Dawdling - The best activity with your dog
Introduction
You grab the Leash and your four-legged friend, ready for the daily walk. The plan is simple: you want to complete the walk as efficiently as possible in order to get back home and finish the rest of your day's tasks. But have you ever thought about the fact that constantly pushing forward on a walk deprives your dog of the opportunity to really explore his world? Have you ever heard of the importance of "dawdling"?
Dawdling, or slowing down and exploring, is an essential part of dog walking. Not only is it about your dog discovering the world in their own time and at their own pace, but it can also improve their mental health and strengthen important behavioural traits such as impulse control and frustration tolerance. Interested? Then let's dive deeper into this topic and explore why dawdling is so important for your dog.
Table of contents
Why is dawdling important?
Why is dawdling important, you ask? Well, dawdling is more than just poking around and wasting time. In fact, it's an essential way for your dog to explore and understand the world. Dogs experience their environment primarily through their sense of smell. While we humans are primarily visually oriented, your dog perceives the world around him through his nose. Every blade of grass, every tree stump, every corner holds a wealth of information that is fascinating and insightful to him. If we push our dog to keep moving, we deprive him of the opportunity to fully "read" and "understand" his surroundings.
Doodling allows your dog to explore his surroundings in his own way and at his own pace. He can pick up interesting scents, make markers and make his presence known in his territory. This all provides mental stimulation, which is essential for your dog's mental health. It's like allowing him to read a book at his own pace, rather than being rushed through the pages. Your dog gets the time for canine behaviour.
In addition to mental stimulation, dawdling also offers other benefits. It allows your dog to slow down and practice frustration tolerance and impulse control, both of which are absolute game changers in dog training and make dog training easier. Recall or leash training will both improve with regular dawdling. It will significantly improve his quality of life and your relationship with each other.
Impulse control
Impulse control is an important aspect of every dog's life. A dog with good impulse control can control its reactions better in various situations, whether it's at the sight of another dog, a cat, a squirrel or simply recognising tasty food. But recall and leash walking also improve significantly. So how exactly does dawdling support impulse control?
By doing nothing while dawdling, your dog learns to take a step back. People walking by or the stimuli in the environment are taken in, but not actively approached. In the beginning, your dog will find it very difficult, but with daily dawdling breaks, you and your dog will find it easier not to react to external stimuli. Over time, this exercise can help your dog become calmer and more focused instead of jumping from one stimulus to the next. In addition, dawdling helps your dog learn how to deal with distractions.
Frustration tolerance
Frustration tolerance, i.e. the ability to deal with disappointment, is another important component in a dog's behavioural palette and helps your dog to stay calm when things don't go his way.
Wie hilft das Trödeln nun dabei, die Frustrationstoleranz zu fördern? Wenn du deinen Hund während eines Spaziergangs immer wieder weiterziehst und ihn nicht in Ruhe schnüffeln und die Welt entdecken lässt, kann dies zu Frustration führen. Typische Frusthandlungen wie in die Leash beißen treten dann auf. Dein Hund fühlt sich vielleicht, als ob seine Bedürfnisse und Interessen nicht berücksichtigt werden. Dies kann sich in unerwünschtem Verhalten wie Bellen, Ziehen an der Leash oder sogar Aggression äußern. Trödeln ermöglicht ihm, Geduld zu üben und zu lernen, dass es in Ordnung ist, wenn er nicht sofort zu seinem Ziel gelangt, ohne dabei das Frustlevel weit oben zu halten. Er kann sich die Zeit nehmen, jeden Geruch, jedes Blatt und jeden Grashalm in Ruhe zu erkunden. Diese Möglichkeit zur Kontrolle und Selbstbestimmung kann dazu beitragen, Frustration zu verringern und die Toleranz gegenüber Verzögerungen oder Unterbrechungen zu erhöhen. So ist das Trödeln nicht nur eine Möglichkeit für
Dallying: The dog cinema
Doing nothing can sometimes be quite a lot to do. Many people think of exercise, ball games and lots of action when they think of activity and exercise. Sometimes the opposite, namely getting down, is much more difficult and exhausting. For example, you can simply stand still and dawdle during every walk, or you can sit on a bench and relax a little while your dog learns to do nothing. It is important that your dog actively learns to do nothing and that you do not pay any attention to him during this time. Learning to endure frustration is simply part of it for your dog. Frustration arises when your dog's expectations are not met. Since many dogs expect action or at least exercise outside, doing nothing can be quite exhausting. Grumbling, whining, barking, biting the Leash, etc. are all part of it and do not require any attention from you at first.
- Take a jogging break of approx. 1-5 minutes on every walk.
- To do this, stand in a quiet place or sit on a bench.
- In the beginning, you can offer your dog a chew to actively encourage persistence.
- Over time, you should leave out the chew.
- Neither your speech nor special praise is necessary for this activity.
- Keep yourself active during this time not with your dog, because your active attention prevents him from relaxing.
- The more often you practise dawdling, the longer you can delay the duration.
Vitomalias Fazit
In einer Welt, in der wir und unsere Hunde oft mit ständiger Aktivität und Bewegung konfrontiert sind, kann die Kunst des Nichtstuns eine Herausforderung darstellen - und zugleich eine wertvolle Lektion. Es ist leicht, Aktivität mit Auslastung gleichzusetzen, dabei kann gerade die Ruhe und das scheinbare „Nichtstun“ für unseren Hund eine intensive Beschäftigung darstellen. Während deiner Spaziergänge kannst du einfache Pausen einlegen, um zu trödeln oder dich auf eine Bank setzen und entspannen, während dein Hund lernt, das „Nichtstun“ zu üben. Dieses scheinbare „Nichtstun“ ist jedoch keineswegs inaktiv. Vielmehr erfordert es von deinem Hund eine aktive Anstrengung und Geduld, und es kann zu einer wichtigen Übung in der Frustrationstoleranz werden. Das Lernen, Frust auszuhalten, ist ein zentraler Aspekt in der Entwicklung deines Hundes. Das Erlernen des „Nichtstuns“ kann daher für deinen Hund eine herausfordernde, aber wertvolle Übung sein. Es mag paradox erscheinen, dass „Nicht
What does dawdling on a dog walk mean?
Dawdling means that you consciously take time with your dog to do nothing and slow down. Your dog learns to observe and perceive the environment and practises his impulse control and frustration tolerance.
Why is dawdling good exercise for my dog?
Doing "nothing" is a valuable exercise in patience and frustration tolerance. It helps your dog learn that it's okay if he's not constantly on the move or getting to his destination immediately. This can help reduce unwanted behaviour such as barking, pulling on the Leash or aggression.
Should I react to my dog's behaviour when he is frustrated while "doing nothing"?
As your dog learns to dawdle, he may show signs of frustration, such as grumbling, whining or barking. Initially, you should ignore these behaviours to help your dog learn to manage his frustration, but if these behaviours persist or escalate, you should build up to shorter dawling breaks at first and gradually extend them. For particularly frustrated dogs, you can use a chew toy to start the dawling slowly.