The dog owner will not have to guess or add his own interpretation at all and is guaranteed a result if he follows the instructions to the letter.
The behaviours covered are pretty much everything you would want a well mannered dog to know, except for toilet training and recall.
I highly recommend this book for any dog owner. Especially for new owners or those whose dog displays problem behaviours or any kind. But it has value for anyone who is interested in dog behaviour and continuous training.
The only criticism I could give on this book is that they don't even mention a raw diet in the chapter on diet. But it's not really relevant to the aim of the book.
The first part in which she explains symptoms and causes of stress and the basics of positive reinforcement training is written in a factual but easy to read style. Facts are backed up by research and the advice is sound and to the point. The tone is never patronising or lecturing, nor does it go on about the author's personal experiences as a trainer (like so many other training books), but instead draws on a broad knowledge on the subject. None of it was particularly new to me but I found it an interesting read nevertheless and learnt some tidbits I didn't know.
Now I haven't actually done any of the training exercises yet. I intend to do 3 of the 10 described with my usually pretty calm dog. They seem totally foolproof to me. They describe the goal, the benefits, how long to train, how often to train and then go into very detailed descriptions on how to perform each step. It includes advice on how far apart your rewards should be, how long your dog should be able to maintain the behaviour, etc. The dog owner will not have to guess or add his own interpretation at all and is guaranteed a result if he follows the instructions to the letter.
The behaviours covered are pretty much everything you would want a well mannered dog to know, except for toilet training and recall.
I highly recommend this book for any dog owner. Especially for new owners or those whose dog displays problem behaviours or any kind. But it has value for anyone who is interested in dog behaviour and continuous training.
The only criticism I could give on this book is that they don't even mention a raw diet in the chapter on diet. But it's not really relevant to the aim of the book.
Want to read
July 15, 2009the author of this book is a faculty member of the Karen Pryor Academy. Karen Pryor is highly regarded as a pioneer in creating force-free training methods and a leader in operant conditioning for training animals.
the dog behaviorist that we've worked with has highly recommended her books to us and i'm pleased to see a book from a faculty member who is trained using her techniques.
the dog behaviorist that we've worked with has highly recommended her books to us and i'm pleased to see a book from a faculty member who is trained using her techniques.
August 27, 2009
Interesting information about helping your dog calm down. Some of it is didactic and some is anecdotal.
Currently reading
June 25, 2012This book has some great helps for pet parents.
July 26, 2014
As a canine behaviorist this is a book I highly recommend to all of my clients. Nan truly understands dogs and her book is easy to follow.
April 6, 2017
This book was recommended to me when I needed some tips on helping my dog to calm down and behave in a less hyperactive way.
The book is organized into two parts. The first talks about the causes of the unwanted behaviors, stress responses, and training basics. It is easy to read, and presents the ideas in a clear and concise manner. There is a section on feeding and its relation to behavior, as well as an introduction to positive, clicker based training techniques. The second half presents a series of exercises meant to help the dog and owner work on calm, interactive behavior. The exercises are broken down into steps that build on each other to achieve the desired results. Training schedules, treat management, and what to expect are clearly expressed and easy to understand. Later exercises use the early ones as stepping stones to better behaviors.
The real question, though, is does it work? I would have to say: yes. It's not an instant fix for an excitable dog, but then, with all dog training, nothing really is. The owner has to be willing to put in the time and effort to work consistently with the dog to shape the desired behaviors. But if you are, then I can say that this book should help you and your dog. My dog, while not perfect (yet!) has learned a lot since we've been working on the exercises in this book. His behavior is better in many ways, and I think, as we continue to work, it will only get better.
If you are looking for a clear and understandable method for helping your dog learn to react in a less hyper manner, I would recommend you read and practice the methods and exercises in this book. If you take the time to work through them as outlined, you will see the good dog in yours begin to show.
The book is organized into two parts. The first talks about the causes of the unwanted behaviors, stress responses, and training basics. It is easy to read, and presents the ideas in a clear and concise manner. There is a section on feeding and its relation to behavior, as well as an introduction to positive, clicker based training techniques. The second half presents a series of exercises meant to help the dog and owner work on calm, interactive behavior. The exercises are broken down into steps that build on each other to achieve the desired results. Training schedules, treat management, and what to expect are clearly expressed and easy to understand. Later exercises use the early ones as stepping stones to better behaviors.
The real question, though, is does it work? I would have to say: yes. It's not an instant fix for an excitable dog, but then, with all dog training, nothing really is. The owner has to be willing to put in the time and effort to work consistently with the dog to shape the desired behaviors. But if you are, then I can say that this book should help you and your dog. My dog, while not perfect (yet!) has learned a lot since we've been working on the exercises in this book. His behavior is better in many ways, and I think, as we continue to work, it will only get better.
If you are looking for a clear and understandable method for helping your dog learn to react in a less hyper manner, I would recommend you read and practice the methods and exercises in this book. If you take the time to work through them as outlined, you will see the good dog in yours begin to show.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews