Can every dog learn calmness?

What science knows about temperament and impulse control in dogs

Not chasing the neighbor's cat, walking nicely on a leash, patiently waiting for food, not getting too excited even though the doorbell just rang. A dog needs impulse control for all these things. The degree of a dog's impulse control contributes significantly to training success. The ability to control impulses is influenced, among other things, by reactivity. Reactivity and the ability to self-regulate determine temperament.

Frustration tolerance, self-control, concentration ability, emotion regulation – all these terms can be assigned to this topic. The manifestation of the various forms is influenced to different degrees by genetic and ontogenetic factors. But what role do these factors play exactly? Can my dog's impulse control wear out? How can I influence my dog's impulse control? Can I train it, and if so, how and to what extent?

Our Speaker
Dr. Marie Nitzschner is a biologist with a PhD who spent 10 years researching the cognitive abilities of dogs at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Since 2014, she has been writing the dog science blog hundeprofil.de. Since early 2016, she has been a lecturer at KynoLogisch and works as a freelance lecturer and author.
More about the speaker: http://marienitzschner.de/

Photo credit: Konrad Lippert