How did you teach your dog to “relax”?

About a month ago, I adopted Rosie, a 2-year-old yellow lab. She’s a classic lab—obsessed with tennis balls, either sprinting or sleeping. She’s a great dog!

She’s still learning to entertain herself. When I’m cooking, she wants to play fetch or be petted. How did you teach your dogs to be okay without constant attention? Rosie isn’t into nylabones much. Any tips

To teach my dog when to settle down, I create a cue, such as “relax” or “settle,” and start by using it in a calm environment like inside the house or the backyard. I keep him on a long lead and ignore him until he naturally lays down and relaxes. When he does, I reward him with calm praise and treats. I repeat this process to reinforce the cue and then gradually test it in more stressful situations. With practice and patience, he learns to relax upon receiving the cue.

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Has anyone who has followed this approach used a mat as their assigned place to sit? Although most other materials and videos do, the protocol itself makes no mention of it.

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It’s much easier to utilize the Relaxation Protocol’s mp3 files—I didn’t see if anyone else had addressed this. I could practice with my dog for ten minutes at a time after I put on my headphones.

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