How to Teach Your Dog to Be Polite With Impulse Control

Dr. Mark is a veterinarian. He also trains dogs, mostly aggressive animals
that were never taught impulse control.

A dog with no impulse control can be a danger to himself. It’s a good idea to
teach your dog to behave.

freestocks38849668591

The Power of Teaching Dogs Impulse Control

Impolite puppies jump up on their owners, steal food at picnics, pull on the
leash, and run out the door as soon as it is opened. Can normal obedience
classes take care of these problems? Sometimes, but not always.

You need to focus on teaching your dog to control himself, and teaching
impulse control is the best way to make him polite. A dog that has been taught
to control his impulsive behavior will:

wait for permission to move when told to stay,
wait at the door,
wait at an open car door for permission to jump out, and
wait by your side for permission to run free when walking without a leash.

Although your dog will have the impulse to do what he wants, he can learn
self-control and will look to you for the release command.

Dogs with no impulse control can also be dangerous to their owners when they
become large.

smerikal5661790691

Why Should I Teach My Dog Impulse Control?

Break Food Theft: Impulse control will teach your dog not to steal food off of plates. All dogs are quick at stealing food, but large dogs can be fast and scary when little children are enjoying themselves with a big plate of food at a picnic. Don’t you want a dog that will stretch out in a corner of the yard and not beg and steal?
Break Impulsive Eating: Train your dog to ask before taking something from the floor. A dog with no impulse control will eat anything you drop, even if it is not good for his health. Wouldn’t you feel better if your dog stopped and looked at you to ask permission before swallowing that piece of dark chocolate that fell on the kitchen floor?
Break Unwanted Jumping: Teach your dog not to jump up on people. Not everyone likes dogs, and if your impolite dog jumps on everyone he meets, he might end up scaring or hurting someone.
Break Bolting: Train your dog to wait at the door of your house until he has permission to go out. This might save you from being knocked over, might prevent him from running out of the house and biting your delivery person, and it might even save him from running out into traffic.
Break Bailing: Teach your dog to stay in the car until he is released. Dogs that jump out of the car without permission might end up being hit by a car.
Break Bossiness: Train your dog that he cannot do what he wants when he wants. An impulsive dog will jump up on the couch without permission. In fact, he will do whatever he feels like at the moment.

Dogs without impulse control will get up on the couch or bed without being
invited.

Burst CC0

A Lesson From the Monks of New Skete

The monks of New Skete teach impulse control to prevent their German Shepherd
puppies from running free and getting in fights with other loose dogs, running
off when walking without a leash, or bothering guests.

During the monks’ mealtimes, they let the puppies accompany them to the dining
hall and watch the adults. The dogs do not have special mats, but are put on
the floor of the dining hall in a “down”/”stay” command and have to lie there
quietly during the meal. Since the puppies see the polite behavior of the
older dogs, they see impulse control in action and are easier to train.

Teaching Your Dog to “Sit” and “Stay”

“Sit” and “stay” are two basic commands that a dog can learn quickly. The
commands should be practiced almost every day until they become second nature.
A dog that can sit and stay until he is called to come to you will learn to be
polite in all situations.

As part of impulse control training, you need to tell your dog to “sit” and
have him maintain that position while you stand there and watch. Ask him to
sit for a longer period of time each session; although he will want to get up
and move on to the next step (as all dogs do), he will have to learn to be
polite and wait for you to teach him the next command.

How to Teach Your Dog to “Stay:”

Put him in a “down” or “sit.”
Tell him to “stay” without using his name, but do use a hand signal.
Move a few feet away from him and then call him; give him a treat and praise him.
If your dog follows you even when you have told him to “stay,” you might need to put him on a leash. If he gets up before you have called him, tell him “no,” and step closer, holding on to the leash to keep him in place.
When he has learned to “stay,” move further away and ask him to “stay” in place longer and longer each session.

Scroll to Continue

Why Does My Cat Sit on My Stuff?

Tips for Home Care for Your Vomiting Cat When You Cannot Visit the Vet

The Top 10 Fastest Dog Breeds

Teaching Your Dog to “Leave It”

I teach the “leave it” command to all of my puppies as soon as possible. All
dogs can learn this command in just one day, and as long as it is practiced
during several training sessions, the dog will remember it for the rest of his
life.

How to Teach Your Dog to “Leave It:”

Put a treat in your right hand.
When he tries to grab it from your hand, tell him “leave it,” and close your hand before he has a chance to snatch it away.
As soon as he looks away from your hand, give him a treat from your other hand. (Never give him the treat you have told him he cannot have.)
When he understands that he will not get a treat until he has looked away from your hand, try putting a treat on the floor.
When he goes to grab it, tell him “leave it.” Put your foot over the treat (quickly), and as soon as he looks up at you, give him a treat from your other hand. (An impulsive dog will rub his nose in your hand and do anything to get that treat you have hidden.)

I never give the dog the treat that I am teaching him to leave, but as you can
see from the video below, this trainer uses a different method and gets
excellent results. I also recommend using a special treat instead of regular
dog food. I like to give tiny pieces of chicken liver. Liver stinks, so most
dogs like it.

Teaching Your Dog to “Wait”

The “wait” command can be used in several ways. Teaching it at the front door
is the easiest, but once your dog has mastered it, you can use it when you
open the car door, when you take your dog to an enclosed area to run without a
leash, or when your dog starts to run off to play with a dog at the park.

How to Teach Your Dog to “Wait:”

Put your dog on a leash before going to the door.
When you open it, an impulsive dog will want to run out. Put your hand down in front of his face and tell him “wait.”
When he “waits,” you can take the leash off (if the yard is fenced in), and let him go out.
If he tries to run out the door as soon as it is open, hold on to the leash and do not let him out until you have given the command and he has waited per your instructions.

When your dog has learned the meaning of “wait,” you need to practice it in
other areas. If you really want him to be polite, you should also practice
off-leash, but if your dog decides to disobey, you need to start over from the
beginning.

Methods to Reinforce Impulse Control

The best way to reinforce impulse control is by using it every day. When I
take my Pitbull for a walk on the beach, she might see one of her canine
friends. Since she knows I am going to let her play, she will want to give in
to her impulses and run off without asking for permission. I tell her “wait,”
call her to heel, and I have her watch my right hand. I use a hand signal to
release her, and when she sees me wave my hand, she takes off.

Reinforcement Is Important, So Be Creative:

Socialize your dog whenever you get a chance. Some socialized dogs can be impolite, but dogs that are adapted to many different situations are more likely to be calm.
Tell her to “sit” in the morning before you let her out.
Make her “sit” when you are about to put her food down.
Stop in the middle of her walk and make her “wait.”
Make her “wait” before releasing her to run in the dog park.

Use these commands every time you take your dog for a walk or go to play with
your dog. The more you reinforce the lessons, the sooner your dog will learn
to be a polite member of your household.

Is It Ever Too Late to Teach Impulse Control?

Teaching impulse control should start when a dog is a puppy. Animal shelters
are full of adolescent dogs that were given up because they were never taught
polite behavior. If you have adopted a dog that has never been trained,
however, do not worry. A dog can be taught to be polite at any age.

The only difference between training a young puppy and an older dog is time.
Older dogs, just like older people, are slower to pick up on new concepts and
need more repetition. But training an older dog can be a lot of fun. Your
training sessions might even be able to last a little longer since older dogs
have more patience than puppies. (This depends on the individual dog though;
if he gets rowdy or bored during the session, it is time to stop.)

A dog that learns to control his impulses is polite and always a pleasure to
have around.

dennis_matheson8571117591

Will Your Dog Become Aggressive Without Impulse Control?

According to the dog trainer and author Joachim Volhard, failure to teach
basic impulse control exercises is one of the main reasons he sees aggression
in dogs. An untrained dog will get up on the couch when he wants and will
growl when told to get off; this is because he has the impulse to lie there
and no one is going to make him move.

Most of the aggressive dogs I work with also have poor impulse control. A dog
that feels it is okay to knock you over when going out the door does not have
respect for his owner, and if he has any aggressive tendencies, he will feel
it is okay to express them.

Don’t let your dog control your house or become so impolite that he feels it
is okay to become aggressive. Teach your new dog or puppy to be polite using
basic impulse control.

Do You Have Other Ideas on How to Teach a Dog to Be Polite? Please Leave a

Comment.

Dr Mark (author) from The Atlantic Rain Forest, Brazil on November 29,
2018:

I think I would have worried about Ashley in the city too. Good thing there
were all those kids around to earn that buck!

Natalie Frank from Chicago, IL on November 29, 2018:

Yes, well Lady Ashley (Ashley to her friends (: ) did NOT want to come home.
Left to her own devices I’m not sure what would have happened. She was very
affectionate for a terrier and very well behaved when inside. When she managed
get past someone carefully entering or exiting the door however, she was off
and running! Seriously, it was not unusual to have between 5 and 10 kids
trying to catch her and bring her back. And all this while she was hunting
birds, squirrels or whatever, and chasing after car tires barking at the top
of her lungs! I suppose she might have come home eventually as she was very
attached to us (and undoubtedly would have wanted a meal if she didn’t charm
someone else into feeding her). Obviously, we didn’t just wait her out with
the danger from cars, the possibility someone might decide to keep her and
drive her away with her (if they could catch her) or other dangers. She did
have her own fenced in yard out back but I guess the grass is always greener.
. .

Dr Mark (author) from The Atlantic Rain Forest, Brazil on November 29,
2018:

Natalie, you are so right, and those expensive trainers are not necessary for
most dogs. I try to teach people to train their own dogs, because it is not
going to do any good if they obey me but do not listen to their family.

Your little terrier would love it where I live. The front door is always open,
and she could run, and run, and run. There is a safety issue (cars) where you
live but here dogs get out and then just end up coming home eventually.

Natalie Frank from Chicago, IL on November 29, 2018:

This is an interesting article and suggests that maybe expensive obedience
school isn’t absolutely necessary. I suspect it’s a lot like kids –
consistency is the key. I had a wired hair terrier and we managed to train her
to sit, lie down, signal when she needed to go out and stay out of certain
areas of the house. The one thing we never broke her of though was escaping
whenever the door opened. It became a neighborhood competition for the kids.
My dad gave a dollar to whoever brought her back. We were told that was the
nature of a terrier but to break her of it would force her to go against an
important inbred characteristic. My parents had other terriers through the
years and it was the same with them. Thanks for the article.

Dr Mark (author) from The Atlantic Rain Forest, Brazil on February 11,
2018:

Thanks so much. It would be really nice if more dog owners could teach their
dogs to be polite. When dogs are rude and jump on people and steal food we all
get blamed.

I know I harp on Ajej too much, but it is so great to hear people tell me how
polite she is when I take her to the village. Everyone wants one of her
puppies and when I try to explain that all dogs can be trained like that, most
do not even listen.

Oh well.

Bob Bamberg on February 11, 2018:

I’d love to hand out copies of this hub in the pet supply stores I service.
Although I see a lot of well trained dogs, I think I see more that need to
read this hub…then pass it on to their owners to read.

Most of the ill-behaved dogs I see in stores get a pass and a knowing look
from other pet owners, but in other public places you can see a different look
from folks who don’t own pets, or who have well trained pets, but encounter
poorly trained or untrained dogs. Another very helpful hub.