Concepts – Dimmer Switch

When I first heard about the Dimmer switch for dogs it was a light bulb moment….once I’d found out what it meant! đŸ˜‚
If you think of a dogs excitement and arousal level as a scale of 0 to 100. When they are calm and sleeping they are near a level 0. When they are at maximum arousal level (this may be from excitement or being scared) they are near to level 100. In this state they are likely to be very reactive to things, barking, zoomies, jumping up, pulling on the lead, lunging. They do not know how to regulate their emotions to have less of an explosive reaction. Some dogs tend to be either at 0 or 100, on or off, like a light switch.


What we would rather have for our dog is a dimmer switch. So instead of going straight from 0 to 100, and them reacting inappropriately to the situation they might actually go to a level 20 or 30 and not jump up and bark at the visitor but just walk over to the guest with a waggy tail. If they meet another dog rather than going straight to 100 and running and lunging at the dog they would do a nice greeting and sniff and walk on, maybe getting to a level 50. When doing some agility training they get up to 80 or 90 but when finished they are able to calm down quickly and not stay over excited for too long after they’ve finished.

Ava is quick to bark at background noises. And when she seems to be fast asleep during the day, if something disturbs her, she will jump up and bark. Her reactions are often disproportionate to the situation. When we want her to be relaxed and sitting outside with us or at a bar or cafe she doesn’t know how to turn down her alertness. I was working on her Calmness as the main concept as I thought this was key to her.

I have recently completed an online course on how to help train dogs to have a Dimmer Switch. It was so interesting. I realised with Ava she had a light switch and that working on getting a dimmer switch would help her deal with these situations where she seems to over-react. And actually, the calmness, while being a good thing to grow, just works on the being at 0 end of the arousal spectrum. And we needed to also work on the middle ranges.

So we are part way through a 30 day plan I have come up with doing games to help with her arousal levels and also to create some triggers that mean she should now relax. The games involve using ones that we are already familiar with, for example doing orientation game to get her arousal up a bit and then asking her to play mouse game or do some aeroplane (slow) feeding. Then we go back to do the orientation game. The first time we played this, when I covered the food for mouse she was over excited so wasn’t showing much control and would nibble or grab at my hand. After a couple of repeats she got the idea that she should be more controlled. We have done that every few days, alternating with other games, and she is improving overall.

Mouse Game

One thing about training your dog which is hard sometimes is that you may have a good couple of days where they get better and then the next day you seem to take a backwards step. This is ok, progress isn’t always linear. Dogs have bad days too! But overall, we are definitely moving in the right direction with Ava.

I am now also conscious of this with our puppy, Cactus. Trying to make sure he has a dimmer switch from the start and that we don’t always go from being alseep to mad running around outside. I may slow him down first by scatter feeding some of his food or giving him a licky mat. Or doing a slow paced game and then increasing the speed gradually.

If this sounds like something your dog would benefit from then try the following three activities:

  • Orientation game and mouse – as described above
  • Pace changes when walking – with your dog on lead, walk at a reasonable pace. Then slow down a little, then a little more. Then increase slightly. Then go fast. Then a little slower, etc. Don’t just go from slow to fast as this is more light switch, you want to do gradual changes up and down. You can also change direction, try figure of 8’s, or zig zags, and circles. You can try this in the garden at first and then on your walks. If your dog tries to rush you or jump up when the speed changes then this is a sign that they are struggling with the dimmer switch…so keep practicing!
  • Parking – with your dog on lead, after playing a game, drop the lead and put your foot on it, say “park”. If you have a seat or bench then sit down. And basically ignore your dog! Go on your phone or take in the surroundings. At first try for 30 seconds, then pick up the lead and continue walking. You can reward with food if you think you need to but if you do try and do it when they aren’t watching you. You are trying to tell your dog that nothing is going on for a while, just relax! Try at home, in the garden, then when on a walk. Then you can try it a cafe or pub. At first you may find they are fidgety, they may action prompt, bark or nudge you. If this is the case then that is enough for now. Next time try for a shorter time and then build up slower.

Keep an eye on your dog and look out for the small changes and improvements. Are they barking a little less, jumping up in less situations. Consider keeping a diary, record when they do over-react to an event, how many times a day this happens. Do the dimmer switch games for a couple of weeks and see if these events decrease.

If you have any questions about this or you feel it is something your dog would benefit from then just get in touch to see how I can help.

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